The three primary colors of the RYB color model are red, yellow, and blue. Therefore, when it comes to mixing blue and yellow colors, it’s about creating a combination of two primary colors. The mixture of two primary colors creates a secondary color. The secondary colors of the RYB color model are orange, green, and purple. Now, can you guess which secondary color blue and yellow make when mixed?
While the mixture of red and yellow paint gives an orange color, blue and red colors together make a purple color. So, you now have the answer to what color does blue and yellow make when mixed. Blue and yellow colors together make a green color. Isn’t it interesting, especially when the green color does not look anything similar to blue and yellow? If you look at orange which is the product of red and yellow mixture, you will find visual similarities between orange and red and yellow. So, let’s understand some fundamentals of color mixing and why blue and yellow make the green color.
What Color Does Blue and Yellow Make with Paints?
The subtractive color system involves mixing color paints. If you take the same amount of blue and yellow paint and mix them, it will give you a green color. This is because yellow and blue both paints reflect middle wavelengths and as a result, the mixture of these two paints creates a green color. However, as there are different variations of blue and yellow color available, you can have different shades of green depending on what type of colors you are using in the mixture.
What Color Does Blue and Yellow Make with Lights?
The additive color system encompasses mixing lights of different colors. The primary colors of the additive color system or RGB color model are red, green, and blue. Therefore, while green is the secondary color in the subtractive or RYB color model, the RGB color model considers green as the primary color. As these color models function differently, the outcomes of the blue and yellow mixture are also different.
In the additive color system, if you combine all three primary-colored lights, red, green, and blue lights, you will get a white light. On the other hand, red and green lights together produce yellow light. Therefore, when you mix yellow light with blue light, you are essentially mixing red, green, and blue lights, which may appear as white light due to additive color mixing.
About Green Color
With an array of blue and yellow pigment variations available, the resulting green can range from vibrant emerald to muted olive. Some popular shades of green are dark green, mint green, forest green, tea green, lime green, basil, pear, olive, etc.
The green color is one of the most familiar colors that you can see in various things in our surroundings, including plants, vegetables, and leaves of the plants. Various fruits and flowers are also green. You can even find a variety of green rocks and minerals. In arts, green is one of the most commonly used paints.
As green mirrors the lively color of plants and vegetables which are crucial for our existence, it represents vitality and growth. Green also conveys several other meanings, such as health, luck, energy, relaxation, safety, prosperity, nature, freshness, etc.
How to Create Different Shades of Green?
We have mentioned earlier that the resulting green can be of different types depending on the type of blue and yellow colors. You can also create different shades of green by lightening or darkening the resulting green.
Creating Lighter Tints of Green
There are mainly two ways to lighten the green color, such as-
- Green is the product of blue and yellow where yellow is a comparatively lighter shade than blue. Therefore, adding an extra amount of yellow can lighten the green color. If you have a dark green color, you can add a certain amount of yellow to it to have an expected light green color.
- You can also add a white color to lighten any dark color. Therefore, adding a specific amount of white to the green color can also help you get the expected light green color.
Creating Darker Shades of Green
You can create darker shades of green color by following these two ways, such as-
- As blue and yellow together make a green color and blue is comparatively darker than yellow, therefore, adding an extra amount of blue in the mixture can help you have darker shades of green. So, if you have a light green color, you can mix a specific amount of blue with the green color to make it darker and brighter.
- Another way to have darker shades of green color is by adding a little amount of black color. However, you have to be careful about the amount of black you add, because a little extra black can turn your green color into a completely black color.
Do Blue and Yellow Make a Good Combination?
If you want to have green color paint and you are wondering whether to mix blue and yellow paints to get that, then the answer is yes. You can mix blue and yellow paints to get green paint. However, you have to be careful about the shades of blue and yellow paint that you are using. This is because different shades of blue and yellow will give you slightly different results.
If you are pairing blue and yellow paints, that also works well with these two colors. However, as blue is a dark and cool color and yellow is a light and warm color, sometimes it can be tricky to pair them. When you rightly pair them, the result can be spectacular.
Overall, blue and yellow paints can make a great combination. The only thing you need to keep in mind before mixing blue and yellow is what type of green color you want. Based on the required shade of green, you can choose the shades of blue and yellow. You can also lighten and darken the green color at any time by following the above-mentioned tips.
