How To Make Mint Green Paint

Green paint is versatile and popular among art enthusiasts and professional painters.

Mint green is one of the shades of green that have caught on in popularity recently, even though it has been used for ages. 

But you may not find mint green paint readily available in the shops for your projects.

You must create your mint green paint in your preferred shade, which is easy if you mix it. 

This guide walks you through making mint green paint and touches on everything you need to know about this popular green color.

How To Make Mint Green Paint

To make mint green paint, mix your primary colors, blue and yellow, to create a secondary color, green. Then, add white to achieve the desired mint green shade. Alternatively, you can mix green paint with white and darken it slightly by adding a touch of blue if needed.

What Color Is Mint Green?

Mint green is a mint pastel color consisting of blue, green, and white undertones.

It is a subdued shade of green that lacks the vibrancy of the mint plant leaves, contrary to what the name might suggest.

While the mint plant leaves are intense and vibrant, the mint green color is more subdued and subtle in its green tone.

Depending on the amounts of each constituent color mixed, you can get varying strengths of this color.

The mint green color resembles seafoam green and can be mistaken for the latter.

However, the two colors differ because seafoam green is lighter and more neutral. They also have different hex codes.  

• Analogous Mint Colors

Analogous colors sit right next to one another on the color wheel. They are groups of colors that appear next to each other due to their close similarities. Looking at analogous colors gives off a relaxing feeling. 

For mint green color, the analogous colors are the other shades of green such as seafoam, that resemble the mint green color. 

• Complementary Mint Colors

Complementary colors or ‘opposite colors’ are those that sit opposite each other on the color wheel. 

When you place complementary colors next to one another, they create the strongest contrast.

You can use contrasting colors to make certain elements in a room, such as accent pieces, stand out against a background.

A moderate shade of pink is complementary to mint green and will make it pop or stand out when used together. 

What Colors Make Mint Green Paint?

The colors that make mint green paint are blue, yellow, and white. Blue is the largest part of the mint green color, followed by yellow.

White is only added in a small amount to bring out the mint green shade.

If you already have green paint, mix in some titanium white to make it mint green. So the colors used to make mint green will depend on what you have to begin with. 

How to Make Mint Green Paint Step by Step

Now that you know the colors that make mint green, it’s time to make it by mixing the constituent colors. 

It is best to presume you do not have any secondary colors. So we start by making green from blue and yellow. 

Once we have the right green shade, we add some titanium white to make it mint green. You must mix the yellow and blue paints thoroughly before adding white.

If the color has more blue undertones, add more yellow. If it looks yellow, add more blue to balance it out. 

That said, here is how to make your own custom shade of mint green paint from scratch using primary colors and other shades of green.   

Step 1: Mix 1 part blue paint with 2 parts yellow to make a basic green. 

You can use a ceramic bowl or a glass plate, whichever you have on hand. And a paintbrush, which every painter should have, should do the trick.

Add 1 part of blue paint to the bowl, followed by two parts of yellow paint, and use the painter’s brush to mix them.

The brush size to use will depend on the amount of paint mixed. Do not use a big brush mix, just a small amount of paint, as it will soak up the paint. 

Alternatively, you can combine and mix the colors with a palette knife. Whichever tool you use, ensure you stir the mixture until no streaks remain in the paint blend. 

You will know it is time to stop stirring when the blue and yellow colors disappear, completely replaced by vibrant, classic green paint. 

Step 2: Balance out the green color

Depending on how you approached your measurements, you might notice that the paint mixture exhibits more yellow undertones.

If this happens, add more blue paint to neutralize the excesses and achieve perfect green.

If the paint exhibits more blue undertones than yellow noticeable by its bluish tint, add a little yellow paint to balance the color.

The idea is to add only a bit and mix, then observe before adding more. 

Step 3: Add in some titanium white and mix to create mint green 

Now that you have your green paint and white, it is time to create your mint green paint by lightening the green with white.

Add titanium white paint to the bowl or dish containing green paint and stir them to mix. 

You can complete this task with a painter’s brush or palate knife. Your chosen applicator notwithstanding, ensure you add only a little white paint at a time and observe as you go.

Keep adding and mixing until you find the shade of green mint you want.

It is best to add the paint a little at a time and not a lot at once because you can always add more of the paint, but you cannot remove it once added. 

Step 4: Adjust the mint green with small amounts of blue or white if desired.

Your color mixing should end at the third step above. However, suppose the color looks too light for your liking; you can add a bit of blue to balance it.

Remember that mint green is a subdued shade of palate green, but it must remain bright and lively, just not bright green. 

This means you can have more blue undertones than green-yellow if necessary.

How much blue, yellow, and white you add ultimately depends on your preferred result, so do not shy off from playing around with the ratios until you achieve what you are looking for. 

Note: Working with a lighter shade of blue such as cobalt blue, will give you better results than any dark blue or dark green shade.

The same rule applies to the yellow color you work with. Go for something like Hansa yellow or Indian yellow for the best results. For white, titanium white is the best. 

How Do You Darken Mint Green Paint?

Once you have your mint green paint, darkening it should be a walk in the park. Add a mid-toned blue shade to darken the mint green paint.

I recommend cobalt blue as it produces the best results. Avoid using black or any other dark-colored paint when darkening mint green.

The mint green color is a very light, subdued shade of green, and adding in a dark color, such as dark brown or black, will result in a completely different color, such as sage green.

Sage and mint green have different properties (sage vs mint green), so we discourage using that approach.

Read more: How to get sage green color.

If you do not have cobalt blue on hand, go for any similar shade of blue and add it in a tiny bit at a time to darken your mint green paint. 

Is Mint Green a Blue or Green Color?

While mint green has significant blue undertones, it is still green, not blue. Blue paint is just one of the primary colors that constitute mint green.

Just like pale green, Mint green is often mistaken for a shade of blue, while it is indeed a shade of green. 

A thin line separates mint blue vs mint green. Mint green is confused with mint blue, but the latter is a cooler color, while mint green has a warmer tone. Also, mint blue is a shade of blue color, so do not confuse the two. 

How to Make Mint Green Acrylic Paint 

To make mint green acrylic paint, you must follow a simple procedure to get the paint ready. But first, here is the list of things you will need

• Mint green pigment powder
• An acrylic-based medium such as clear or white gesso acrylic. 
• Stirring stick or mixing tool
• Mixing container 

Once you have the supplies needed, make your mint green acrylic paint by following the steps below: 

• Add the amount of gesso into your mixing container. The container can be a ceramic bowl for a small amount of acrylic paint. However, if you need a large amount of acrylic paint, use an actual mixing container with enough room to accommodate the paint. 
• Add the mint green pigment powder a little at a time, and stir as you go. 
• Repeat adding the pigment and stirring until you are happy with the mint green acrylic paint color created. 

How to Make Mint Green Oil Paint

To make your own mint green oil paint, pour your preferred oil medium into a mixing container, add in your mint green pigment powder a little at a time, and mix until you have found your preferred green oil paint color and consistency.

Naturally, you will need the following supplies: 

• Mint green paint powder
• Your preferred oil medium 
• Mixing tool
• Mixing container or ceramic bowl for a small amount of oil paint 

Consider using linseed oil as the oil medium for your paint. Linseed oil is the base for most oil-based finishes, including paints, polyurethanes, and wood stains.

So it should do a good job. Otherwise, you can ask your paint powder supplier for a recommendation. 

Notice that you will need just a small amount of mint green paint powder to create the oil paint you need.

So keep an eye out not to mess up the consistency and color of your mint green oil paint with too much pigment. 

Mint Green Color Combinations 

Your mint green color combinations generally depend on the look you want. If you want something relaxing to look at, go for analogous colors of mint green. 

On the other hand, if you want contrast, go for complementary colors of mint green to create dramatic contrast in your design.

Analogous colors of mint green that you can use in your design include other shades of green such as seafoam green.

You can also combine your mint green with lilac and blue to create the same soft and soothing visual effect in your design.

Mint green is pretty versatile. So you can also pair it with contrasting colors to create a dramatic effect.

Some exciting colors to complement your mint green include the various shades of pink on the color wheel. 

Pairing mint green with dark shades like hunter green and forest green creates a striking and balanced combination.

Is hunter green the same as forest green? Find out.

What Shades of Mint Green Are There?

The various shades of mint green are light, dark, and neo mint. These colors create a monochromatic color scheme when used or placed together.

These colors are pretty popular in interior design today and are worth considering for your painting or art projects.

What Hue Is Mint? 

The mint color can vary in hue depending on the shades of paint used to make it.

Mint paint, for instance, is a light greenish-blue paint with hues ranging from greenish-blue to light green with a hint of grey.

Any of these hues will vary in intensity depending on what colors constitute the mint shade. 

The colors constituting the mint include color blue and green so that they will have subdued tones in both green and blue.

FAQs

How To Make Mint Green Paint: Conclusion 

Mint green has become increasingly popular in interior design and several other areas of paint use.

It is now a dominant choice in crafts and professional arts, making it easy to see sense behind the growing desire to know how to make mint green paint. 

This article has described an easy way to make mint green paint from the primary colors making it based on color theory.

The article has also described making mint green acrylic and oil paints from commercially available mint green powder paint.

We have also answered some common questions about this popular shade of green. We hope this helps you out. 

If you have any questions or additions, drop them in the comments; we will happily respond promptly.