How to Mix Turquoise Paint

Basically, turquoise is a mixture of blue and green. Knowing the right ratios and color bias to get your desired shade of turquoise is more complicated.

Turquoise as a versatile, vibrant color that can enhance any artwork.

Turquoise as a versatile, vibrant color that can enhance any artwork.

Turquoise falls between blue and green on the color wheel. It is typically placed closer to the blue side, as it is often considered a variant of blue with green added.

Try to use blues with no red color bias. Red will give you a dull muddy color.

Color Bias

Phthalo blue, cerulean blue, or cobalt blue would be good choices. Turquoise blue can also be mixed using ultramarine blue, even though it leans more toward purple.

I often use phthalo green for my turquoise mixes, but other greens, such as sap green or Veridian, will also work.

Mix the right ratios of blue and green paint. More blue will give you a blue turquoise. More green will give you a green turquoise.

Ratios

Turquoise can be warm or cool depending on the temperature of the blues and greens.

Warm or Cool

Different blues and greens will give you different shades of turquoise.

Color Mixes

Adding white to the mix will give you a lighter, more opaque turquoise.

Lighter Turquoise

For a greener turquoise use more green. Add more blue for a cooler, ocean-like turquoise.

Add a tiny amount of yellow or burnt umber for an earthier, muted turquoise Add a tiny touch of orange or alizarin crimson to get a muted or toned-down turquoise.

Experiment with your own colors, mixing your greens and blues and swatching them on a sheet of card stock or watercolor paper so that you can see what color mixes you like best.

Learn more about color mixing by clicking the link below.