Although there are a few blue paints that are more popular than cerulean blue, it is still a very popular option with a large number of people carrying it in their paint collection for use in their arts and crafts. Due to being a popular blue option for so many people, we often see people reaching out to ask a number of different questions on cerulean blue with one of the more commonly seen questions being how you are able to make cerulean blue pigment and paint at home.
Due to a steady number of people asking about making their own cerulean blue paints at home each month, we have decided to publish this article going over a number of different ways that you are able to make your own cerulean blue. We will be going over different color combinations that you are able to mix from your current paint collection as well as how you are able to make your own cerulean blue paints from scratch.
Before we go any further though, we just want to quickly point out that the best option for the majority of people will almost always be to just go with a decent, cheap cerulean blue paint that has been commercially produced. Not only does this often work out to be cheaper but it is also usually much easier while also offering a better end result in your artwork too.
That said though, due to seeing so many people specifically asking how they are able to make their own, we will still be going over a number of methods for our readers. Due to covering so many sub-topics in this article, we have added our table of contents below so you are able to quickly click and navigate to a specific section without having to waste time too.
What Is Cerulean Blue?
Cerulean blue is a pure blue inorganic synthetic mineral pigment that is created via the calcination of tins, salts, and silica with cobalt sulfate. Due to this, it has a high number of reflective particles in the pigment making it one of the more unique blues available to artists, and its opaque properties and bright blue color make it a staple paint option for many people.
Although the calcination of tins, salts, and silica can be a pain for the average person due to not having the correct equipment, for industrial paint brands, it is relatively easy. This coupled with the fact that the base mineral reagents needed to create cerulean blue pigments are very cheap ensures that high-quality cerulean blue paint is readily available for a very low price tag too.
What Colors Make Cerulean Blue?
Cerulean blue is one of the easiest blue colors to make yourself and can easily be made with a base of either Phthalo Blue or Prussian Blue mixed with Titanium White. You can usually start with a 9:1 blue to white ratio and start with surprisingly good results with the initial mix and then adjust as required.
If you would like your homemade cerulean blue mix to be lighter add small amount of white and then remix it to your taste. It is recommended that you do have a cerulean blue reference be it existing paint or a color reference print off to help you gage when you are close to the color. Although it is not essential, some people do also add the slightest touch of grey or red to their blue and white mixture when making cerulean blue.
How To Make Cerulean Blue Pigment At Home!
To make your own cerulean blue pigment you will need tin, sodium, silica, and cobalt sulphate as well as a few specific items for the calcination process to bring the base reagents up to the required temperature to bring the blue out of the ingredients. All of the main reagents are readily available for purchase in either hardware or arts and crafts stores without the need for a registered licence making it easier to get the ingredients required for cerulean blue than for some other colors.
The issue is that the ratio of the tins, sales, silica, and cobalt sulphate change depending on the quality of the base minerals used for your own cerulean blue pigment. The optimal calcination temperature also changes slightly depending on the quality of the minerals and number of impurities in your mixture when making the pigment making the process expensive and difficult.
This is why we recommend that our readers simply go with a store-bought cerulean blue paint due to it being quick, easy, and cheap. If you are set on making your own cerulean blue paint at home then you are able to purchase a cheap pre-made cerulean blue pigment to mix with your paint medium of choice that we will cover below too helping to make the process much easier.
How To Make Cerulean Blue Acrylic Paint!
You can make your own cerulean blue acrylic paint with relative ease as it often comes down to adding your cerulean blue pigment to some clear gesso acrylic and mixing it correctly. Although some people do mix their pigment with white acrylic paint, it definitely does have an effect on the color and requires a much larger amount of the pigment when making you own cerulean blue paint in this way.
If you do opt to take the gesso route then you can usually get away with using much less pigment than most people actually expect too. Due to this, we usually recommend that you add your pigment to your gesso in stages and mix it thoroughly prior to adding any more. Not only can this process save you money but it usually helps to improve the end result as the consistency tends to be better.
Although some people do enjoy making their own paints and treat it as a part of the arts and crafts process, the majority of our readers will probably be better just buying some cerulean blue acrylic paint instead, especially if you are making your own pigment. That said though, making your acrylic paint does tend to be easier than most people think due to using gesso or white acrylic paint as a medium making the process simple.
How To Make Cerulean Blue Oil Paint!
Making your own cerulean blue oil paint is probably the easiest option as it can be as simple as adding your cerulean blue pigment to some regular lintseed oil and mixing it. Provided that your pigment is fine enough to be suspended in your oil medium, the paint tends to perform well and will often provide you with a good end result on your canvas or paper.
The main issue with people making their own oil paint is that their pigment is usually too coarse for the oil to suspend it correctly so if you are making your own cerulean blue pigment be sure to grind it so it is as fine as possible. This is why we usually recommend that our readers just go with a commercial pigment option as it is often the exact same pigment that paint companies use anyway.
We also know that you are able to purchase specialist oil paint medium for making your own oil paints but it tends to be too expensive to actually be worth it. Lintseed oil is cheap and performs almost as well the more expensive oil based mediums so we usually recommend you just use that. If you are going with a specialist oil paint medium then it is probably a good idea to just check the price of cerulean blue oil paint rather than make your own.
How To Make Cerulean Blue Watercolor!
Technically, you can make your own cerulean blue watercolor paint by adding some cerulean blue pigment to some gum Arabic but it tends to be the more difficult type of paint to make. Keeping the gum Arabic at the correct consistency while having enough pigment in it to actually work as a cerulean blue paint is an absolute nightmare too.
Although there are other mediums that you are able to use to make your own watercolor paint other than gym Arabic, they tend to pump the costs up through the roof and a commercial cerulean blue watercolor usually ends up being much cheaper. If you are looking for more of an arts and crafts project to develop a skillset then working on making your own watercolor paints may be worth it but it is often more time and effort than it is worth for most people.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over how you are able to make your own cerulean blue paint and pigment to an end. We hope that it has been helpful and although mixing some existing colors from your paint collection can be an easy work around as explained earlier in the article, making your own pigment from scratch or your own paints is usually more trouble than it is worth. With cerulean blue paint also being very cheap, the majority of our readers will be much better off just buying a pre-made paint product.
