Is there an alternative for cobalt blue?
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I've just started dabbling in watercolour and I have a beginner's set that contains phthalo blue, ultlramarine , sap green and viridian for its green-blues. The beginner book I'm using keeps calling for cobalt blue to make a grey wash with other warm tones. I've been using phthalo blue and it just seems too bright. Am I not getting the correct value or is just in the wrong family of blue to be acting as a substitute for cobalt?
Thx guys 
That helps...all my "stormy" seas were coming out bright blue...hopefully I can head in the right direction now Should I still mix the indigo/ultramarine with something like raw or burnt sienna? how would i best achieve a grey wash?
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Hi:
Winsor and Newton has phthalo blue (they call it Winsor Blue) in Green and Red shades. You could try the ultramarine – I think this is a little blacker, and it might also dry to be on the granular side. W and N also makes watercolor medium to cause granularity – which can be a nice effect. Some paints are also more transparent than others – I think ultramarine is more transparent, but a color like yellow ocre is more opaque. To maybe dull down the blue in the phthalo blue, try adding an orange color maybe that will help, too.
You can get a prepared gray color from "Payne’s Gray" and there is a watercolor called "neutral tint".
Check out Jerry’s Artarama and its watercolor paint section. There are online approximations of the colors that might help you find a good replacement.
Also, there is an excellent online artist community, wetcanvas, with currently more than 99,000 worldwide members. Basic membership is free, and there is a watercolor forum and there may be more artists who primarily use watercolors that might also be able to really offer you some help.
Hope this helps!
I tend to do graphic arts with programs such as Photoshop and whatever else, including Paint, that I happen to have.
You can imitate cobalt blue in some paint program (not Illustrator or Free Hand since they are Drawing programs which are better for fine lines than dealing in colors.)
Just select the color and then you can find complementary colors, colors which blend well with cobalt blue and colors which are similar in any way you choose.
that is because phthalo is a really bright "radiant" blue. It will come out bright. If you have only the two blues to make a grey would go with the ultramarine. Good Luck ^___^
Cobalt is easy because it is a most common base. Try using
"INDIGO" blue
…..add a little black, this applies to any other color too strong or bright.
y’know i’ve been a painter all my life, (and i’m not young, infact i’m old) and as far as i know there just isn’t any blue like the blue of cobalt blue, sometimes one must simply bite the bullet and pay the man for cobalt.
Try some Ultramarine blue with a little burnt umber or burnt sienna to grey it out. You can also mix it with Paynes grey with it to create a blue/grey.
I personally hate cobalt blue, especially with watercolor. I tend to use pthalo blue. It is very staining and if you use it I suggest you use it carefully and you may even want to buy a separate brush.