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

A cyan close to Glitter Shower (#80FFFF). Pigments subtract light, so the mix is darker and duller than either parent; exact results vary by brand and binder.

What do white and cyan make as light?

A color near Affen Turquoise (#ACFFFF). 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 white than cyan?

The result slides toward White 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 white and cyan make?

In paint, white and cyan make a cyan close to Glitter Shower (#80FFFF). Mixed as light, the same pair gives a result near Affen Turquoise, because light adds while pigment subtracts.

50% White · 50% Cyan

As paint

#80FFFF

As light

#ACFFFF

Theory

Why paint and light disagree

Pigments work by absorbing light: each paint removes part of the spectrum, so combining white and cyan 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: #80FFFF
RGB: rgb(128, 255, 255)
HSL: hsl(180, 100%, 75%)
CMYK: cmyk(50%, 0%, 0%, 0%)

Closest named color: Bath Water. 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 white and cyan make when mixed as paint?: A cyan close to Glitter Shower (#80FFFF). Pigments subtract light, so the mix is darker and duller than either parent; exact results vary by brand and binder.
What do white and cyan make as light?: A color near Affen Turquoise (#ACFFFF). 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 white than cyan?: The result slides toward White 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.