What Color Make Blue? The Meaningful Color

The blue color means a lot to many across the globe. Despite being incredibly popular the color is essential in any painting.

The color is magical and all around us. The sky, seas, lakes, and most great waterfalls appear blue. This makes the blue color unique and gives it the feel of serenity and calmness.

Have you ever wondered why most love relaxing at the beach sides? It’s not only about the excellent breeze but also the feeling that the blue-looking ocean brings.

There’s also something about the blue color that catches the brain and the eyes. A glance at anything blue will leave you wanting to stay and gaze at its colorful and rich beauty.

The article offers an in-depth discussion of all the ins and outs of making the blue color and the different shades of blue. Let’s get back to the question.

What Color Makes Blue?

Blue is a primary color. This has made many people assume you cannot create blue from scratch using a color blend. It’s not true. You can create the blue color using the CMY subtractive color model.

To make the primary color using the CMY model, you’ll need to use magenta, cyan, and yellow pigments. Magenta appears as purplish-red while cyan is greenish-blue. These two are essential in creating blue.

Making The Different Shades Of Blue

This part of the article will guide making the different shades of blue using the basic color theory.

It’s also referred to as the traditional color theory. However, before you actualize anything under this theory, you need to understand color bias clearly. Let me use the color wheel to explain more about color bias.

According to the color wheel, yellow, blue, and red are primary shades. Mixing any two primary shades will give you a secondary hue.

For example, you can combine red and yellow shades to create orange. However, combining all three primary colors is not advisable. The outcome isn’t great. The result is often slightly brown and muddy.

The color temperature is the second most crucial aspect of the color wheel. It determines the coolness and warmth of your colors.

According to the color wheel, blue is the coolest while red is the warmest. The learning of colors to either red or blue is known as color bias.

Let me make it easier by giving more details. Blue is one of the primary colors in light green. Therefore this makes the light green color lean toward blue, which is a cooler shade.

At the same time, red is one of the essential colors in vibrant orange. Therefore, orange leans towards red which is warmer.

Colors That Make Blue Warm

You’ll need two primary colors to make blue warmer. These are burnt sienna and alizarin crimson.

Burnt sienna is a shed of red but is warmer and darker than alizarin. Alizarin is also a shed or red and is slightly purple and very warm. The somewhat purple color means that alizarin contains some blue color.

The effects of alizarin and burnt sienna will differ depending on the type of blue you’ll use. To make a warmer blue, you should use the kind of blue that’s already warm. For example, there are cobalt blue and ultramarine blue.

A combination of alizarin and ultramarine blue will give a quite purple and very dark blue color. In case you want to get a vibrant and warmer blue, mix cobalt blue and alizarin crimson.

Burnt sienna is another shade of red. It’s warmer and darker than alizarin. These properties make it the best option for creating a much darker and warmer blue.

According to the color wheel, the burnt sienna is cooler compared to alizarin. Using it will produce a little cooler blue.

Colors That Make Blue Cool

The best way to make blue cool is by adding a splash of green to it. There are several shades of green, and you must be particular about the type of shade.

Cadmium green and Veronese green will give you a cool green. Veronese green is calm and bright. This makes it perfect for creating cool blue color.

The combination of ultramarine blue and Veronese green forms a slightly darker but cool blue color.

In contrast, the combination of cobalt blue and Veronese green creates a bright and light cool blue.

When you compare cadmium green and Veronese green, cadmium is a little warmer. It’s because Veronese contains some red in it.

The combination of ultramarine blue and cadmium will give a cool but slightly muted blue color. In contrast, the cobalt blue and cadmium mixture will provide a brighter and much lighter blue hue.

Colors That Make Light Blue

The best way to create light blue is by adding white to it—a combination of white and ultramarine blue forms a great cornflower blue.

In contrast, the combination of white and cobalt blue will give a much brighter and light blue. Adding yellow to your blue color is another way of lightening your blue. However, the yellow color is not commonly used to make blue light.

Colors That Make Dark Blue

There are three real options for darkening blue. It depends on the type of dark blue you want: warm dark blue, cool dark blue, or dark muted blue.

The three colors that can be used to darken blue are dioxazine purple, burnt umber, and phthalo green.

Mixing dioxazine purple with ultramarine will produce the dark muted shade of blue. Another fantastic option is the burnt will create a dark blue color.

That’s when combined with both ultramarine and cobalt blue. If you need a very dark blue color, the dark umber is the best to use.

The last option is using the combination of alizarin crimson and phthalo green. The two do have the same effects as burnt umber and will generate the same results.

What Makes Blue A Meaningful Color?

The colors do have emotional imprints. The different shades of blue have different emotional meanings to the different cultures around the globe.

It has many importance and associations with several things such as loneliness, misery, and many more.

Let me explore the meaning of blue and its shades in some of the cultures around the globe. In western cultures, the blue color is associated with joyous occasions such as weddings. In contrast, to Iranians, the blue color signifies mourning.

Blue For Royalty, Trust, and Calm

Throughout history, the blue color has been associated with tranquility and peace. Most scientific researches show that the association is somewhat wired to our brains. In addition, the blue color does create a feeling of positivity and relaxation.

The research also claims that light blue shade triggers the brain to produce chemicals that help in relaxation.

A rather interesting fact is that during relaxation, the blue shades help reduce metabolism and appetite.

Another association between blue and human psychology is it boosts the feeling of balance and self-expression. The deep blue color ignites this. It creates a sense of confidence and trust.

A blue cerulean was associated with royalty. In the olden days and even today, people say the royals have blue blood, which means they do not equal the ordinary citizen.

It’s also linked with power, trust, and unity. In the corporate world, blue is primarily used in workspaces to create a feel. Also, most workers tend to wear blue suits.

Blue to Represent Sadness and Loneliness

As much as the blue color has been associated with most positive things, it also represents some negative emotions.

In some cultures, like the Iranian culture, the blue color is associated with sadness and mourning. However, the negative feelings associated with blue are cultural.

The negative beliefs about the blue color have been passed through generations. The color also makes us feel a little bit melancholy.

Mostly you will hear people say “Feeling blue,” meaning they are not in their best moods. The darker and lighter shades of blue can also make us feel lonely or depressed.

The English language has many phrases that link sad emotions to the blue color. For example, when one is depressed about work after long weekends or vacation, they refer to the feeling as “blue Monday.”

Another thing is the “blues,” a music genre created in the Americas during slavery. This kind of music was loved by black Americans who were fighting for their freedom.

Conclusion

The blue color is a primary color. Therefore many believe that it cannot be created using other colors. However, that’s not true. The blue color can be formed by using two unique colors, which are mentioned in the article.

In addition, there is a lot of freedom when it comes to creating the different shades of blue. All you need is to master some of the simple tricks that are required to develop a particular shade of blue.