# Muddy Waters — Watercolour Paint Mixer

> Watercolour Paint Mixer (iPhone/iPad app by STUART JOHN FRENCH.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/muddy-waters/id6761300071 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [STUART JOHN FRENCH](https://appshunter.io/developer/1888756072)
- Category: Graphics & Design, Reference
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 15.1 · 52 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2026-04-14
- Data updated: 2026-07-25
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/muddy-waters/id6761300071/reviews.md

## What is Muddy Waters?

Muddy Waters helps you mix watercolor paints using real pigment behaviour, not digital approximations.
Many artists reach a point where color mixing becomes frustrating. You add more paint, adjust ratios, and still end up with muddy results. This app is designed to give you a clearer path forward.
Using scientific colour values and high end math, Muddy Waters focuses on how watercolor actually behaves, helping you make better mixing decisions using YOUR paints before committing pigment to paper.

Key features
• Mix colors using your own palette, not generic examples
• Explore how pigments combine, including non-linear behaviour
• Generate gradients to understand transitions between colors
• Match colors from images and find the closest achievable mix
• Identify the closest matching pigment in the library
• Save favourites for the next time you go shopping for art supplies
Images and barcodes are processed on your device. No photos are uploaded or stored externally. No personal data collected.

Designed for real painting decisions
Watercolour mixing is not predictable or linear. Lighting, dilution, paper colour, and pigment behaviour all affect the result. This app helps you navigate those variables so you can start with the right base colours.

Use your own paints
Build your palette from the pigments you actually own. The app works with your materials, not an idealised set from a book or tutorial.

Simple and focused
No accounts, no distractions. The app is designed to support your painting process without getting in the way.

Keep exploring
Nothing replaces hands-on experimentation, but with better guidance you can avoid common mixing mistakes and make more confident choices.

Muddy Waters is free to use with an 8-slot palette. Two optional upgrades unlock more:
Premium (one-time purchase) — unlocks palettes to hold any number of paints, in-app camera capture, and Backup & Restore so your palettes, favourites and Shopping List stay safe across devices.
Pro (monthly subscription) — adds the Palette Adviser (tells you which paints to swap for a stronger palette), the Light & Shadow engine, Paint Check (compare any paint against everything you already own before you buy), and unlimited palettes.

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Muddy Waters Pro Monthly | $1.99 | per month |
| Muddy Waters Pro Annual | $8.99 | per year |

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Muddy Waters Premium | $5.99 | one-time |



## Version history (last 5 releases)

### v1.8.3 — 2026-06-21

v1.8.3 focused on expanding the Sennelier and A. Gallo ranges, with many new watercolours added to the library.
New colours across the range, including:
Greys and neutrals — Chinese White, Ivory Black, Sennelier Grey, Warm Grey.
Earths and browns — Van Dyck Brown, Gold Ochre, Burnt Umber.
Reds — Rose Madder, Cadmium Red Purple, Sennelier Red.
Blues — Prussian Blue, Indigo, Cerulean Blue, Cinereous Blue, Lapis Lazuli.
Greens — Turquoise Green, Green Earth, Olive Green, Bright Yellow Green.
Each new colour comes with its own reflectance spectrum, so it mixes and matches at full accuracy rather than from an approximation. Lightfastness is included wherever the manufacturer publishes a proper rating, and left blank rather than guessed when it isn't.
We have included a few bug fixes and it is now way easier to copy or move paints between palettes.
Happy Painting!

### v1.8.1 — 2026-06-06

v1.8.1 focused almost entirely on making colour mixing and capture more accurate, plus a few important fixes.
New Live magnifier when picking a colour from a photo, so you can place the dropper precisely on the exact spot you want.
Improved the accuracy of colours picked from images.
Fixes include:
Refined the underlying spectral data for many pigments, and improved how mixes of three or more pigments are calculated.
Dark, complementary mixes (e.g. Phthalo Blue + Cadmium Red) that came out too light and too teal in the middle now settle into the deep, muted darks artists expect. 
Orange pigments like Holbein Daybreak Orange now render their proper rust colour.
Thanks to our testers for their excellent feedback and ideas.
Happy Painting!

### v1.7.1 — 2026-06-01

v1.7.1 brings a new Image Capture targeting system plus features that will really help pro painters or those heading to the art store.
The new Palette Advisor feature analyses your paints, suggests colours to fill gaps and cen even suggest a travel palette from your existing paints for when you paint on the road.
It also allows you to upload an image and it will suggest a palette to use for that individual painting.
The Library now shows you when you own a colour in another brand with a green circle.
And finally, after you have put in all your work setting up your palette, the app now has a backup feature for Premium users, both to a local file or to the cloud which allows you to share your setup to another device or even a friend.
New Pro feature to filter your paints by Lightfastness and special family. We will be adding more of these paints in the future, like duochrome, iridescent, interference, etc. Note, not all manufacturers supply lightfastness data but for those of you wanting your paintings to last 20, 50 or 100+ years, selecting the right paints really matters.
Finally, the brush strokes now all have the realistic rendering, revealing proper transparency according to the individual paint specifications. Not only will this give you a better feel for how colours will mix in the real world (especially when mixing transparent with opaque) but it just makes the app look beautful if I may say so myself.
Happy Painting!

### v1.7.0 — 2026-05-28

v1.7.0 brings a few features that will really help pro painters or those heading to the art store.
The new Palette Advisor feature analyses your paints, suggests colors to fill gaps and cen even suggest a travel palette from your existing paints for when you paint on the road.
It also allows you to upload an image and it will suggest a palette to use for that individual painting.
The Library now shows you when you own a color in another brand with a green circle.
And finally, after you have put in all your work setting up your palette, the app now has a backup feature for Premium users, both to a local file or to the cloud which allows you to share your setup to another device or even a friend.
New Pro feature to filter your paints by Lightfastness and special family. We will be adding more of these paints in the future, like duochrome, iridescent, interference, etc. Note, not all manufacturers supply lightfastness data but for those of you wanting your paintings to last 20, 50 or 100+ years, selecting the right paints really matters.
Finally, the brush strokes now all have the realistic rendering, revealing proper transparency according to the individual paint specifications. Not only will this give you a better feel for how colors will mix in the real world (especially when mixing transparent with opaque) but it just makes the app look beautful if I may say so myself.
Various bug fixes including the target reticule not following your finger and optimisation of some calculations.
Happy Painting!

### v1.6.8 — 2026-05-24

v1.6.8 brings a few features that will really help pro painters or those heading to the art store.
The new Palette Advisor feature analyses your paints, suggests colours to fill gaps and cen even suggest a travel palette from your existing paints for when you paint on the road.
It also allows you to upload an image and it will suggest a palette to use for that individual painting.
The Library now shows you when you own a colour in another brand with a green circle.
And finally, after you have put in all your work setting up your palette, the app now has a backup feature for Premium users, both to a local file or to the cloud which allows you to share your setup to another device or even a friend.
New Pro feature to filter your paints by Lightfastness and special family. We will be adding more of these paints in the future, like duochrome, iridescent, interference, etc. Note, not all manufacturers supply lightfastness data but for those of you wanting your paintings to last 20, 50 or 100+ years, selecting the right paints really matters.
Finally, the brush strokes now all have the realistic rendering, revealing proper transparency according to the individual paint specifications. Not only will this give you a better feel for how colours will mix in the real world (especially when mixing transparent with opaque) but it just makes the app look beautful if I may say so myself.
Various bug fixes and optimisation of some calculations.
Happy Painting!

## Related topics

[watercolour reference](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/watercolour-reference)

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-07-25.*