Blue is a primary color that can be created by mixing other colors together. The specific colors that are mixed to create blue depend on whether you are working with paints, digital colors, light, or other mediums. In general, blue can be made by mixing varying amounts of cyan and magenta, which are two of the primary colors in color theory. Understanding color mixing and the colors that make blue is useful for artists, designers, scientists, and anyone who works with color.
How Colors Mix
Before looking specifically at mixing colors to create blue, it helps to understand some basics about how colors mix together. There are a few key principles that apply when colors are combined:
– Primary colors – The primary colors are red, yellow and blue. These colors cannot be created by mixing other colors, but all other colors can be formed by mixing the primaries.
– Secondary colors – When two primary colors are mixed, they create the secondary colors of orange, green and purple. For example, red and yellow make orange.
– Tertiary colors – Mixing a primary color with a secondary color makes the tertiary colors. There are 6 tertiary colors including colors like red-orange and blue-green.
– Complementary colors – These are pairs of colors opposite each other on the color wheel, such as red and green or blue and orange. When mixed, they create a neutral gray or brown shade.
– Value – How light or dark a color is. Adding white makes a color lighter and adding black makes it darker.
– Shade and tint – A shade is created by adding black to a color and a tint is created by adding white.
So when mixing colors, the proportions and the original hues result in an endless variety of new shades. Mixing a color with its complement will always tone it down or neutralize it. Adding white or black alters the value. With an understanding of these principles, we can look at mixing colors specifically to create blue.
Mixing Paint Colors to Create Blue
When working with paint, either watercolors, acrylics, oils, gouache, or other types, blue is created by mixing cyan and magenta. Here is how paint colors mix to create blue:
– Cyan – This is one of the primary colors and is a bright sky blue.
– Magenta – Also a primary color, this shade is a vivid reddish purple.
– Mixing cyan and magenta together makes blue. The more cyan used, the lighter and brighter the blue. The more magenta, the darker the blue becomes.
– Adding white makes blue lighter, creating various tints of blue.
– Adding black makes blue darker, creating navy, midnight, and other deep blue shades.
– Mixing blue and yellow makes green. Blue and orange makes a brown tone.
So with paints, having just the cyan, magenta, and white or black pigments allows an artist to mix an infinite range of blues and other colors.
Mixing Light to Create Blue
When working with light, such as photography, theater lighting, or digital screens, blue is created by mixing light wavelengths, not pigments. Here is how it works with light:
– Cyan – This is a wavelength of light around 500-520 nm on the visible spectrum.
– Magenta – This wavelength is around 420-435 nm.
– Mixing different intensities of cyan and magenta light makes the color blue.
– More cyan and less magenta makes lighter blues. Less cyan and more magenta creates darker navy hues.
– Adding the green wavelength makes blue-green shades.
– Mixing the red wavelength with cyan and magenta makes purple-blue tones.
So when working with light, adjusting the intensity of cyan and magenta wavelengths creates all the shades of blue. Computer screens and digital graphics use RGB (red, green, blue) color mixing to create on-screen colors.
Mixing Ink or Dye to Get Blue
When mixing colored ink or dye, as is done with printers, markers, fabric dyes, and more, the same general principles apply:
– Cyan is mixed with magenta to create blue
– More cyan makes lighter blues
– More magenta makes darker blues
– Adding yellow moves towards green and adding red shifts towards purple
The main difference is that black ink or dye is usually added to darken a color instead of using pure black pigment. Combining cyan, magenta, and yellow ink in equal proportions actually makes black. So with inks, the starting point is cyan and magenta, which mix to blue, and then black is added to make navy, midnight, and darker shades.
Color Mixing Tips for Making Blue
Here are some helpful tips when mixing colors to create blue shades:
– Start with just cyan and magenta first in roughly a 3:1 ratio. Then adjust from there.
– Add just a small amount of magenta at a time to slowly darken towards navy blue. Too much can make purple.
– To lighten blue, add more cyan rather than just white, for a brighter, truer blue.
– Mixing complementary orange will quickly neutralize and desaturate a blue.
– Be aware of temperature – cyan leans cool while magenta is warmer. Balance them for the desired effect.
– Test colors on a scrap piece first before applying to the final work.
With some practice mixing cyan and magenta plus white, black, or complementary colors, you can learn to mix a wide range of blue tones. Keep the color theory principles in mind as you experiment.
Colors that Mix to Make Blue
To summarize, the key colors that mix together to create different shades of blue are:
| Color 1 | Color 2 | Makes |
|---|---|---|
| Cyan | Magenta | Blue |
| Cyan | Magenta | Lighter blue (more cyan) |
| Cyan | Magenta | Darker blue (more magenta) |
| Blue | White | Lighter tinted blues |
| Blue | Black | Darker shaded blues |
Using these core color combinations as starting points allows you to mix a wide range of blues tailored to your specific needs.
Conclusion
Whether painting a landscape, designing a website, dyeing fabric, or lighting a set, understanding color mixing principles is essential for creating blues. Cyan and magenta are the key pigments or light wavelengths that combine to form blue. Adjusting their proportions and adding white, black, or complementary colors provides endless blue variations to work with. Mastering color mixing takes practice, but a bit of experimentation can give you the blue you need for any project.
