Neutral Tint is one of many “darkening neutrals”. The role of a darkening neutral is to enable darker values of a paint than the paint’s inherent value.

Neutral Tint has a violet bias. Payne’s Gray has a blue-gray-black bias because it includes Lamp Black pigment, one of the most opaque elements on the face of the earth. In my judgment, PG is useful for value and notan studies, but not a very good paint for transparent watercolor painting due to the Lamp Black.

Other darkening neutrals include Perylene Maroon (red bias), Sepia (deep burnt orange bias), Indigo (blue bias), among others. Some folks like to use Burnt Sienna or Burnt Umber, but these grayed earth tones don’t work well as a darkening neutral in my approach to painting.

FWIW, I recommend to my students that they find and keep a useful darkening neutral on the palette, regardless of palette composition. Just be cautious and check the pigment content to be sure Lamp Black is not included in the neutral of choice!

Hope this helps.

Sling paint,
Virgil

Neutral Tint has a violet bias.

Yes, the version I have definitely does. I have M. Graham’s Neutral Tint which is a mixture of Phthalo Green (PG7) and a Quinacridone (PG19). It makes nice, transparent outdoor shadows and does a good job of darkening colors.

If you want a transparent, non-granulating dark black without a color bias, the best I’ve found is about a 1:1 mix of Perylene Green (PBk31) and Perylene Violet (PV29). I have this premixed in my palette. I like the perylenes because they are not super strong tinters unlike the amazingly powerful Phthalo Green and Dioxazine Violet and thus are easier for me to mix.

Claude, the darkening neutrals do not “neutralize” a base color, as does mixing complementary colors. Using a pre-mixed or mixed darkening neutral retains the hue intensity or saturation. It simply creates a darker value hue than otherwise possible.

Sling paint,
Virgil

I prefer to use Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna Deep (PR101), a dark crimson (PR179 or PR264) and a Prussian/Phthalo Blue in various combinations, perhaps with some Nickel Azo Yellow added to adjust the hue. If I were to add a black to my palette I’d rather use Lamp Black instead of mixtures like Neutral Tint which seem something of a black for people in denial.

Since most of the so called “neutral” grays or tints are mixes of several other pigments, anyway, I see no reason to use them. I do have Payne’s gray, but use it mostly in value painting studies. I already have lots of colors I can use to mix up neutrals I don’t see a need to buy a pre-mixed tube of something I can make myself.

Neutral Tint:

Daniel Smith – PBk6—Lamp Black; PV19—Quinacridone Violet; PR101—Red Iron Oxide
Holbein – PB23—Dioxazine Purple; PB29—Ultramarine [Blue]; PBk6—Lamp Black
M. Graham – PV19—Quinacridone Violet; PG7—Phthalo Green
Mijello Mission Gold – PBk7—Lamp Black; PB27—Prussian Blue; PR122—Quinacridone Magenta
Schminke – PB60—Indanthrene Blue; PBk7—Lamp Black; PR122—Quinacridone Magenta
Sennelier – PB60—Indanthrene Blue; PBk7—Lamp Black; PR209—Quinacridone Red
Winsor & Newton – PB15—Phthalo Blue; PBk6—Lamp Black; PV19—Quinacridone Violet
Da Vinci doesn’t offer a neutral tint.

Don’t buy it. Don’t use it. If you really think about what you’re using to supposedly darken your local colour, what you’re really doing is mixing mud.

The better solution for me is to understand how to mix my neutrals that will be more effective and go a long way in maintaining colour harmony.

Marialena, yes… I encourage all my Students to mix their own colour. These convenience colours make me crazy because Students are always trying to understand why their paintings become dull and muddy!

Paynes Grey

Da Vinci – PBk6—Lamp Black; PB27—Prussian Blue
Daniel Smith – PBk9—Ivory Black; PB29—Ultramarine [Blue]; PY42—Yellow Ochre
Holbein – PR83—Alizarin Crimson; PB27—Antwerp Blue; PB29—Ultramarine [Blue]; PBk7—Lamp Black
M. Graham – PBk6—Lamp Black; PB29—Ultramarine [Blue]
Mijello Mission Gold – PBk7—Lamp Black; PB15:3—Phthalo Blue; PV19—Quinacridone Violet
Schminke – PBk6—Lamp Black; PB15:6—Phthalo Blue; PB15:2—Phthalo Blue
Sennelier – PBk7—Lamp Black; PB15:1—Phthalo Blue; PV19—Quinacridone Violet
Winsor & Newton – PB15—Phthalo Blue; PV19—Quinacridone Violet; PBk6—Lamp Black

The only good reason to buy Paynes Grey would be to do monochromes. Otherwise, don’t buy it. Don’t use it.