How to Make Teal Paint
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If someone asked you to define the color teal, you’d likely describe it as a bluish greenish color, and you wouldn’t be wrong. But perhaps the version of teal in your mind’s eye is slightly lighter, brighter, or more vibrant than another’s. Experimenting with an array of acrylic colors allows you to mix and match, creating a broad spectrum of teals to satiate your palette and find your picture-perfect tone of teal. [1] X Research source
Steps
Part 1
Part 1 of 2:
Choosing Your Colors
Give yourself a selection of blues. Blue is one of the primary colors you will need to find your perfect teal, and artists may differ on what shade of blue with which to start. By grabbing a brighter, lighter shade of blue, along with a deeper, darker shade of blue (sometimes referred to as a “pthalo” blue), you will give yourself a better chance of creating a color that’s right for you. [2] X Research source
- Teal tends to be a darker shade than its close cousin, turquoise, but your blues can lend that element of depth and richness. [4] X Research source
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Pick a couple of yellow paints. Again, artists differ on which shade of yellow to utilize in achieving their desired teal. A bright yellow will provide a greater brightness, while a more amber or burnt yellow will help to create a bolder, deeper hue.
Grab a plain white paint for touching up your tones. Perhaps you’ve gone a bit darker than you intended, and need to lighten it up a bit. A dab of white paint can change the intensity of the color, and allow you to make smaller tweaks and adjustments. [5] X Research source
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Part 2
Part 2 of 2:
Mixing Your Paints
- You can also create a basic teal by taking your pthalo blue paint, adding in some bright yellow, along with small amounts of white paint. [7] X Research source
- Brushes and palette knives can both be used to mix and paint. Brushes are good for mixing large amounts of paints, while a palette knife is a smaller and finer way of incorporating paints together. Choose one (or a series) that works best for you. [8] X Research source
- If you want to search through every tone and temperature of teal you can think of, you will need a large enough canvas to carry out the task. If a smaller sampling is all you desire, then a simple painter’s palette should do nicely. [9] X Research source
Bolster colors by adding white. White isn’t just good for achieving a lighter shade; it also affects the opacity and complexity of colors. Squeeze some colored paint directly onto your canvas, and dab in some white to see how it can make your color really pop off the canvas. [10] X Research source
Avoid adding black paint to your mixture. While adding black will certainly make your shade darker, it may also dull and dampen your desired look. Try adding a darker shade of one the colors you originally used to achieve a similar effect. [11] X Research source
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Tips
Paint will change color as it dries. Give yourself a few shades of teal and allow them to dry completely before you jump into painting a large project. [12] X Research source
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When in doubt, pick up a couple of versions of each color to tinker with. Your level of expertise will guide you. As you improve as a painter, you may find that fewer colors are needed to do the task that many used to do.
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References
- ↑https://marketingaccesspass.com/what-colors-make-teal-how-to-make-teal/
- ↑https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH8xAeu6njY&feature=youtu.be&t=2
- ↑https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwkAHGRvEMU&feature=youtu.be&t=5
- ↑https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-teal-and-turquoise/
- ↑https://www.mybluprint.com/article/11-hacks-for-mixing-acrylic-paint-perfectly
- ↑https://www.mybluprint.com/article/11-hacks-for-mixing-acrylic-paint-perfectly
- ↑https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH8xAeu6njY&feature=youtu.be&t=29
- ↑https://www.artistsnetwork.com/art-mediums/oil-painting/painting-knife-techniques/
- ↑https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH8xAeu6njY&t=23
- ↑https://www.mybluprint.com/article/11-hacks-for-mixing-acrylic-paint-perfectly
- ↑https://www.mybluprint.com/article/11-hacks-for-mixing-acrylic-paint-perfectly
- ↑https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/questions/how-does-my-paint-change-colour-it-dries
About This Article
Co-authored by:
wikiHow Staff Writer
This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff. Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow’s Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. This article has been viewed 62,467 times.
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Co-authors: 7
Updated: November 18, 2020
Views: 62,467
Categories: Mixing Paints
If you don’t already have the perfect shade of teal in your collection of paints, you can make it by mixing blue, green, and yellow paint. Choose a lighter or darker shade of blue depending on how intense you want your teal to be, then select a vibrant shade of green, like Kelly or emerald. Finally, pick a shade of yellow to add a hint of brightness. If you want a more warm and intense shade of teal, go for a darker yellow, such as amber or burnt yellow. You can usually create a nice teal by mixing 2 parts blue paint, 1 part green, and 1 half to 1 part yellow. If you’re not satisfied with the result, play around with the proportions until you get the shade you want. Scroll down for tips on how to brighten up your teal with white paint!
Cobalt Teal | Matisse Acrylic Paint
Cobalt Teal is a high-performance cobalt pigment developed during the 20th century but the color itself as an artists colour is much more ancient. It is similar to the colour of the best quality turquoise stone which was mined in the Sinai and was crushed and processed to produce this gorgeous turquoise colour. Since it was made directly from gemstones the colour was fabulously expensive but since all art in ancient Egypt was made by artists and scribes in the employ of the temples and pigments were therefore ultimately paid for by the pharaoh cost was no object. Its name was mefkaht and it had an impressive hieroglyph that included the symbols for Horus, a viper, outstretched arms, the rising sun, and 3 grains of sand. Light green pigments generally were used to represent joy, but turquoise was considered to the most important of these pigments and embodied promise and omens for the future. It was the colour used to represent the rays of the rising sun and was said to be the colour of the eye of the god Horus. It was also the colour of Hathor who was the goddess of new born babies. One of her names was The Lady Of Turquoise. Clearly this colour had huge meaning for the ancient Egyptians but after the fall of the Roman Empire turquoise pigment production fell into decline and in Europe there was no turquoise color like this available to artists until the 20th century.
Cobalt Teal is a true turquoise colour much like the gemstone. There are many other colours available now that are called turquoise because we tend to apply it to any colour midway between green and blue but only Cobalt Teal is like the original color used by the ancient Egyptians. Unlike those ancient people, however, who never mixed the colour with any other pigment but used it pure, the modern artist is liberated to used this color to its full potential and it is very useful, especially for making greens but it has a couple of additional surprises up its sleeve.
Because Cobalt Teal can be considered simply as a light greenish blue one of its strengths is making light greens and some of them are quite unique and cannot be made with any other pigment. Mixing Cobalt Teal with Nickel Titanate makes the most delightful light apple green that is quite luminous while mixing it with Permanent Green Light makes gorgeous jade greens. A surprising bright yellow green is the result of a mixture with Cadmium Yellow Medium. Soft gray greens are made by mixing with either Transparent Red Oxide or with Hookers Green. These grey greens are a lot like the color of blue gum leaves in the shade.
Blues can also be interesting when made with Cobalt Teal. Try mixing with Australian Red Violet. It seems an unlikely combination but it makes a slightly neutralized dark reddish blue that is unlike any blue in a tube. A very pale gray-blue can be made by mixing Cobalt Teal with Ash Pink. Iridescence holds surprises too. Cobalt Teal with Iridescent white or Metallic Light Gold are delightful. In the end, however, few colors can match the beauty of this color straight from the tube and used pure just like the ancient Egyptians would have.
