Mulling Payne's Gray From Pigments to Paint
I am mulling Payne’s Gray for a background and also for the edging of some plain speech bubbles that are going to be white in the center. I hope you enjoy this video and tell me how you use Payne’s Gray in your projects in the comments below.
Who was William Payne?
Did you know this color is named after a real painter? William Payne came into the world in 1760. He started out as a draughtsman for the Board of Ordnance, making careful, technical drawings. It was steady work, but not exactly inspiring. Eventually, he turned toward art in London, where he began to explore landscapes.
At that time, most draughtsmen were focused on topographic accuracy—drawing land as if it were a map. Payne wanted more. He leaned into a softer, more poetic way of capturing scenes. Instead of just showing what a place looked like, he wanted to show how it felt.
An 18th-century pioneer
Payne loved to experiment. One of his biggest changes was dropping the pen outlines that most watercolorists used. That gave his paintings a looser, more natural look. He also worked on ways to show sunlight and atmosphere—those subtle effects that bring a painting to life. These ideas made watercolor feel more expressive and approachable. In many ways, Payne helped move watercolor from being a tool for draftsmen into being a respected art form.
Along with the creation of Payne’s Gray, he is also credited with the technique of splitting a wet brush to make different marks for foliage, and using the side of a dry brush to make rock-like textures in the foreground (perhaps we can think of him as an 18th-century Bob Ross?). He was criticized by the "serious" painters of the time for apparently reducing painting to a step-by-step, easy-to-use approach. It should be noted, however, that his mark-making methods were not new. Chinese landscape painters were certainly using these techniques with their brushes in the 15th century, if not long before.
He showed his work at the Royal Academy, the leading stage for artists in England, and even earned the respect of Sir Joshua Reynolds, the Academy’s president.
The evolution of the pigment recipe
Payne’s Gray is a dark blue-grey color used in painting. It is usually very dark in masstone, and reveals very blue undertones when diluted. It was most likely developed by Payne while trying to produce a mixer that was less intense than black, which was the traditional mixer.
Because the shade is a composite color, many different recipes have existed over the years:
The original late 18th-century mixture: Prussian Blue (though some sources say Indigo), Yellow Ochre, and Crimson Lake.
The 20th-century variation: A recipe listed in the 20th century called for Indigo instead of Prussian Blue.
The modern mix: Today, it is often a mixture of blue (like ultramarine, phthalocyanine, or indigo) and black, or of ultramarine and burnt sienna. Because a ready-mixed Payne's Gray varies from range to range, its hue is not consistent across brands.
Interestingly, Payne's Gray has long been considered similar to another color called "neutral tint," as both are made of indigo, ochre, and ivory black in watercolor, just in different proportions. The main difference is that Payne's gray has a more lilac shadow, and therefore a warmer tint. However, it does not have significant resistance to light—over time, that lilac shadow will fade, transforming the color into a neutral grey.
Payne’s Gray in action
A significant number of William Payne's works include the shade, such as his painting Smuggler’s Cave. The shade is primarily used for atmospheric perspective to create the impression of distance, and in Payne's own work, it was primarily applied to the middle distance to produce this effect.
The vast majority of watercolor, oil, and acrylic ranges carry Payne’s Gray today, which is evidence of its continued demand. It is a beautiful, versatile neutral that is richer than black and softer than straight grey.
Next time you see that beautiful bluish‑grey in your palette, think of William Payne. He wasn’t afraid to break habits and try something new. His name may live on through a pigment, but his real gift was showing us that watercolor could be freer, softer, and more expressive than anyone thought at the time.
Resources
Jackson's Art Blog: The Unexpected History of Payne’s Grey by Evie Hatch (Updated March 31, 2026).
Watercolor Painting: Meet William Payne: The Painter Behind Payne’s Grey Pigment
Wikipedia: Payne's grey
