Additionally, orange is directly opposite from blue. So when looking at the color wheel below, you can see that purple is directly across from yellow – therefore yellow and purple are complementary colors. A complementary color is the color that is opposite it on the color wheel.
So, let’s dig in and learn how to create different shades of blue colors that are muted! Complementary colorsĬomplementary colors are very important when it comes to mixing muted colors. If you have used ultramarine blue and cobalt blue you will know that they are very bright colors, and a well constructed painting demands a variety of muted colors. As I rarely use blue color that is straight from the tube for anything. I spend a great deal of my mixing time muting blue colors. This will give you one of the darkest and most interesting blue colors. So, when you want to get a rich dark blue, then mix pthalo green and alizarin crimson with ultramarine blue. This can also be seen in the black color mixing guide. When mixing pthalo green and alizarin crimson together you get a lovely black color.
So, if you want to have a dark blue that is not a very saturated (bright) blue – then burnt umber is a great option to mix it with. Not only does burnt umber mixed with ultramarine blue create a dark blue color but it also makes a great muted blue. Pthalo green is a dark color that will darken the blue/ purple mixture more while adding a slight green tinge to it. On the second line you will see ultramarine blue mixed with dioxazine purple as well as pthalo green. Not only does dioxazine purple make ultramarine blue darker but it also adds a little purple shade to it.
Also, if you haven’t already – you can grab my FREE Color Mixing Guide for helpful color mixing instructions and techniques!Īs seen in the first line dioxazine purple and ultramarine blue make an excellent dark color. How to make dark shades of blue colorsīlues make excellent dark colors! Ultramarine blue is already a very dark color, so it is natural to create dark colors with it. You can observe the difference between both blue colors in all of the color charts below. When the blue is lightened with white you can more readily notice how ultramarine blue is warmer (leans toward purple) while cobalt blue is cooler (leans slightly more towards green).
When mixing orange with a lighter blue you get a light blue that is slightly muted as seen in the second and fourth lines. Therefore, I show a muted blue by mixing a little bit of orange with blue. Ultramarine blue and cobalt blue are very bright saturated colors when mixed with white. To make blue lighter I simply mixed blue with white. You will see here that I used ultramarine blue in the first two color mixtures and cobalt blue in the last two color mixtures. Below is a chart that will show you how to mix different kinds of lighter blue colors using both ultramarine blue and cobalt blue You will run into many situations in which you will need to mix different shades of blue colors that are lighter. HOWEVER, we are able to create numerous shades of blue colors through the art of color mixing! Let’s take a look at what colors mixed together make different shades of blue starting with a light blue color. Mixing dark and muted shades of blue colorīlue is a primary color and as such, you aren’t able to create a “pure blue” mixing colors together.Examples of different shades of blue colors in art.Burnt umber + ultramarine blue/ cobalt blue.