Magenta and turquoise are both striking, vibrant colors that look beautiful together. But what happens when you actually mix these two colors? What new shade do they combine to form? In this article, we’ll examine the color theory behind magenta and turquoise and find out what color they make when blended together.
The Color Wheel
To understand what color magenta and turquoise make when combined, it helps to visualize the colors on a color wheel. The color wheel displays colors in relation to each other and makes it easy to see how they interact.
On the color wheel, magenta is located directly between red and blue. It is a rich, vivid purple shade made by combining red and blue light. Turquoise, on the other hand, is a bluish-green color situated between blue and green on the wheel.
| Color | Color Wheel Position |
|---|---|
| Magenta | Between red and blue |
| Turquoise | Between blue and green |
When two colors are located close together on the color wheel, they tend to mix to form the intermediate colors between them. Since magenta and turquoise are neighboring hues, blending them will create a new color in the range between magenta and turquoise.
Mixing Magenta and Turquoise Pigments
To physically mix magenta and turquoise, you need pigments in these colors, such as paint or dye. When blending pigments, the resulting color is always darker and duller than the original hues. This effect happens because each pigment absorbs certain wavelengths of light and reflects others back to our eyes.
For example, magenta pigment absorbs green and blue light while reflecting back red and blue light. Turquoise pigment absorbs red and green light while reflecting back green and blue light. When these pigments are combined, more light is absorbed overall, resulting in a darker, muted color.
The shade that results from mixing magenta and turquoise pigments is a dark bluish purple. It lacks the vividness of either original color. The turquoise dulls down the brightness of the magenta, while the magenta grays and darkens the turquoise. When thoroughly blended, the two colors combine to form a rich, deep purple-blue hue.
Mixing Magenta and Turquoise Light
Mixing colored lights together works differently than blending pigments. With light, the colors combine by adding wavelengths together rather than absorbing them. This means that mixing colored lights always results in a brighter, lighter color than the two original hues.
Magenta light is composed of red and blue wavelengths at full saturation. Turquoise light contains green and blue wavelengths at full saturation. When these two lights mix together, the red wavelengths from magenta combine with the green wavelengths from turquoise to form a vivid yellow. The blue wavelengths present in both colors reinforce each other, resulting in an intensely saturated blue.
The combination of saturated yellow and blue light creates a remarkably bright, cheery color. The result of blending magenta and turquoise light is a bold, luminous greenish-yellow shade.
| Mixing Colors | Resulting Color |
|---|---|
| Magenta + Turquoise Pigments | Dark bluish purple |
| Magenta + Turquoise Light | Vivid greenish-yellow |
Mixing Magenta and Turquoise Paints
Combining magenta and turquoise paint results in a muddy, dark teal color. Paint is essentially liquid pigment suspended in a medium, so mixing paints follows similar principles as blending pigments.
When magenta and turquoise paints are stirred together, the pigments combine to absorb a great deal of light across the color spectrum. Most of the vivid brightness of each original shade gets lost in the blend. The resulting teal hue ends up being significantly duller and darker than either the magenta or turquoise paint.
The exact shade of the blended paint depends on the ratio of magenta to turquoise. A paint mix with more magenta will appear more purple, while a higher proportion of turquoise yields a greener teal. But in either case, the combined color is a dull, dark teal with little of the vibrancy of pure magenta or turquoise.
Mixing Magenta and Turquoise Dyes
Dyes behave similarly to pigments when blended. Magenta dye absorbs green and blue light while reflecting back red and blue wavelengths. Turquoise dye absorbs red and green light while reflecting blue and green light. When combined, a great deal of the visible spectrum gets absorbed, resulting in a darkened color.
Mixing magenta and turquoise dyes produces a dark grayish-purple shade. The magenta tints the color toward red-purple end of the spectrum, while the turquoise shifts it toward a cooler, bluer side. The resulting blended hue is a dull, desaturated purplish-gray with a vague hint of teal.
| Magenta + Turquoise Mixed In: | Resulting Color |
|---|---|
| Paint | Dark, muddy teal |
| Dye | Dark grayish purple |
Mixing Magenta and Turquoise Digitally
Blending magenta and turquoise digitally in design software produces more vibrant results than mixing physical pigments. Colors can be combined precisely to create a wide range of hues.
At a 50/50 ratio of magenta to turquoise, the resulting color is a bright purple with strong blue undertones. Adjusting the ratio shifts the mixed color towards either the magenta or turquoise side of the spectrum. More magenta yields a vivid reddish purple, while more turquoise creates a lively greenish-blue.
The advantage of digital mixing is that the colors don’t have to become muted or darkened when blended. Vibrant shades of purple, violet, and teal are all achievable color combinations from magenta and turquoise.
Color Harmony
So what do these color mixing results tell us about using magenta and turquoise together? Due to their close proximity on the color wheel, magenta and turquoise inherently go well together. Combining these colors results in pleasant, harmonious shades of purple, teal, and blue.
However, the vibrancy of magenta and turquoise does get lost when physically blended together as pigments or paints. The colors end up mixing to create dark, muddy shades. It’s best to use magenta and turquoise together without actually combining them. That way their bright hues can be fully appreciated.
Some effective ways to pair magenta and turquoise include:
- Placing them side-by-side in a design
- Layering them to create visual texture
- Using one as an accent color to the other
This prevents them from becoming darkened or muddied. Side-by-side, magenta and turquoise have a fun, youthful energy. Their vibrant hues play off each other, creating a bold, appealing color combination.
Conclusion
When combined physically as pigments or paints, magenta and turquoise make darkened shades of teal, purple, and gray. But digitally, these colors can mix together seamlessly to form a wide range of vivid hues. To keep their bright colors intact, it’s best to use magenta and turquoise together without actually blending them. Their inherent complementary nature creates a fun, energetic color palette.
