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How to mix Payne's Grey in oil paint
Payne's Grey is a blue-leaning dark grey used for shadows and skies instead of black. 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 #40485B
Predicted mix #464A57
Target #40485B against the predicted mix from the Winton recipe (very close, ΔE 2.9).
Payne's Grey mixing recipes by paint set
| Paint set | Recipe (parts) | Match |
|---|---|---|
| Winsor & Newton Winton | 7 Titanium White + 4 Pale Rose Blush + 3 Payne's Gray 7 Titanium White4 Pale Rose Blush3 Payne's Gray |
Very close (ΔE 2.9) |
| Gamblin 1980 | 9 Titanium White + 8 Cerulean Blue + 1 Cadmium Red Medium 9 Titanium White8 Cerulean Blue1 Cadmium Red Medium |
Close (ΔE 4.3) |
| Magicfly 40 | 5 Titanium White + 4 Sky Blue + 1 Crimson Red 5 Titanium White4 Sky Blue1 Crimson Red |
Excellent match (ΔE 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: 4 Pale Rose Blush + 3 Payne's Gray
- Gamblin 1980: 8 Cerulean Blue + 1 Cadmium Red Medium
- Magicfly 40: 4 Sky Blue + 1 Crimson Red
What two colours make payne's grey?
With only two tubes from the Winton range, the closest PaintMixLab finds is 5 Flake White Hue + 2 Payne's Gray (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 payne's grey by hand
- Put out Pale Rose Blush as the base — it carries the hue.
- Work in Payne's Gray a little at a time until the hue swings towards payne’s grey; 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
Payne's Grey questions
What colours make payne's grey?
In the Winton range: 7 Titanium White + 4 Pale Rose Blush + 3 Payne's Gray. Other sets use different tubes because tinting strength varies by brand — see the table above for Gamblin 1980 and Magicfly.
Can I mix payne's grey 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 payne's grey 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 payne's grey?
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 payne's grey 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.
