Sky blue is a light and bright blue color that resembles clear daytime skies. It’s a popular color for painting skies, seas, and other serene outdoor scenes. But what combinations of acrylic paint colors can create that perfect sky blue?
Primary Colors
Acrylic paints are available in a wide range of pre-mixed sky blue shades. But you can also mix your own custom sky blue by blending the primary colors of painting – red, yellow, and blue.
Starting with the primary blue pigment, ultramarine or phthalo blue are two dark vivid blues that form a base for mixing. Add a touch of primary red and yellow to lighten and brighten the blue. Alizarin crimson and cadmium yellow work well for this.
Mixing a small amount of alizarin crimson into phthalo or ultramarine blue will tone down the intensity while nudging the blue slightly towards violet. Adding a touch of cadmium yellow will lighten and brighten the blue with a greenish undertone.
By experimenting with different ratios of these primary colors, you can mix a variety of customized sky blue tones.
Secondary Colors
You can also mix sky blue by blending secondary paint colors. The secondary colors green, orange, and violet can all be used to create blue mixtures.
Most blue-greens can be lightened to lovely sky blue shades. Phthalo or Prussian blue blended with lemon yellow creates a crisp sky blue. Or mix ultramarine blue with cadimum yellow-orange for a more teal sky blue.
Sky blue can also be mixed from violet and white paint. Lightening violet with titanium white shifts it towards a soft sky blue. French ultramarine blended with alizarin crimson makes a vivid violet that can be lightened with white.
Blending complementary colors is another sky blue option. Mixing blue with a small amount of orange, such as cadmium orange, neutralizes the orange and shifts it towards an airy blue-green that makes a serene sky blue when lightened with white.
Convenience Colors
While you can mix your own sky blue from primary or secondary colors, there are also many premixed convenience acrylic colors that are perfect for painting skies:
| Convenience Color | Characteristics |
|---|---|
| Cerulean Blue | Greenish-blue shade |
| Phthalo Turquoise | Bright greenish blue |
| Helio Blue | Greenish blue with low tinting strength |
| Winsor Blue | Greenish medium blue |
| Antwerp Blue | Bright primary blue |
These convenience colors provide an easy shortcut to the perfect sky blue tone. With a single squeeze of paint straight from the tube, you can bypass color mixing and immediately start painting serene skies.
Mixing Tips
Here are some tips for successfully mixing custom sky blue acrylic colors:
- Use a transparent mixing white like zinc white instead of opaque titanium white. Transparent white thins the color less, resulting in brighter sky blues.
- Add white or black sparingly to lighten or darken a sky blue mix.
- Use a palette knife for mixing to prevent muddying the sky blue colors.
- Mix enough paint to complete your sky painting. Custom mixes can be hard to recreate precisely.
- Underpaint sky areas with pale blue first, building up the intensity in layers.
Paint Brands
Student grade acrylics provide the most economical colors for mixing sky blues. Recommended student brands include:
- Liquitex Basics
- Winsor & Newton Galeria
- Golden Acrylics
Artist quality paints offer the greatest mixing flexibility and intensity. Leading professional brands include:
- Winsor & Newton Artists’ Acrylics
- Golden Fluid Acrylics
- Liquitex Professional Fluid Acrylics
Pigments for Sky Blue
These common acrylic pigments work well for mixing sky blue colors:
- Cobalt blue
- Ultramarine blue
- Cerulean blue
- Phthalo blue
- Prussian blue
Avoid saturating your sky blue mixes with staining pigments like phthalo greens that can make mud. Keep mixtures light and semi-transparent for airy sky colors.
Lightfastness
The lightfastness or fade-resistance of paint matters more in sky colors than many other subjects. Sky blue pigments get hit with the most intense daylight exposure when used for outdoor scenes.
The most durable sky blue pigments include:
- Cobalt blue
- Cerulean blue
- Phthalo blue
- Ultramarine blue
Avoid fugitive pigments like alkaline and Prussian blue which fade more rapidly in UV light. Read the paint labels to check lightfastness ratings.
Conclusion
With the three primary colors and white, you can mix a wide range of customized sky blues. Speed up the process by starting with premixed convenience blue and green shades. Aim for bright, light tints and use semi-transparent mixing for clean colors. With a little practice, you can create the perfect acrylic sky blue for all your outdoor painting scenes.
