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How to mix Navy Blue in oil paint
Navy Blue is a very dark, slightly greyed blue. 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 #1F2A4D
Predicted mix #202643
Target #1F2A4D against the predicted mix from the Winton recipe (very close, ΔE 2.8).
Navy Blue mixing recipes by paint set
| Paint set | Recipe (parts) | Match |
|---|---|---|
| Winsor & Newton Winton | 5 Titanium White + 4 Dioxazine Blue + 1 Phthalo Deep Green 5 Titanium White4 Dioxazine Blue1 Phthalo Deep Green |
Very close (ΔE 2.8) |
| Gamblin 1980 | 8 Titanium White + 5 Cobalt Blue + 3 Quinacridone Violet 8 Titanium White5 Cobalt Blue3 Quinacridone Violet |
Excellent match (ΔE 0.7) |
| Magicfly 40 | 7 Titanium White + 6 Phthalocyanine Blue + 1 Light Apricot 7 Titanium White6 Phthalocyanine Blue1 Light Apricot |
Excellent match (ΔE 0.5) |
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: 4 Dioxazine Blue + 1 Phthalo Deep Green
- Gamblin 1980: 5 Cobalt Blue + 3 Quinacridone Violet
- Magicfly 40: 6 Phthalocyanine Blue + 1 Light Apricot
What two colours make navy blue?
With only two tubes from the Winton range, the closest PaintMixLab finds is 7 Soft Mixing White + 5 Prussian Blue (close, ΔE 3.5). Two-tube mixes are simpler to repeat but usually a little further from the target than three.
How to mix navy blue by hand
- Put out Dioxazine Blue as the base — it carries the hue.
- Work in Phthalo Deep Green a little at a time until the hue swings towards navy blue; 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.
Deep blues read almost black in the tube. Lighten with white to see the true hue, and warm or cool it with a violet or a green respectively. For greyed blues, add a little of the complement orange or an earth brown.
Related colour recipes
Navy Blue questions
What colours make navy blue?
In the Winton range: 5 Titanium White + 4 Dioxazine Blue + 1 Phthalo Deep Green. Other sets use different tubes because tinting strength varies by brand — see the table above for Gamblin 1980 and Magicfly.
Can I mix navy blue 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 navy blue 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 navy blue?
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 navy blue 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.
