When you think of teal, probably the first thing that would come to mind is gentle tropical seawater, sun, and a sandy beach. Imagine bringing a touch of that amazing teal seawater to your home decorations!
You don’t need to buy a can of teal paint separately. You can make teal paint with your existing paints. All you need to know is how to make teal paint. To make things easier, in this article, we are going to discuss the ways you can make teal paint.
But to give you a little idea about the colors you will need, I will say that you can make the teal color using a combination of blue, green, yellow, and white. You can also use a combination of cyan blue, cadmium yellow, and white. There are more of them, so, let’s take a deeper look at more teal facts.
What Color Is Teal – A Brief History of It
Teal can be of different shades. Some may consider teal to be a darker shade of cyan. While others may find it close to aqua or colors alike. It may also be considered a bluish-greenish color. No matter what people consider it, we all need to agree that the base colors of teal are blue and green.
Now, let’s talk about the history of teal. The first thing that needs to be mentioned is that the name Teal came from a cheeky duck species called Eurasian Teal. You call it Common Teal as well. Anyway, there is a stripe on their head that looks similar to the color, teal. In English, the first recorded use of Teal blue as a color name was done in 1927.
Teal was widely used in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Subsequently in the ‘90s, it became popular again, thanks to sports team uniforms. Nowadays, teal is a very popular color for designing homes.
What Two Colors Make Teal?
When you think of the color teal in general, which color comes to mind first? Does that seem like a bluish-greenish color? If so, you almost got it right. Firstly, teal is neither a primary nor a secondary color. It can be considered a tertiary color. So, we need to make it by mixing other colors.
Teal is one of the few colors that appear with a bluish-greenish look. Though there are various shades of teal, the common base colors of teal are blue and green. So, to make teal with two colors, you need blue and green.
The combination of blue and green can be a little bit dark. So, using a bright green will be a better idea. However, this depends on your preferences. If you like a darker shade of teal, you may try regular blue and green first.
But that’s not all, these were just the base, to achieve a standard and even better shade of teal, you need to add a little bit white.
If you are not feeling satisfied with the teal that you got with mixing two colors only; no worries, there are more ways to make teal. So, now let’s check out how you can make teal paint in different ways, step by step.
How to Make Teal Paint: A Step by Step Guide
We have spoken earlier that teal can have a wide range of shades. So, the perfect shade will vary from person to person and so will the process of making. Here, we will discuss two step-by-step processes to make teal paint.
1. Using Blue, Green, Yellow, and White
Step 1: Choosing the Blue Color
Different shades of blue will help make different shades of teal. You need to select the blue depending on the shade of teal you are looking for. So, depending on your work, you can choose a dark and deep shade of blue or you may go with a light and bright shade of blue.
But know that blue is one of the base colors of teal. Therefore, you can’t skip it by any means.
Step 2: Choosing the Green Color
When you are picking green, keep in mind that if you mix blue and dark green, you will get a darker looking color as a result. But that darker color may affect the resultant teal color pretty badly and we don’t want that to happen.
So, to avoid that situation, you can choose bright green paint which will ultimately add vibrance to your resultant color. However, don’t go too extreme; don’t pick a too vibrant green color. You can go with a nice, medium-shaded green color. If you want a specific suggestion, using kelly green or emerald green is recommended.
Step 3: Choosing the Yellow Color
Your basic color selection is complete, now you need to select some extra colors that will make your resultant teal color more attractive. This yellow color will help you achieve different shades of teal. If you want a deep and bold shade of teal, you can choose burnt yellow or amber color.
But if your goal is to achieve a fresh, bright shaded teal, you need to use a bright yellow color. Additionally, you can take some plain white paint for further adjustments to the final color.
Step 4: Mixing the Colors
First, take two parts blue and one part green paint in a container or a mixing tray. Mix them well. Now, you need to take some yellow paint. Take something between approximately half a parts to one part. Mix them well using a paintbrush or a palette knife.
Step 5: Adjusting the Tone
If you are not satisfied with the color, no worries, you can adjust the color to get your desired shade. If the teal color looks a little darker, you can take the white paint and adjust the color by adding a small amount of it at a time.
To darken the teal color, you can add a darker shade of one of the paints that you used to make the teal color. Keep adding in smaller amounts and mixing the colors well until you get your desired shade of teal.
2. Using Cyan Blue, Cadmium Yellow, and White
Step 1: Choosing the Colors
First, you need to take the cyan blue color. You also need to take some white and cadmium yellow paint. Additionally, you can take some burnt umber paint for further adjustments to the final color.
Step 2: Mixing the Colors
- Firstly, take a painter’s palette and take the cyan blue color. It should be three parts.
- Now, add some white paint to it and mix them well.
- After that, add one part cadmium yellow to the mixture. Now, mix everything again.
- If you want a darker shade of teal color, add a small amount of burnt umber at a time. Mix all the colors well until no streaks remain.
How to Make Teal with Acrylic Paint?
To make teal with acrylic paint, first –
- You need to take a small container and place a little amount of white color.
- Now add two parts blue and one part green color. Mix them well.
If you think the color needs a little bit of adjustment, you can play with the green and blue.
- Just add a little amount from both colors at a time until you are satisfied with the color. You can also add some cadmium yellow to make the color more intense. And if you prefer brighter teal, add a little bit of white.
You can also try a fifty-fifty mixture of Phthalo Green and Phthalo Blue. The overall amount will be very little.
- Now, add this mixture to a large amount of white. You will get a nice teal color. If the mixture seems lighter, add a little more blue-green mixture and if the mixture seems darker, increase the amount of white.
Different Shades of Teal Color
Teal has a wide range of shades. You can get easily confused by its close relatives. Though there are many shades of teal available, here are some shades of Teal that are worth mentioning.
Teal Blue, Dark Teal, Deep Teal, Bright Teal, Aquamarine Light Teal, Tea Green Teal, Dull Teal, Traditional Teal, Common Teal, Crystal Teal, Tropical Teal, Egyptian Teal, Teal Green, etc.
Dark cyan, Skobeloff, and Myrtle Green are very close to Teal color, hence you can easily get confused while identifying these colors. Sometimes, you may find some shades of Turquoise to be close to Teal color as well.
How to Make Teal Paint Darker?
There are multiple ways of making teal paint darker. For example, if you are working with a combination of cyan blue, cadmium yellow, and white to make a teal color, you can use black to deepen the tone. But black will not be a top choice for every scenario.
Sometimes, depending on your work, you may need to use orange or burnt umber to darken the teal color.
How to Make Teal Color Brighter?
When it comes to brightening shades, white comes to mind first. Here, adding a little bit of white will be effective. But the problem with white is that it will make the brightness look somewhat dull as well.
Another solution to brighten up teal color would be to use a yellow color. To be more specific, using a cool shade of yellow will do a good job here.
How to Make Teal Blue?
The name is quite self-explanatory. The color leans a little bit towards blue. It’s a deep and cool color. To make a teal blue color, first, you need to make teal. After that, you can make the color look a little bluish.
Here is how to do it:
- Take a small amount of white paint.
- Now take three parts cyan blue paint and mix them well.
- Next, add one and a half parts cadmium yellow to the previous mixture and mix them well.
- To make the color with a deeper tone, add half a part black to the mixture and mix everything using a stirring stick. Make sure no streaks remain.
- Finally, you need to add the blue paint again to make the color lean towards blue. The amount should be a quarter parts only.
If you are not satisfied with the color, you can change the amount of paints to see how it works.
Teal Color Code – RGB and CMYK
The true shade of teal may vary from person to person. From a wide range of shades, we are going to discuss the RGB and CMYK value of the shade of teal which has the hex value of #008080.
Probably you already know that the RGB color space works depending on red, green, blue colored lights. The RGB value for our teal color will be (0%, 50.2%, and 50.2%) red, green, and blue respectively. The RGB percentage is rgb(0%, 50.2%, 50.2%). And the RGB decimal value is rgb(0,128,128).
As for CMYK color space, it has four colors: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. Here, the CMYK value will be (100%, 0%, 0%, and 50%) cyan, magenta, yellow, and black respectively. So, the CMYK value is CMYK (100, 0, 0, and 50).
Decorating Your Home with Teal Colors
Teal is a great color for decorating homes. The color is smooth and gentle and makes a rich, calming environment. It suits interiors very well. If you want to highlight teal color in your room, you can use it with brown, cream, or pink colors. You can also give it a try with gold and silver colors; they work great with teal.
For example, if you were to put a landscape painting that highlights metallic colors or has a gold-plated frame; it will bring a rich look to your teal wall. Another excellent combination of teal and other colors would be to use white paints on walls with teal. This combination will bring an amazing look to your walls.
Frequently Asked Questions about Teal Paint (FAQs)
Is the color Teal a primary color?
Primary colors cannot be made by mixing colors, where we need to make teal using a combination of blue, green, yellow, sometimes white. There are other combinations as well. Hence, teal is not a primary color. It’s not even a secondary color.
As we need to make the teal color using a primary color – blue, and a secondary color – green, you can consider teal to be a tertiary color.
Is Teal considered a cool or warm color?
One of the base colors of teal is blue and green. Both colors are considered cool colors. So, the resultant color, teal is also considered a cool, soothing color.
Are Teal and Turquoise colors the same?
No, teal and turquoise colors are not the same. Though teal is quite a unique color, you can get easily confused with turquoise and some shades of teal.
What is the base color of teal?
When you look at the teal color, you will find that it’s a bluish-greenish color. So, the base colors will be blue and green in general. However, there are other ways of making the teal color, so the base color might change in those cases.
Are Teal and Jade similar colors?
Jade and teal are quite the same colors. But depending on the light, the subject, and other objects around, you may find significant differences between the colors.
Final Thoughts
Teal is a cool, soothing color. It has a significant impact on the cosmetics, fashion, and paint industries. It adds a rich tone to home decors and interior walls, that’s why it can be a great choice for homeowners.
From this article, now you know how to make teal with different color combinations, and colors that go well with teal. So, you don’t need to spend some pretty penny on teal paint cans. You can start making teal with the colors that are available to you right now.
