What two colors make turquoise?

Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses 3 tubes rather than two: 9 parts Titanium White, 1 part Yellow Ochre and 1 part Phthalo Blue. Titanium White leads the mix. Chromilla's model predicts a 79% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

How do you make turquoise paint lighter without losing the hue?

Lighten in small steps and compare against the target each time. Chromilla's palette struggles with a lighter turquoise (#5FDEDE) in acrylic: Chromilla's model predicts a 73% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Why does turquoise look different when acrylic dries?

Acrylic binder looks milky while wet and clears as it dries, so the dried film reads darker. Chromilla's model applies a 10% value shift for acrylic, so the wet mix #70BDBC is predicted to dry to about #68AAA7. Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.

What is the hex code for turquoise?

Chromilla uses #40C4C4 as the target for turquoise. The acrylic recipe is predicted to dry to about #68AAA7.

Can I mix turquoise without black?

Yes. Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses no black: 9 parts Titanium White, 1 part Yellow Ochre and 1 part Phthalo Blue.

How to mix

Turquoise paint in acrylic, oil and watercolor, compared

Real pigment ratios for turquoise (#40C4C4) in acrylic, oil and watercolor. The recipes below come straight from Chromilla’s mixer, calibrated to real manufacturer paint data.

Quick answer

To mix turquoise (#40C4C4) in acrylic (oil and watercolor are compared below), use 9 parts Titanium White, 1 part Yellow Ochre and 1 part Phthalo Blue. That falls short: Chromilla's model predicts a 79% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out. Try the mixer with your own tubes. Chromilla is a web-based paint color mixer that turns any color, from a photo, the camera or a hex code, into exact paint-tube ratios for acrylic, oil and watercolor, using Kubelka-Munk pigment mixing and aiming at the color after it dries.

Turquoise in acrylic, oil and watercolor, side by side (dry match by Chromilla's color model, not a measured paint-out)
Medium	Tubes and parts	Predicted dry match	Drying
Acrylic	9 parts Titanium White, 1 part Yellow Ochre and 1 part Phthalo Blue	79%	Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.
Oil	9 parts Titanium White, 1 part Yellow Ochre and 1 part Phthalo Blue	88%	Dries true to color.
Watercolor	9 parts Titanium White, 1 part Yellow Ochre and 1 part Phthalo Blue	82%	Dries slightly darker and a touch cooler.

How we calculated this: Kubelka-Munk pigment mixing, then a per-medium dry shift, scored with CIEDE2000. Method and accuracy benchmark. Last checked August 2026.

Terms used here: Dry shift, Value, Kubelka-Munk, Delta E (dE2000), Transparency, Pigment code, Tint.

Target color

Turquoise

#40C4C4

Live mixer

Open this color in the mixer

The Chromilla mixer is pre-loaded with #40C4C4. Change your brand, medium or palette and the recipe updates instantly.

Open in mixer

Recipes by medium

Checked August 2026

Generic pigment ratios, the same ones the Chromilla mixer solves for. Open the mixer to swap in your own brand and tubes.

acrylic

Pigment recipe

79% when dry

Wet mix

#70BDBC

1. Titanium White (PW6)80%
2. Yellow Ochre (PY43)11%
3. Phthalo Blue (PB15)9%

Dry-down

Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.

oil

Pigment recipe

88% when dry

Wet mix

#70BDBC

1. Titanium White (PW6)80%
2. Yellow Ochre (PY43)11%
3. Phthalo Blue (PB15)9%

Dry-down

Dries true to color.

watercolour

Pigment recipe

82% when dry

Wet mix

#70BDBC

1. Titanium White (PW6)80%
2. Yellow Ochre (PY43)11%
3. Phthalo Blue (PB15)9%

Dry-down

Dries slightly darker and a touch cooler.

Common mistakes when mixing turquoise

Turquoise wants to be brighter than most pigment combinations can manage. Phthalo blue and a green will get you close, but the almost-neon turquoises you see on a screen are often outside what real paint can reach, no tube gets there. A mixing tool that quietly serves a duller mix as a perfect match is lying to you; the honest answer is to tell you when the target is asking for more saturation than pigment can deliver.

Exact single-medium recipes

Straight-to-the-ratio versions of turquoise in each medium, from the Chromilla mix library.

Why the three mediums differ for turquoise

acrylic carries a 10% value shift on drying in Chromilla's model (dries slightly darker and a touch warmer), so the acrylic mix is predicted to dry to #68AAA7. It is the weakest fit here: chromilla's model predicts a 79% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.
oil dries true to color in Chromilla's model, so the oil mix is predicted to dry to #70BDBC.
watercolor carries a 8% value shift on drying in Chromilla's model (dries slightly darker and a touch cooler), so the watercolor mix is predicted to dry to #66AEAF. It is the weakest fit here: chromilla's model predicts an 82% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.
In watercolor the paper is the white, so lighter versions come from adding water rather than white paint.

Acrylic recipe in detail

Turquoise in acrylic: tube ratios, and ml for a 100 ml batch
Paint	Pigment	Parts	Share	100 ml batch
Titanium White	PW6	9	80%	80 ml
Yellow Ochre	PY43	1	11%	11 ml
Phthalo Blue	PB15	1	9%	9 ml

Variations on Turquoise (acrylic)

Each variation is its own target (lighter and darker move OKLCH lightness by 0.08; warmer and cooler turn the hue 12 degrees toward red or blue), solved fresh.

Lighter Turquoise

#5FDEDE

Not a confident recipe: the closest mix is 88% Titanium White, 7% Yellow Ochre and 5% Phthalo Blue, and chromilla's model predicts a 73% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Darker Turquoise

#14AAAB

Not a confident recipe: the closest mix is 12 parts Titanium White, 4 parts Yellow Ochre and 3 parts Phthalo Blue, and chromilla's model predicts an 81% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Warmer Turquoise

#49C5B5

Not a confident recipe: the closest mix is 10 parts Titanium White, 2 parts Yellow Ochre and 1 part Phthalo Blue, and chromilla's model predicts a 79% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Cooler Turquoise

#41C2D2

Not a confident recipe: the closest mix is 83% Titanium White, 10% Phthalo Blue and 7% Yellow Ochre, and chromilla's model predicts a 79% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Turquoise questions

What two colors make turquoise?: Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses 3 tubes rather than two: 9 parts Titanium White, 1 part Yellow Ochre and 1 part Phthalo Blue. Titanium White leads the mix. Chromilla's model predicts a 79% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.
How do you make turquoise paint lighter without losing the hue?: Lighten in small steps and compare against the target each time. Chromilla's palette struggles with a lighter turquoise (#5FDEDE) in acrylic: Chromilla's model predicts a 73% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.
Why does turquoise look different when acrylic dries?: Acrylic binder looks milky while wet and clears as it dries, so the dried film reads darker. Chromilla's model applies a 10% value shift for acrylic, so the wet mix #70BDBC is predicted to dry to about #68AAA7. Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.
What is the hex code for turquoise?: Chromilla uses #40C4C4 as the target for turquoise. The acrylic recipe is predicted to dry to about #68AAA7.
Can I mix turquoise without black?: Yes. Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses no black: 9 parts Titanium White, 1 part Yellow Ochre and 1 part Phthalo Blue.

Related colors

More colours to try once you have turquoise sorted.