Acrylic
Golden Heavy Body Acrylics
Mixed result
#9FD8ED
- 1. Titanium White (PW6)93%
- 2. Cobalt Blue (PB28)5%
- 3. Cerulean Blue, Chromium (PB36)2%
Dry-down
Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.
How to mix
How to mix Sky Blue paint
Real pigment ratios for sky blue (#87CEEB) in acrylic, oil and watercolour. The recipes below come straight from Chromilla’s mixer, calibrated to real manufacturer paint data.
Target colour
Sky Blue
#87CEEB
Live mixer
Open this colour in the mixer
The Chromilla mixer is pre-loaded with #87CEEB. Change your brand, medium or palette and the recipe updates instantly.
Recipes by medium
One default brand per medium. Open the mixer to swap in your own tubes.
Oil
Winsor & Newton Artists' Oil Colour
Mixed result
#B1C7E9
- 1. Naples Yellow Light (PO62,PW6,PY138)81%
- 2. Cobalt Blue (PB28)17%
- 3. Flake White Hue (PW4,PW6)2%
Dry-down
Dries true to colour.
Watercolour
Daniel Smith Extra Fine
Mixed result
#9BD7EC
- 1. Buff Titanium (PW6)81%
- 2. Chinese White (PW4)8%
- 3. Cerulean Blue Chromium (PB36)6%
- 4. Cobalt Blue (PB28)5%
Dry-down
Dries slightly darker and a touch cooler.
Common mistakes when mixing sky blue
Sky blue is mostly about restraint: it's a small amount of blue in a lot of white, and adding blue in the proportions you'd use for a saturated colour overshoots every time. Add white first, then blue in small increments until the value is right. Cerulean-type pigments tend to give a softer, more atmospheric sky blue than phthalo, which reads as too electric for most skies.
Related colours
More colours to try once you have sky blue sorted.