What color does blue and black make when mixed as paint?

A blue close to Navy Blue (#000080). Pigments subtract light, so the mix is darker and duller than either parent; exact results vary by brand and binder.

What do blue and black make as light?

A color near Bohemian Blue (#0000AC). Light mixes additively, so overlapping sources brighten instead of darkening, which is why screens and paint disagree about the same pair.

What happens with more blue than black?

The result slides toward Blue along the mixing curve; the live slider on this page computes the paint and light result at any ratio, with the hex code of every step.

What does blue and black make?

In paint, blue and black make a blue close to Navy Blue (#000080). Mixed as light, the same pair gives a result near Bohemian Blue, because light adds while pigment subtracts.

50% Blue · 50% Black

As paint

#000080

As light

#0000AC

Theory

Why paint and light disagree

Pigments work by absorbing light: each paint removes part of the spectrum, so combining blue and black removes more light than either alone and the result darkens. Screens and stage lights work the other way. Each light adds energy, so overlapping them moves the result toward white. The slider above computes both models at any ratio: the paint result uses red-yellow-blue pigment interpolation, the light result uses additive blending.

Reference

The 50/50 paint result, specified

HEX: #000080
RGB: rgb(0, 0, 128)
HSL: hsl(240, 100%, 25%)
CMYK: cmyk(100%, 100%, 0%, 50%)

Closest named color: Deep Blue. Real pigments vary by brand and binder, so treat these values as the screen approximation of a physical mix.

FAQ

Quick answers

What color does blue and black make when mixed as paint?: A blue close to Navy Blue (#000080). Pigments subtract light, so the mix is darker and duller than either parent; exact results vary by brand and binder.
What do blue and black make as light?: A color near Bohemian Blue (#0000AC). Light mixes additively, so overlapping sources brighten instead of darkening, which is why screens and paint disagree about the same pair.
What happens with more blue than black?: The result slides toward Blue along the mixing curve; the live slider on this page computes the paint and light result at any ratio, with the hex code of every step.