Color Mixing With Acrylic: Why Acrylic Paints Dry Darker

Acrylic paint is a popular choice among artists for its versatility, fast drying time, and durability. I personally love teaching in acrylic, because it's easy for anyone to get started with, and cleanup is a breeze compared to oil. 

However, if you've ever found yourself frustrated by colors that dry darker than expected, you're not alone. In this blog post, we'll explore the science behind why acrylic paint dries darker, how to adjust your color mixing approach, and tips to achieve accurate, vibrant results.

Why Does Acrylic Paint Dry Darker?

Acrylic paint is made up of three main components: pigment, binder, and water. The pigment provides the color, the binder (an acrylic polymer) holds the pigment particles together and adheres them to the surface, and water helps with application and cleaning.

The reason acrylic paint often dries darker lies in the binder itself. When wet, the binder appears milky or slightly cloudy. This creates the illusion that the paint color is lighter while it's still on the palette or brush. As the water evaporates and the binder dries, it becomes clear, revealing the true, deeper color of the pigment. This shift can catch even experienced artists off guard (me too, even to this day), leading to color mixing frustration.

How to Adjust for Color Shift in Acrylics

Understanding why this shift occurs is the first step to mastering acrylic color mixing. Here are some practical strategies to help you navigate this challenge:

1. Mix Colors with a Slightly Higher Value

Since acrylics dry darker, mix your colors a shade lighter than what you think you'll need. Adjusting the value upward can help compensate for the darkening effect that happens as the paint dries. This can be a little tricky, since lightening your values exclusively with white can reduce the chroma (or saturation) of your color mixes. 

Just remember: adding white is not the only way to lighten a value. You can also use colors with intrinsically lighter values to lift your color up a notch. Just be prepared for a slight shift in hue, but I often prefer that to a washed out, bleached color. 

2. Test Swatches Before Applying

To minimize unexpected color shifts, test a small swatch of your mixed color onto a sketchbook page or a spare canvas board. Allow it to dry fully before evaluating the final value. This approach helps you make informed adjustments before committing to larger sections of your painting.

I personally keep a deliberately messy sketchbook full of test swatches exclusively for this purpose. If I want to see how a color is drying prior to application, I mix my colors on a wet palette (so that they won't dry out on me), then swatch test them on a piece of watercolor paper in advance to make sure I like their eventual color. 

3. Allow Layers to Dry Before Adjusting

If you're layering colors, let each layer dry completely before assessing the value. Acrylics dry quickly, so this won't slow down your process too much. If a layer dries darker than expected, you can adjust by adding highlights or glazes. This will add more depth, luminosity, and smooth out brush strokes, leading to a stronger painting. I love layered paintings, and they usually look better than paintings with only a single application of color. 

4. Opt for Professional Grade Paints

While student-grade acrylics are cost-effective, they often contain more binder and less pigment, resulting in more significant color shifts. Investing in higher-quality, artist-grade acrylics can reduce the severity of these shifts.

I personally use the Liquitex Professionals line of heavy body acrylic paints. I like their consistency and pigment load, and they're easy to source. I also like Golden acrylics, but they're harder to find in Canada.

Winsor & Newton has a line of acrylic paints with a clear binder, that artists say leads to less of a color shift. However, as I haven't personally tried this line, I can't vouch for it, but if you have, let me know in the comments! 

While I recognize that the cost of professional level paint can be prohibitive, don't worry about going all in right away. Buy some cheaper, series 1 paints (like burnt umber, ultramarine blue, titanium white) and add in the more expensive colors (like the cadmiums) when it's comfortable.

Professional level paint may be expensive, but a little goes a long way, and I've had some of my paint tubes for years. 

Embrace the Learning Curve

If you're new to acrylic painting, don't be discouraged by the learning curve of color mixing. Every artist encounters these hurdles, and each mistake is an opportunity to learn more about your medium. Understanding how acrylics work — from their fast drying times to their inherent color shifts — can help you harness their potential and create vibrant, dynamic artwork.

Acrylic paints may dry darker, but with a little awareness and strategy, you can anticipate and adjust for these shifts. Embrace the flexibility of the medium, experiment with mixing techniques, and watch your confidence as an acrylic painter grow.

If you're ready to take your acrylic color mixing skills to the next level, explore my comprehensive online course on color mixing for step-by-step guidance and practical exercises. The course launches March 28th, 2025, and includes over 15 hours of instruction and 26 pages of color mixing exercises to set you up for success. The above link will take you to the waitlist, where you can join over 700 other artists who are ready to start the program. 

If you enjoyed this blog post, check out my other blog posts on acrylic paint:

Acrylic Painting for Beginners: 5 Common Mistakes to Avoid

Acrylic vs. Oil Paint: Which Medium is Better for Beginners?