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How to mix Olive Green in oil paint
Olive Green is a dull yellow-green, the colour of olives and military canvas. 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 #6B6B2F
Predicted mix #6B6C32
Target #6B6B2F against the predicted mix from the Winton recipe (excellent match, ΔE 0.7).
Olive Green mixing recipes by paint set
| Paint set | Recipe (parts) | Match |
|---|---|---|
| Winsor & Newton Winton | 7 Titanium White + 6 Raw Sienna + 1 Emerald Green 7 Titanium White6 Raw Sienna1 Emerald Green |
Excellent match (ΔE 0.7) |
| Gamblin 1980 | 7 Titanium White + 5 Cadmium Yellow Medium + 2 Ivory Black 7 Titanium White5 Cadmium Yellow Medium2 Ivory Black |
Excellent match (ΔE 0.9) |
| Magicfly 40 | 4 Titanium White + 3 Raw Sienna + 1 Sap Green 4 Titanium White3 Raw Sienna1 Sap Green |
Excellent match (ΔE 1.1) |
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: 6 Raw Sienna + 1 Emerald Green
- Gamblin 1980: 5 Cadmium Yellow Medium + 2 Ivory Black
- Magicfly 40: 3 Raw Sienna + 1 Sap Green
What two colours make olive green?
With only two tubes from the Winton range, the closest PaintMixLab finds is 4 Zinc White + 3 Chrome Green Hue (approximate, ΔE 7). Two-tube mixes are simpler to repeat but usually a little further from the target than three.
How to mix olive green by hand
- Put out Raw Sienna as the base — it carries the hue.
- Work in Emerald Green a little at a time until the hue swings towards olive green; 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.
Yellows are the lightest hue, so any dark tube kills them quickly. Deepen a yellow with a warm earth (Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna) or a dab of violet, not black, which turns it green.
Related colour recipes
Olive Green questions
What colours make olive green?
In the Winton range: 7 Titanium White + 6 Raw Sienna + 1 Emerald Green. Other sets use different tubes because tinting strength varies by brand — see the table above for Gamblin 1980 and Magicfly.
Can I mix olive green 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 olive green 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 olive green?
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 olive green 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.
