What Colors Make Turquoise? Your Guide to Mixing Turquoise Paint

Turquoise falls between blue and green along the color spectrum. It can range from soft, pale hues to vibrant, intense shocks of color. Unless you’re able to find a container of pre-mixed turquoise, you’ll need to mix blue and green paint yourself to get the exact shade that you want. Luckily, we’ve compiled a complete guide on how to do just that, including expert advice from artists Nevenka Morozin and Jeanine Hattas Wilson. Keep reading for everything you need to know!

How to Mix Turquoise Paint

The colors blue and green make turquoise. To mix turquoise paint, start with a 2:1 ratio of blue to green paint. The right ratio will depend on the kind of turquoise you want, so experiment until you get the hue you’re looking for. To make a lighter turquoise, try adding a bit of white and/or yellow paint to the mix.

Section 1 of 4:

How to Mix Turquoise Paint

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1
Put a little green and blue paint on your palette. Glop a small amount of blue (cyan, cerulean, phthalo, etc) paint on one side of your palette, and squeeze a bit of green paint on the other side.
- If you don't have green paint, you can make it by mixing equal parts blue and yellow paint. Hattas Wilson mentions that you can also add a bit of white or black to create a paler or more subdued green if you’d like.
- If you don't have a dedicated painting palette, feel free to mix your paints on any clean, dry surface, such as a paper plate or a strip of cardboard.
2
Keep adding a little at a time to create a 2:1 ratio of blue to green paint. Turquoise contains more blue pigment than green, so try using twice as much blue paint as green paint to start.^{[1]
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Research source} Put one small paintbrush-scoop of green onto your palette, then mix that glob with two scoops of blue. Continue to mix the paints together until they're completely combined into one color.
- Assess the color, then feel free to experiment with different ratios to get the exact turquoise hue you want.
- For example, if you want a more deep sea-green type of turquoise, add in a bit more green after your first round of mixing. Mix again, then see if it’s the right shade for your project.
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3
Add small amounts of white, black, or yellow to tweak the color. Once you're done mixing the blue and green together, look it over to make sure you're happy with the color. Try painting the sample onto a piece of scrap paper—it may look a little different when it’s spread. If you aren't satisfied, try adding small, intentional increments of yellow, white, or black paint until you have exactly the hue you need.
- To make the color lighter, brighter, and more vibrant, add some yellow.
- To make the color paler, more subtle, and more pastel-like, add some white.
- To make the color deeper and more muted, and some black.
- Start small and only add a bit of these paints at a time.

Section 2 of 4:

How to Make a Light Turquoise Color

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If you want to mix an especially pale shade of turquoise, start with white or a very light blue. White paint will make up the bulk of the mixture, so use about as much white paint as you think you'll need.
2
Mix the paint using a 2:1:4 ratio of blue:green:white. There is no single correct way to mix a pale turquoise, so you will need to feel out the ratio for yourself. Start small, with just a few drops of blue and green in the midst of the white paint, and mix the parts together until you have a uniform hue. Gauge whether you want a brighter turquoise, or an even paler turquoise, and add more blue or white paint accordingly.
- Remember—until you start painting, you can always adjust the pigment ratio in your turquoise. Make sure that you're satisfied before you settle down to paint.
- Make sure to use at least as much paint as you'll need to complete your project. It can be a complex process to try to replicate paint-mixture ratios once you've already painted half of the piece.
- If you ever want to replicate this color, write down the precise ratio you used.
EXPERT TIP

Jeanine Hattas Wilson
Professional Painter
Jeanine Hattas Wilson is a Professional Painter and the President of Hattas Public Murals, Inc. With nearly 20 years of experience, Jeanine specializes in creating, overseeing, designing, and painting murals. Jeanine holds a BA in Advertising from Marquette University and a Studio Painting Minor from The Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. She has studied at The Atelier Artien in Paris, France, Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art, and under renowned artists such as Robert Liberace, Michael Siegel, and William Cochran. To date, Hattas Public Murals has painted nearly 5,000 commissioned works of art in homes and commercial and public spaces.

Jeanine Hattas Wilson
Professional Painter

When you’re painting, remember to have fun and experiment. Art is one of those things that there’s really no right answer for. So the nice thing about that is you can always be learning and trying different things—there’s not one way to do it.

Section 3 of 4:

Picking Your Paints

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Turquoise falls between blue and green on the color wheel, so you can achieve this color by mixing blue and green paint together.^{[2]
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Research source} However, Morozin explains that a more muted turquoise would also have a little black in it, while a pale or light turquoise would include a little white, so you’ll need to decide what type of turquoise you’re going for before picking your paints.
2
Buy blue and green paint. Mixing blue and green will create turquoise in any medium (acrylic, oil, watercolor, etc.). However, if you’re new to painting you might want to start with acrylics, since they’re a forgiving and easy-to-mix medium, and you can buy them in small, cheap squeeze-bottles. If you buy your paint at an art supply store, the staff might be able to suggest specific green and blue hues to mix the shade you want, but here are some tips to consider as well:
- Blues: Use a blue that is more green-ish than purple-ish. Phthalo blue is likely the best choice if you can find it. In fact, Morozin says all you’d need to do is mix the phthalo with a bit of white, and “you’ll get beautiful turquoise immediately.” Other blue paints that work well include cyan, cobalt, cerulean, and ultramarine.^{[3]
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- Premixed turquoise paint: You may be able to find a pre-mixed turquoise paint that serves your purposes, which would be the easiest option. If you start with a paint that’s already turquoise, you can also add tiny dollops of blue, green, white, or yellow to minutely tweak the pigment to get the color you need.
3
Buy white, yellow, or black paint for different tints and hues. A tint is created when you add white to a color, and a shade is created when you add black. So, if you’re going for a lighter, almost pastel-like tint, you’ll want to buy some white paint, and if you’re going for a muted, more subdued turquoise, you’ll want to buy some black paint.^{[4]
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Research source} If you want vibrant and bright, turquoise you may want to buy a bit of yellow paint to mix in.
- Consider getting different hues of white depending on your vision. For example, you might choose a warm off-white as a base for turquoise when painting a tropical beach scene, but you might want a starker, more "artificial" white as the base if you’re painting a cold and distant turquoise planet.

Section 4 of 4:

Turquoise FAQs

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Turquoise tends to lean more toward blue than green. A starting point to mix turquoise is 2 parts blue paint to 1 part green paint, meaning that there’s usually double the amount of blue to green in a basic turquoise color.^{[5]
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Is cyan the same thing as turquoise? Like turquoise, cyan sits between blue and green on the color wheel.^{[6]
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Research source} As a result, it could be considered a type of turquoise, but it’s not quite the same thing, since turquoise comes in various shades, hues, and tints.
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What are some different shades of turquoise? There are several different types of turquoise out there. There’s electric blue, which is a vibrant and lively turquoise shade that looks almost neon. There’s also blue-green, which is a soothing, tranquil version of the color, and teal, which is a deeper shade reminiscent of the ocean.^{[7]
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- Other popular variations include robin’s egg, celeste, aquamarine, sea green, and Tiffany blue.
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What is the symbolic meaning of turquoise? The color turquoise is associated with calmness and tranquility, like flowing waters. It is thought to have a peaceful, soothing energy, especially when used in interior decorating.^{[8]
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Research source} Some people also believe that the turquoise gemstone has a calming and healing power when you wear it on jewelry or display it in your home.^{[9]
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EXPERT TIP

Juli Roland

Certified Color Specialist

Juli Roland is a Color Specialist and the Founder of PaintColorHelp.com, one of the first companies in Dallas, Texas metro area that provides in-home color consultations and helps clients create paint color schemes. Juli has over 15 years of commercial and residential color consulting experience, including seven years as a custom-matcher in the paint industry. She earned her certification in color strategy from Camp Chroma and is a member of the Inter-Society Color Council. She has a BA in Advertising from Texas Tech University.

Juli Roland
Certified Color Specialist

Turquoise pairs well with lots of colors. If you want to use turquoise in your bedroom decor, a classic combination would be turquoise with orange or coral. This tends to have a beach-y or retro feel. The right pink, yellow, green, cobalt blue, or lavender can all be stunning with turquoise as well.

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Tips

Turquoise is widely considered a calming color. Use it in paintings for a soothing effect.

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You can vary the color intensity by changing the color ratios. Start with a basic 2:1 ratio (two parts blue to one part green), and experiment from there.

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You can also mix turquoise by adding just a touch of yellow paint to your blue paint. A 1:6 ratio or 1:5 may give good results.

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