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How to mix Rust in oil paint
Rust is a dark reddish orange-brown. Below are the oil paint mixing recipes PaintMixLab calculates for it from three common paint sets, in parts you can measure on the palette.
Target colour #A8431F
Predicted mix #A7411C
Target #A8431F against the predicted mix from the Winton recipe (excellent match, ΔE 0.6).
Rust mixing recipes by paint set
| Paint set | Recipe (parts) | Match |
|---|---|---|
| Winsor & Newton Winton | 8 Titanium White + 5 Cadmium Scarlet Hue + 3 Terre Verte 8 Titanium White5 Cadmium Scarlet Hue3 Terre Verte |
Excellent match (ΔE 0.6) |
| Gamblin 1980 | 6 Titanium White + 5 India Yellow + 1 Transparent Red Oxide 6 Titanium White5 India Yellow1 Transparent Red Oxide |
Excellent match (ΔE 1.5) |
| Magicfly 40 | 17 Titanium White + 16 Vermillion Red + 1 Mid Green 17 Titanium White16 Vermillion Red1 Mid Green |
Excellent match (ΔE 0.8) |
Parts are by volume. Recipes follow the app’s standard engine, which adds white to bring the mix up to the predicted value on the palette. Match quality (ΔE 2000) compares the predicted mix with the target: under 1.5 is excellent, under 3.5 very close, under 6 close.
Dark Mode recipes (original engine, no extra white)
- Winsor & Newton Winton: 5 Cadmium Scarlet Hue + 3 Terre Verte
- Gamblin 1980: 5 India Yellow + 1 Transparent Red Oxide
- Magicfly 40: 16 Vermillion Red + 1 Mid Green
What two colours make Rust?
With only two tubes from the Winton range, the closest PaintMixLab finds is 5 Soft Mixing White + 3 Light Red (very close, ΔE 3.1). Two-tube mixes are simpler to repeat but usually a little further from the target than three.
How to mix Rust by hand
- Put out Cadmium Scarlet Hue as the base — it carries the hue.
- Work in Terre Verte a little at a time until the hue swings towards rust; stop as soon as it reads right, it is easy to overshoot.
- Lighten with white until the value matches your reference. Check it next to the target in daylight — a mix always looks lighter on the knife than on the canvas.
- Mix more than you think you need, and save the swatch in PaintMixLab so you can repeat it tomorrow.
Oranges and earth tones are usually a warm yellow and a red, greyed down with a little of the complement blue. Burnt Sienna and Yellow Ochre get you most of the way on their own.
Related colour recipes
Rust questions
What colours make rust?
In the Winton range: 8 Titanium White + 5 Cadmium Scarlet Hue + 3 Terre Verte. Other sets use different tubes because tinting strength varies by brand — see the table above for Gamblin 1980 and Magicfly.
Can I mix rust without black?
Yes. None of the recipes above rely on black alone; where a dark is needed the engine prefers a deep colour or an earth so the mix stays lively. PaintMixLab has an “avoid black” option if your set includes black and you would rather not use it.
Why does my rust look different from the swatch?
Pigment batches, how much medium you use, the lighting and your screen all shift the result. Treat the ratio as a measured starting point: match the value first with white, then nudge the hue with the smallest tube in the recipe.
Does this recipe work for acrylic rust?
Roughly. Acrylic ranges share many pigment names, but acrylics dry darker and the tinting strengths differ, so expect to add a little extra white and re-check once dry.
Mix rust from a photo instead
Point PaintMixLab at the colour you actually see and it writes the recipe for your own paint set — free for 3 days.
