A watercolor mixing chart shows exactly what happens when the paints in your own palette are mixed together. Instead of guessing whether two pigments will produce the green, violet, neutral, or brown I want, I can look at combinations I’ve already tested.
I made my first chart from a 12-color palette years ago, and I still keep it taped to my studio wall. It is stained and splattered now, but I continue to use it because it records the behavior of my actual paints rather than theoretical colors from a printed color wheel.
The basic version is simple: put each watercolor across the top and down the side of a grid, then paint the mixture where two colors intersect.
Watercolor Mixing Chart at a Glance
| Part of the chart | What I paint there |
|---|---|
| Top row | Names of every color in the palette |
| Left column | The same colors in the same order |
| Diagonal | Each pure color by itself |
| Intersections | A mixture of the two corresponding paints |
| Optional upper triangle | More of Color A than Color B |
| Optional lower triangle | More of Color B than Color A |
A chart doesn’t need to look perfect. I want it to be useful enough that I can look at it while painting and immediately understand what two colors are likely to produce.
What You Need to Make a Watercolor Color Mixing Chart
- Your normal watercolor palette
- The watercolor paper you regularly paint on
- A ruler
- A pencil
- A watercolor brush
- Clean water
- A cloth or paper towel for cleaning the brush between mixes
I prefer making the chart on the same type of paper I normally paint on. Pigments can look and behave differently depending on the surface, so a chart made on my actual painting paper gives me a more useful reference.
If you’re still choosing paper, my guide to the best watercolor paper for beginners explains the basic options.
Step 1: Make a Grid for Your Watercolor Palette
Count the colors you want to test.
For my original 12-color palette, I made a 12 × 12 grid. If you use six colors, make a 6 × 6 chart. Eight colors need an 8 × 8 chart.
Leave enough room around the grid to clearly write the pigment or color names.
I put the colors across the top and repeat them down the left side in exactly the same order.
Step 2: Paint the Pure Colors on the Diagonal
The boxes running diagonally through the chart represent a color being mixed with itself.
I use those boxes for a clean swatch of each pure pigment.
This gives me an immediate reference for comparing the original paint with every mixture it creates.
Step 3: Mix Each Pair of Watercolors
Now I work through the intersections.
If Ultramarine Blue crosses Burnt Sienna, for example, that square receives a mixture of Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna.
For a basic chart, I aim for roughly equal amounts of the two colors.
I rinse the brush carefully between combinations so leftover pigment doesn’t contaminate the next mixture.
Step 4: Let the Swatches Dry Before Judging Them
I don’t make final decisions about a mixture while the paint is still wet.
Watercolor can change in value and appearance as it dries. The chart is most useful when I’m comparing the dried mixtures because that’s closer to what I’ll eventually see in a finished painting.
Once the entire chart is dry, I can start identifying the combinations I want to remember.
A Better Way to Use Both Halves of the Mixing Chart
A standard square mixing chart contains some duplication.
Red mixed with blue appears once on one side of the diagonal, while blue mixed with red appears again on the other.
I can use that duplication to learn more instead of painting identical mixtures.
For example:
- Above the diagonal: mix approximately two parts of the row color with one part of the column color.
- Below the diagonal: reverse the mixture, using approximately one part of the row color to two parts of the column color.
Now each pair shows me how the mixture changes when one pigment becomes dominant.
Why Mixing Ratios Matter
A 50/50 mixture only shows me one point between two colors.
In an actual painting, I may want only a small amount of blue added to a warm color or only enough red to push a blue toward violet.
That’s why I sometimes make smaller follow-up charts using ratios such as:
- 1:1
- 2:1
- 1:2
I don’t need laboratory precision. The ratios simply remind me which paint dominates the mixture.
How to Read a Watercolor Mixing Chart
Once the chart is dry, I don’t just look for the prettiest colors.
I look for useful relationships.
- Bright mixtures: combinations that produce clear secondary colors.
- Muted mixtures: colors that naturally reduce each other’s intensity.
- Useful neutrals: mixtures I can use instead of reaching immediately for gray or black.
- Dark mixtures: combinations capable of producing strong shadows.
- Problem combinations: mixtures that become dull or muddy faster than I want.
The combinations I dislike are just as useful as the successful ones. They tell me what is likely to happen before I discover it in the middle of a painting.
A 6-Color Watercolor Mixing Chart for Beginners
You don’t need twelve colors to make a useful chart.
A compact palette containing a warm and cool version of each primary color creates a useful 6 × 6 exercise:
- Warm yellow
- Cool yellow
- Warm red
- Cool red
- Warm blue
- Cool blue
This is particularly helpful because it demonstrates why two paints that are both called “red” or “blue” don’t necessarily produce the same mixtures.
If you’re still assembling a basic painting setup, my watercolor guide covers the broader materials and process.
Useful Watercolor Color Combinations to Test
A complete chart lets me discover combinations naturally, but there are several categories I pay particular attention to.
Neutral Grays
I like testing complementary and near-complementary colors to see which combinations produce useful neutral mixtures.
Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine Blue are one combination I return to because changing the balance can move the result warmer or cooler.
I have a separate tutorial on how to make gray in watercolor if neutral mixtures are what you’re specifically trying to solve.
Greens
I don’t assume one premixed green will handle every plant or landscape.
Testing different yellows and blues shows me how dramatically a green can shift from bright and cool to muted and earthy.
I can then modify those mixtures further with an earth color such as Burnt Sienna when I want something less saturated.
Violets and Oranges
The same principle applies to violets and oranges. Changing which red, blue, or yellow I use can produce a noticeably different secondary color.
A chart makes those differences much easier to compare because the mixtures are sitting beside each other on the same paper.
Why Watercolor Mixes Turn Muddy
“Muddy” color isn’t automatically a bad color. Sometimes I need muted grays, browns and neutral shadows.
The problem is when I expect a clean, saturated mixture and accidentally neutralize it.
A mixing chart helps because it shows which combinations stay relatively vivid and which move quickly toward a neutral.
I also try to keep the mixing process clean:
- Rinse the brush thoroughly between mixtures.
- Use clean water when the rinse container becomes heavily tinted.
- Avoid repeatedly stirring many pigments together unless I intentionally want a neutral.
- Learn which pigments in my own palette are especially strong or staining.
Make Smaller Charts for Specific Mixing Problems
I don’t remake a full 12 × 12 chart every time I want to test something.
Sometimes a small focused chart is more useful.
I might make a chart specifically for:
- Gray and neutral mixtures
- Greens for landscapes
- Skin tones
- A new pigment I’m considering adding to the palette
- Colors for one particular painting or series
For portraits, I keep that topic separate because skin color involves more than a single universal recipe. See my guide to mixing watercolor skin tones.
Make a New Chart When Your Palette Changes
A watercolor mixing chart is only accurate for the paints used to make it.
If I replace a pigment or add a new color, I want to know how that paint behaves with everything already in my palette.
I don’t necessarily need to rebuild the entire chart after adding one color. I can make one smaller strip showing the new paint mixed with each existing pigment.
That’s what I did when adding colors such as Quinacridone Rose. Testing it first gave me a much better idea of where it belonged before I relied on it in a finished painting.
Keep the Chart Where You’ll Actually Use It
The chart doesn’t help much if it disappears into a drawer.
My original chart lives on the studio wall where I can glance at it while painting.
Other useful options are:
- Tape a small chart inside a sketchbook.
- Keep a folded version with a travel palette.
- Store charts with the corresponding palette.
- Label the chart with the paint brand and pigment names.
If you’re making charts for a portable setup, my urban sketching watercolor palette shows how I reduce the number of colors I carry outside.
The Best Mixing Chart Is Made From Your Own Paints
A downloadable chart showing someone else’s paints can be useful for understanding the idea, but it can’t tell me exactly what my own pigments will do together.
That’s why I still prefer the physical chart I’ve painted myself.
It records the exact palette, paper and mixtures I’m actually using. Over time, the chart becomes less of an exercise and more of a working reference.
If you’ve never made one, start with whatever paints you already own. You don’t need the perfect palette first. The point is to learn what the colors already in front of you can do together.