The combination of yellow and blue has been a topic of color theory and art for centuries. When mixed together, these two colors produce a vibrant tertiary color known as green. However, many people wonder if adjusting the ratios of yellow and blue can produce other colors on the spectrum, such as turquoise. In this article, we will explore the basics of color theory and take a deeper look at whether mixing yellow and blue can make turquoise.
Understanding the Basics of Color Mixing
Before we can answer our title question, it’s important to understand some core principles of color theory. The primary colors are red, yellow and blue. These colors cannot be created by mixing other colors. When you combine primary colors, you produce secondary colors:
| Red + Yellow | = Orange |
| Red + Blue | = Purple |
| Yellow + Blue | = Green |
Tertiary colors are made by mixing a primary color with a secondary color next to it on the color wheel. For example:
| Red + Purple | = Red-Purple |
| Yellow + Green | = Yellow-Green |
| Blue + Green | = Blue-Green |
Based on these principles, mixing yellow and blue will only produce a green – not any other colors like turquoise. To make turquoise, you need to blend blues and greens together in different ratios. With this foundation established, let’s take a closer look at the specific properties of turquoise.
Defining the Color Turquoise
Turquoise sits between green and blue on the color wheel. It is considered a tertiary color made by combining the primary color blue with the secondary color green. Specifically, turquoise contains higher ratios of blue than green. Here are some key characteristics of turquoise:
– Wavelength range: 480-510 nm
– Hex code: #40E0D0
– RGB values: Red 64, Green 224, Blue 208
– CMYK values: Cyan 74%, Magenta 0%, Yellow 24%, Black 0%
As you can see, turquoise contains a strong blue component along with greens and a touch of red. The hint of red gives turquoise its vibrant glow. Meanwhile, the higher composition of blue versus green shifts turquoise closer towards the blue side of the spectrum.
Why Yellow and Blue Make Green, Not Turquoise
Now that we understand turquoise requires a blend of blues and greens, we can address why mixing yellow and blue alone won’t produce it.
Remember, yellow and blue make green. When you combine these two primary colors, they cancel out the red hues and produce a secondary color along the yellow-to-blue axis. The more yellow you use, the more lime green the color becomes. The more blue you use, the deeper forest green you get.
But to reach turquoise, you need to add back in some red hues. You can do this by mixing in purple, which contains red and blue. Alternately, you can blend blue and green to recreate the spectrum seen in turquoise.
Another way to think about it – yellow and blue combine to make cyan, an even mixture of those two primaries. Adding yellow takes cyan toward green, while adding blue takes it back towards pure blue. Turquoise exists in the zone between blue and cyan. The yellow component in basic green has reduced the blue hues too far.
How to Mix Colors to Produce Turquoise
If you want to produce a turquoise color, the easiest approach is to blend green and blue rather than starting from yellow and blue. Here are some combinations you can try:
| Deep blue + Viridian green |
| Cobalt blue + Sap green |
| Cerulean blue + Emerald green |
| Phthalo blue + Yellow-green |
Adjust the ratios to control how green or blue the end result appears. You can also add white to make a lighter, more pastel turquoise.
Another option is to mix a tertiary blue-green with a secondary purple:
| Blue-green + Violet |
The red component from the purple offsets the green to nudge the color towards turquoise.
You can also blend complementary colors such as blue with orange or green with red. Color theory gets advanced quickly, but the key takeaway is that turquoise requires hints of red to distinguish it from basic green. Work from blues and greens and add a touch of a reddish tertiary color.
Examples of Turquoise Pigments
Now let’s look at some real-world pigments that can produce lovely turquoise tones:
| Phthalo Turquoise |
| Verditer Turquoise |
| Benzimidazolone Turquoise |
| Bice Turquoise |
Phthalo turquoise is an organic synthetic pigment known for its brightness and transparency. It mixes well with other colors.
Verditer turquoise has been used since the Renaissance Era. It starts as a blue pigment that is heated with yellow to produce turquoise shades.
Benzimidazolone turquoise is another modern synthetic pigment valued for its stability and clean mixing.
Bice turquoise contains copper, named for its closeness to natural copper carbonate pigments. It creates opaque, robin’s egg blue types of turquoise.
These are just a few examples of pre-mixed turquoise pigments available to artists. As you can see, professional pigment manufacturers blend blues, greens and other colors to produce turquoise pigments rather than solely using yellow and blue.
Turquoise in Nature
In nature, turquoise rarely occurs from a pure mixture of yellow and blue. Turquoise minerals form in copper-rich rock formations when additional elements are present.
For example, the turquoise gemstone requires aluminum and phosphorus to crystallize in the blue-green turquoise color. It forms in places where copper minerals, water and rock containing aluminum and phosphorus interact.
Other factors like oxidation states and radiation exposure alter the final turquoise shades found in minerals. So in geology, pure yellow and blue do not combine to produce turquoise either. Instead, complex mineral reactions create the conditions for turquoise to form naturally.
Summary
To summarize the key points in this article:
– Yellow and blue combine to make green, not turquoise. Adding yellow moves color towards green while adding blue moves towards pure blue.
– Turquoise is a tertiary color between green and blue requiring elements of both. It contains hints of red not present in green.
– To make turquoise, blend greens and blues in different ratios. Greens like viridian or sap green work well with blues like phthalo, cobalt or cerulean.
– You can also mix blue-green with a purple to introduce redness. Avoid starting with just yellow and blue.
– Natural and synthetic turquoise pigments use complex mixes of color that artists can utilize.
So in the end, the answer is no – yellow and blue alone do not make turquoise. But with the right blend of green and blue pigments, you can create beautiful, vibrant turquoise colors for any artistic need.
Conclusion
In summary, mixing yellow and blue alone will not produce the tertiary color turquoise. To achieve a turquoise tone, you need to blend blues and greens in different ratios to achieve the balance of color seen in turquoise. Some red hue must also be present to offset the green element. Both in color theory and real-world pigment mixing, turquoise requires a more complex combination of colors than just yellow and blue. However, it is possible to mix colors to create turquoise pigments and shades by understanding color relationships and using the right mixtures of blues, greens, and reddish tertiaries. With the guidance provided in this article, you should now understand the basics of mixing colors to produce turquoise.