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

A blue close to Blue Party Parrot (#8080FF). Pigments subtract light, so the mix is darker and duller than either parent; exact results vary by brand and binder.

What do blue and white make as light?

A color near Shy Moment (#ACACFF). 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 white?

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 white make?

In paint, blue and white make a blue close to Blue Party Parrot (#8080FF). Mixed as light, the same pair gives a result near Shy Moment, because light adds while pigment subtracts.

50% Blue · 50% White

As paint

#8080FF

As light

#ACACFF

Theory

Why paint and light disagree

Pigments work by absorbing light: each paint removes part of the spectrum, so combining blue and white 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: #8080FF
RGB: rgb(128, 128, 255)
HSL: hsl(240, 100%, 75%)
CMYK: cmyk(50%, 50%, 0%, 0%)

Closest named color: Orchid. 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 white make when mixed as paint?: A blue close to Blue Party Parrot (#8080FF). Pigments subtract light, so the mix is darker and duller than either parent; exact results vary by brand and binder.
What do blue and white make as light?: A color near Shy Moment (#ACACFF). 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 white?: 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.