One thing that excites me about color mixing is its sheer unpredictability. I enjoy experimenting with different color combinations and it has always been a delightful surprise to me. Sometimes, you get the expected result, sometimes, you don’t. But even when you don’t get the expected result, you understand the reason behind it. For instance, when I searched on the internet about what color does blue and green make, I got two different answers- Cyan and Teal. Even though cyan and teal are similar, they are not exactly the same color. So, I decided to check what color does green and blue make together with my watercolor paints. Are you interested to know what color I got from the mixture of blue and green? If yes, please continue to read this article.
What Color Does Blue and Green Make with Paints?
When it comes to color mixing with paints, we have to follow the RYB color model which is the subtractive color system. In this color model, blue, red, and yellow are the primary colors. However, green being the product of blue and yellow, is a secondary color. Therefore, when you mix a primary color (blue) and a secondary color (green), it gives you a tertiary color.
Blue and Green Color Together Make a Blue-Green Color:
From my experience of color mixing, I have found that blue and green color together make a blue-green color. The blue-green color I got from the blue and green mixture was close to teal, but not cyan. Don’t be confused. Let me explain to you first what’s the difference between teal and cyan and what I have learned from my experience.
Teal is a dark blue-green color, whereas cyan is a bright blue-green color. While teal has more green tones, cyan draws a stronger emphasis on blue tones. In simple words, if there is more percentage of green in the blue and green mixture, the mixture will look like a teal color. On the other hand, if you take more blue in the mixture compared to green, it will give you a cyan color. Even though both these colors are blue-green colors, the proportions of blue and green are different in these two colors.
So, the answer to what do blue and green make when mixed with the same proportion is a blue-green color. There are different types of blue-green colors, including teal, cyan, turquoise, and cerulean. The color you get from the mixture of blue and green can vary based on the type of green and blue you choose, the proportion of the colors you take, and the medium you use. If you want a specific shade of blue-green, you have to be precise with the shades of blue and green color you use and don’t be afraid to experiment.
Different Types of Blue-Green Color
Like any other color, the blue-green color has also different variants. Each variant of the blue-green color is the product of a unique type of blue and green mixture. So, whether you mix a sky-blue color with the mint green color or a navy-blue color with forest green color, every mixture of blue and green color will give you a blue-green color. However, the type of blue-green color can vary from lighter tints of blue-green color to darker shades of blue-green color based on the type of blue and green you use.
Some common blue-green colors are-
- Teal: A dark blue-green color with more green tones compared to cyan.
- Cyan: A bright and vivid blue-green color with more blue tones.
- Turquoise: A vibrant blue-green color, evoking the essence of the gemstone.
- Cerulean: A slightly greenish-blue color or a sky-blue color.
List of Tertiary Colors
In the RYB color model, Red, Yellow, and Blue are three primary colors. Primary colors can not be created by mixing two different colors.
When you mix any two primary colors, it creates a secondary color. The secondary colors are Orange (Red + Yellow), Purple (Red + Blue), and Green (Yellow + Blue).
When you mix a primary color with a secondary color, it creates a tertiary color. There are six tertiary colors, such as i) Red-Orange, ii) Yellow-Orange, iii) Red-Purple, iv) Blue-Purple, v) Yellow-Green, and vi) Blue-Green. Now, you can guess by their names how these colors look.
One interesting thing you might notice is that many artists do not use the term like blue-green color or red-orange color, instead, they use some specific names for these tertiary colors. For instance, instead of saying blue-green color, they say teal or cyan color. Both teal and cyan are different variants of blue-green color. However, these names are more familiar to us rather than the blue-green color. Even if you purchase a paint tube, you might find these familiar tertiary color names. Some popular tertiary color names are teal, magenta, cyan, chartreuse, turquoise, vermilion, amber, and violet.
How to Make Different Shades of Blue-Green Color?
As the blue-green color has different shades, getting the perfect shade can be tricky sometimes. However, you can get a specific shade of blue-green color through some additional color mixing.
Creating Lighter Tints of Blue-Green:
If you are looking for a lighter tint of blue-green color, adding a certain amount of white in the mixture can help you do so. However, as a perfect blue-green color looks darker, you might require a significant amount of white to noticeably lighten your blue-green color. Another way to get a lighter tint of blue-green color is by taking lighter blue and green colors initially.
Creating Darker Shades of Blue-Green Color:
If you take darker blue and green colors initially, it will give you a darker blue-green color. Another effective way to darken your blue-green color is by adding a very small amount of black in the mixture.
Experiment with the Percentage of Blue and Green:
An excellent way to get different shades of blue-green color is by taking different proportions of blue and green color initially. Rather than mixing blue and green color with the same proportion, you can take more amount of blue or green in the mixture to get a specific shade. For instance, to get a cyan color, you have to take more blue than green in the mixture, whereas turquoise can be created with more green than blue.
What Color Does Blue and Green Make with an Additive Color System?
The additive color system is about mixing colors in lights. This color system follows the RGB color model where red, green, and blue are the primary colors. Therefore, when you mix two primary colors in lights, you get a secondary color in lights. In the RGB color model, mixing blue and green lights together gives you a cyan color in lights.
Does Blue and Green Make a Good Combination?
Blue and green can indeed make a great combination and produce a range of intermediate hues. Even though blue and green are considered complementary colors in the traditional RYB color model, they often do not produce a neutral grey or black color. Instead, blue and green can produce different shades of blue-green color in artistic practice. Conversely, blue and green colors in lights are not complimentary, this is why they create an excellent combination and produce a cyan color in the light. If blue and green were complementary colors in the RGB color model, their combination would result in white light. Here, we have discussed almost every aspect of blue and green color mixing. We have also mentioned how to make different shades of a blue-green color, earlier in this article. Now, that you know what color does blue and green make and how to mix them to get a certain shade, hopefully, you can create the exact shade of a blue-green color for your artwork.
