Do you love the color teal? It’s such a gorgeous and vibrant shade but not too bright or bold. This delicate yet rich color looks amazing in paintings, logos, and interior design. But how do you make the teal color for use in your artwork?
If you’re an artist, a time will come when you want to use teal in your paintings. But the trouble starts when you discover that you don’t have a teal color in your paint set.
So, what do you do? In this article, I’ll show you how to mix teal using other colors. So, you won’t be stumped when you need the perfect teal shade for your next artwork.
Read on to find out what colors mixed together make teal!
What Color is Teal?
Teal is a gorgeous greeny-blue color. It’s sometimes described as turquoise, but teal is actually a darker color. It’s more mysterious, a little moody, but just as beautiful!
Compared with turquoise, teal is less saturated. That means it’s not as bright, but it’s also calmer. Teal is also similar to aqua and comes in shades ranging from light to very dark.
This color is often seen in nature, for example, in ocean waves or tropical plants. As a result, it evokes tranquility, freshness, and renewal.
So, you can use teal in many different ways in your artwork. It’s useful for realistic paintings such as seascapes and nature scenes. But it looks just as impactful in abstract works of art, too.
If you’re a digital artist, you’ll need to know teal’s hex code, which is #008080. That’s handy if you need to select a color and want the exact teal shade.
The History & Significance of the Color Teal
So, where does the name teal come from? You might be surprised to learn that teal comes from a type of duck called the Common Teal. (It’s also known as the Eurasian Teal).
And as you might guess, this duck has a stripe of gorgeous teal color on its head. The name for the color first came into use around 1917, so it’s a relatively recent term.
How to Make Teal Color with Paint
When you’re mixing paints, teal isn’t the easiest color to make. But that’s often because people are unsure exactly what color teal is in the first place. But now you’re clear on that matter, it should be easier to mix a teal color with paint.
Blue + Green = Teal
As you know, teal is a greeny-blue color. It has undertones of both colors, so you’ll need blue and green paint to make teal.
The good news is that almost every paint set includes green and blue paint. So, you have everything you need to create the perfect teal shade.
You’ll need to decide which blue and green paint to use. There are many different varieties, as you know. The best blue color to use for mixing teal is a shade that already has some green undertones.
An example of a good color combo is Phthalo blue and Phthalo green. You can use equal amounts of these colors, and you should get a nice teal shade.
Then, you can tint it lighter or darker as desired. However, Phthalo blue and Phthalo green are both darker colors. So, that will mean you’ll probably need to add some white paint to get the right shade of teal.
But if you start with lighter shades of blue and green, you might not need to use white at all.
Phthalo Blue + White + Burnt Umber
That’s not the only way to make teal paint, though. This method is less obvious, and as a result, it’s not as well-known. But it works just as well!
Phthalo blue is a good color to start with, as it’s a deep, rich mid-blue. Your first step is to mix in a little white paint – be very sparing. You simply want to lighten the color a little.
The next step is to add a little burnt umber. This will make your paint a little darker and more subtle in color.
How to Make a Lighter Teal Color
So, now you’ve mixed your teal paint. But it might not be the exact shade you had in mind.
If you want to create a lighter teal color, you can add a little white to the mix. Blend it well, and see if you’ve achieved the desired color. If not, keep going, adding a little white paint at a time.
The one downside of adding white to your teal paint is that it can make it look less bright. It affects the chroma by reducing the color saturation.
But there’s another method for making your teal a little color. Instead of using white paint, you can opt for yellow paint as an alternative. Simply add a drop of yellow paint and mix until well blended.
Using yellow will also make your teal color warmer with stronger green undertones. It can also make the color look brighter and more vibrant. So, consider if that’s the effect you want to create.
How to Make a Darker Teal Color
It’s also easy to create a darker teal shade. You can simply add a bit more dark blue, or you can use black.
Going for dark blue is generally a safer option. If you add too much black, it’s hard to go back as it’s such a dark, saturated color. So, using dark blue gives you more nuance when mixing paint colors.
It also depends on what colors you chose to use in the first place. If you start with a darker blue and green, you may not need to add anything else. This method has the advantage of ensuring that your teal is fully saturated and doesn’t look washed out.
Finally, you have the option of adding a little burnt umber to your color combo. This dark yellow color will also make your teal paint look darker.
Different Shades of Teal
As with any other color, there are many different shades of teal.
For example, you have dark teal, tropical teal, deep teal, and common teal. And empress teal, marine teal, and dull teal, to name a few more.
So, the possibilities are limitless. The differences between these shades are subtle. But being able to create different shades of teal will make your artwork really come alive.
You can play around with different color combinations and ratios. This way, you’ll discover what gives you the best results.
The Wrap Up
Teal is a beautiful color to use in your artwork. Its jewel tones are striking and eye-catching. But you might find that not all paint sets include teal.
However, now you know which colors make teal. So, you have the knowledge and ability to mix teal paint for yourself. Knowing this gives you a shortcut and can even save you money (as you won’t need to shell out for specific paint colors).
And it will also allow you to make the perfect teal shade for your artwork! Once you know what shade you need, you can mix your own teal.
The best way to become confident in mixing colors is by experimenting. So, choose a few different color combinations and test them out.
You may find that the exact results vary a little depending on the medium you use. So, it’s only by getting stuck in and having a go that you’ll learn how to make the right shade of teal.
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