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How to mix Cream in oil paint
Cream is a warm off-white. 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 #F3E7CC
Predicted mix #E7DCC3
Target #F3E7CC against the predicted mix from the Winton recipe (very close, ΔE 2.5).
Cream mixing recipes by paint set
| Paint set | Recipe (parts) | Match |
|---|---|---|
| Winsor & Newton Winton | 97 Soft Mixing White + 1 Raw Sienna 97 Soft Mixing White1 Raw Sienna |
Very close (ΔE 2.5) |
| Gamblin 1980 | 25 Transparent White + 1 Transparent Yellow Oxide 25 Transparent White1 Transparent Yellow Oxide |
Very close (ΔE 2.2) |
| Magicfly 40 | 97 Titanium White + 1 Orange Red 97 Titanium White1 Orange Red |
Very close (ΔE 3) |
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: 48 Soft Mixing White + 1 Raw Sienna
- Gamblin 1980: 12 Transparent White + 1 Transparent Yellow Oxide
- Magicfly 40: 48 Titanium White + 1 Orange Red
What two colours make Cream?
With only two tubes from the Winton range, the closest PaintMixLab finds is 97 Soft Mixing White + 1 Raw Sienna (very close, ΔE 2.5). Two-tube mixes are simpler to repeat but usually a little further from the target than three.
How to mix Cream by hand
- Put out Raw Sienna as the base — it carries the hue.
- 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.
Very light colours are almost all white, so the coloured tube is measured in dabs. Add the colour to the white, never the other way round, and expect the mix to look stronger on the canvas than on the knife.
Related colour recipes
Cream questions
What colours make cream?
In the Winton range: 97 Soft Mixing White + 1 Raw Sienna. Other sets use different tubes because tinting strength varies by brand — see the table above for Gamblin 1980 and Magicfly.
Can I mix cream 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 cream 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 cream?
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 cream 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.
