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Monday, September 23, 2013

How to substitute Cobalt Teal using a Phthalo Mix

Cobalt Teal is a beautiful color that I like to use for seascapes. But it seems Cobalt Teal is being discontinued, and I found that some of the replacements were not the same color. However, using a mix of the phthalo blue and green that are closest together in the color wheel does provide a perfect replacement for cobalt teal. So I used Phthalo Blue Green Shade, Phthalo Green Blue Shade and a generous amount of Titanium White to obtain a highly saturated teal that was identical to the tube of Sennelier Cobalt Teal that I had been using. To the naked eye the phthalos and titanium white mix was a perfect substitute to the cobalt teal. However, on the digital picture of the palette, since I had to increase the brightness on the computer, I could see some slight differences in value, the phthalo teal being a little bit darker than the original cobalt teal. I believe adding another pinch of white to the mix would do the trick.
Because it is a convenient mixture, you can mix it and store it in air tight containers to always have it handy.

Replacing cobalt teal with a mix of phthalos and titanium white



9 comments:

  1. Thanks for the tip. I will put to work today

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  2. Thank you, we'll try it. Is there such a colour as Phtalo Blue Green?

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    Replies
    1. Yes. Several brands offer Phthalo Turquoise and Phthalo Turquoise Light. It's a mix of Phthalo Blue and Green.

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  3. Don't you think it's as expensI've as buying Cobalt Teal?
    Thanks

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  4. No. Cobalt is more expensive than Phthalo. And typically the mix (Phthalo Turquoise) is also more expensive than mixing it yourself from blue and green.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Does an 'identical' mixture always behave the same as the real single pigment color for mixes and by itself?

    ReplyDelete