How can you make purple by mixing colors?

Mixing purple might feel like magic–but it’s not! You can make the perfect shade of purple by using additive or subtractive mixing techniques.

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Posted by Ashley Robinson | Mar 28, 2021 5:00:00 PM

Let’s say you want to learn how to make purple food coloring or how to make purple paint. You’ll need to understand how to mix colors! But where do you begin? What two colors make purple?

To learn how to make purple, you need to have an understanding of the science behind color mixing. In this article, we’ll teach you everything you need to know about how to use colors to make purple. We’ll cover the following:

• A quick guide to how to make purple
• A scientific explanation for the question, “What is purple?”
• A thorough explanation of how to make more complex shades of purple
• Examples of different shades of purple and what colors you combine to create them

Now, let’s talk about how to make purple!

How To Make Purple: A Quick Primer

Mixing blue and red together makes purple. The amount of blue and red that you add to your mixture will determine the exact shade of purple you produce. More red will create a redder purple, and more blue will create a bluer purple.

Blue and red are essential to creating purple, but you can mix in other colors to create different shades of purple. Adding white, yellow, or gray to your mixture of blue and red will give you a lighter purple. Incorporating black into your blue and red mixture will give you a darker shade of purple.

In general, purple refers to any color with a hue that is between red and blue. But getting the perfect shade of purple is a little more complicated than simply mixing these two colors. This is where the science of color comes in! Understanding the science behind making purple will help you make purple all on your own.

We’ll cover the basics of the science behind making purple next!

What Is Purple? The Science Behind the Color

What two colors make purple? Mixing red and blue together makes purple, but getting the right shade of purple isn’t quite that simple.

To answer the question, “What colors make purple,” you need a basic understanding of color. Color comes from light, so we need to start by looking at how light works.

Understanding light can be complicated–I mean, that’s why we have physics. But luckily, the color-making geniuses at Crayola explain how light creates visible color like this:

When light shines on an object some colors bounce off the object and others are absorbed by it. Our eyes only see the colors that are bounced off or reflected.

The sun’s rays contain all the colors of the rainbow mixed together. This mixture is known as white light. When white light strikes a white crayon or marker barrel, it appears white to us because it absorbs no color and reflects all color equally. A black crayon or marker cap absorbs all colors equally and reflects none, so it looks black to us. While artists consider black a color, scientists do not because black is the absence of all color.

In simpler terms, objects have certain physical properties that cause them to absorb certain types of light, or electromagnetic waves. The light waves that aren’t absorbed are reflected, which creates the color you see with your eyes!

And what about black and white? An object will appear white when it reflects all colors. This is because white contains all wavelengths of light and is made of all colors of the rainbow. The light from the sun is an example of white light! Then there’s black. Black objects absorb all color because they reflect no light back.

Most of the time, an object will reflect some color. So when an object appears as green or red to you, it’s because of the wavelength of light that’s bouncing off of the object.

At this point, you’ve probably guessed that light comes in lots of different wavelengths. A wavelength is the distance between two crests of a wave of light. You can visualize how a wavelength of light behaves by thinking about how water hits the shore at the beach. Waves sometimes hit the shore low and far apart. At other times, waves come in higher and closer together. Now, if you wanted to measure the length of the waves at the beach, you’d start at the highest point, or crest, of one wave, then measure to the crest of the next wave. The distance from crest to crest is what we call the wavelength of the ocean on the beach.

Waves of light are a lot like waves of water–except light waves are a lot smaller and closer together. When light bounces off an object, our eyes measure the wavelengths and translate them into different colors.

The entire scope of possible wavelengths of light is called the “spectrum.” If you look below, you can see how the spectrum of light converts to the spectrum of color:

The length of a wave of light is measured in nanometers (nm). Longer wavelengths translate to colors that appear “warmer,” and shorter wavelengths create colors that look “cooler.”

If you look at the image above again, you’ll also notice that only a very small portion of the spectrum of light is visible to our eyes. We’re only able to see the wavelengths between about 400 and 800 nanometers. That may seem like a lot, but the spectrum of light extends far beyond that range in either direction. There is a lot of light on the available spectrum that we can’t see!

The segment of the electromagnetic spectrum that humans can see without help from technology is called the “ visible light spectrum .”

Red, a primary component of purple, is approximately 700 nanometers in wavelength. Red is one of the longer wavelengths that our eyes can see. The distance from crest to crest is only a little bit thicker than the membrane of a soap bubble .

But purple is also made of blue. Blue has wavelengths around 475 nanometers, making it one of the shortest wavelengths visible to our eyes.

So what colors make purple? Purple is a combination of red light and blue light. An object that we perceive as purple has a makeup that causes it to absorb all wavelengths of light except those that fall around 700 nanometers and 475 nanometers in length. The object reflects those exact wavelengths mixed together, which gives the impression that the object is purple.

How is the Purple Color Created?

The color you get from combining blue and red is determined by how much each of these colors is used in your mix. Adding redder will create a darker purple while adding more blue will make it bluer.

The color purple can be created by mixing red and blue together. However, you may use other colors to produce a variety of purples. In general, the term “purple” refers to any color with a hue that falls between red and blue.

Have a look here at an attractive purple two colour combination for bedroom walls for your home in purple colour

However, achieving the correct shade of purple is more difficult than simply mixing these two hues. Understanding the science behind making purple colour paint can assist you in creating it on your own.

Methods To Make Purple Color

When two or more light-reflecting objects are combined, the various ways they reflect light are also mixed.

Light waves combine the ways that these particles reflect light to produce more complex hues like purple.

Additive mixing and subtractive mixing are the two most common techniques for dyeing fabric using light.

Additive Mixing

Additive color mixing is employed in the manufacture of television, computer monitor, and disco lights, among other things.

In essence, additive mixing combines light wavelengths to generate colors by layering them on top of each other before combining them with a white substance.

Also read: modern two colour combination for living room if you want to repaint your living room.

Subtractive Mixing

Because certain wavelengths of light are absorbed rather than reflected as colored pigments are combined, this process is known as subtractive mixing. When red paint is combined with blue paint or dye, it combines various wavelengths of light. That hue derived from the reflection of light is known as purple! You can also make radium paint at home in purple shade.

Tints and Shades

Tints and shades are two types of coloring that can be done with purple. What, though, are tints and shades?

• A tint is created when white is added to another color. Because it is a combination of red and white, pink is a tint. As a result, by combining purple with white, you may produce a tint of purple! You should not neglect vastu for colors while painting your home/office to attract positive engeries.
• A shade is made by combining two colors. As a result, when you combine black with purple, you get a purple shade. The hue of a color is defined by the proportion of black or white added to it. The ratio of black to color is known as saturation. An overly saturated color contains little black or white, whereas one that has been desaturated consists of a lot of both.

Consider Reading: Pot painting ideas and easy bottle painting ideas to decorate your home with pots and bottles.

When you combine black and white, you get a color that has depth. The color wheel transforms into a color sphere, with colors looking like this: What hue is created when red and blue are mixed with black or white? You may produce many different sorts of purple by combining blue and red with black or white.

Tints and tones are used to create purple by mixing red, blue, and white to make lighter hues such as orchids. Purple is made by mixing red, blue, and black. Indigo hues will be deeper, darker colors. If you want to improve your color mixing abilities while working on an art project, combining tints and tones is an easy method to do so!

3 Tips for Making Purple

Do you have the technical knowledge to know what colors make purple and how they interact together? Are you ready to consider your hue of purple? After that, you may add in a different color like white, black, or gray if desired.

You’re prepared to get started now that you’ve decided on colors for purple! Check out our three top hints below to help you create the shade of purple you desire.

Before we move ahead you can also have a look at asian paints colour book combination with code to get the purple colour combination before painting.

1: Pick a Hue

Hue is the purity of a color. When we talk about color or the overall saturation of a hue without white or black, we’re talking about it in terms of its purity. The primary wavelength of a color determines its hue.

One of the major reasons why purple is so popular is due to its proximity to blue and red. The hue you obtain at the end of the process is entirely determined by the red and blue hues you begin with.

Try these living room paint color ideas for your home for modern look.

If you’re looking for a warmer tone of purple, use a more orange or yellow-toned red as your foundation color. Warm crimson has an orange or yellow overtone. Begin with a colder blue to obtain a colder purple.

2: Choose Between Darkness and Light

The value of a color refers to how light or dark it is. Darker values will be tinted black and are called shades. Lighter values will be tinted white and are called tints.

Adding white or black to a combination of red and blue will alter the value if you’re using purple. To create a darker purple, such as deep violet, add more black. This looks pretty when you go for modern texture paint designs done in the purple colour.

3: Adjust the Saturation

The “saturation” of a hue is its degree of saturation in comparison to the amount of white or black included. The less intense a color becomes, the more white or black is added. Because there’s a greater proportion of white to color, purple hues like mauve aren’t as rich.

You can get a brighter, more intense purple, an undesirable white, or even black if you want! Because there isn’t as much white or black in the mix, colors like heliotrope or royal purple have a greater saturation.

Have a look at exterior wall paint colour combination in purple and other colours as well here.

Conclusion

Now that you know what colors make purple, the process of creating your ideal shade should be much easier! Use our three top tips to get started: choose a hue, adjust the value, and play around with saturation.

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What Acrylic Paints Make Purple

We are taught from a young age that purple is a secondary color that is mixed from the two primaries red and blue. When we apply this to art mixing colors we then can’t understand why we get this: These examples include two different blues and different reds mixed. Technically they are all purple but not what most people want to mix when they think of purple. Changing the quantities does not make a vibrant purple and neither does white. this is due to the color bias of the paint. (There are other reasons, but I’m sticking to color bias for this article as that will get you the colors you want.).

If you’ve read any of my color mixing articles you may have heard me mention color bias before. The colors we use have a color bias so they lean slightly or a lot to the colors on either side of them on the color wheel. For example, you can have a red with orange or blue bias.
This affects the outcome of the color mix and if used with the wrong color bias can mean you end up with a dark subdued purple. This is because you are in effect adding the complementary color of the color that you are mixing. The best way to mute a color and tone it down is to add its complementary color. This is great if it’s what you want, but if you want a bright purple it’s a pain in the butt!!

Row one in the picture above shows the two colors you mix and what you expect to get. Row two shows what colors you are most likely mixing. Here, when you think you are mixing red and blue to make purple, you are mixing yellow in as well. What happens when you mix the three primaries you get brown or black depending on the quantities. If you don’t get brown or black because there isn’t enough of the 3rd color it does muddy your color. Here is why. If you are using any of these colors you are not only mixing red and blue together, there’s a good chance you are mixing in yellow as well. Let’s start with two popular colors that are in many starter packs. Ultramarine blue and cadmium red. Ultramarine is usually blue with some red (although sometimes green so watch out for this). Cadmium red is red with a yellow bias. Due to the yellow complementary color to purple, this should give a dull purple.

Left pure color mix, then with increasing amounts of white.

• Ultramarine Blue (a blue-red)
• cobalt blue (hue) (greenish mid blue/ neutral)
• Phthalo blue a green-blue (usually)

• Cadmium Red – yellow red
• Napthol Crimson – a blue red
• Pyrrole Red – mid shade red with slight blue undertones
• bright blue red
• Vermillion (Hue) a bright yellow-red with pink undertones

**Note: Some of these colors bias may change depending on the brand and whether they are student or artist quality.

• To avoid the complementary color dulling down your purples you need to choose a blue and red that lean to the red or the blue and avoid those with the green or yellow complementary colors in them. These should give you a cleaner brighter color purple.
• The amount the reds and blues are dulled down will also depend on the amount of the commentary colors or green and yellow that are in them.
• The darkness of your purple at a 1:1 ratio will depend on how much blue is in your blue and red. If you pick a blue red your purple will start off darker than if you pick a brighter more neutral red.

I have heard artists say that these are horrible purples. I disagree. I actually like some of these dusty colors. You don’t always want the brightest color out there. It’s about getting the color you want though. In this case not any of these.

How To Mix A Beautiful Bright Purple

Here I have chosen a blue that leans to the red and a red that leans to the blue. I also avoided those with the green or yellow complementaries. You can clearly see the difference:

The colors I used here above are Quinacridone Violet and ultramarine blue.

You can do this with most blues that lean to the red and reds that lean to blue. However, You should avoid any colors with white unless you want a chalky purple color.

Other colors that you can use are:

• If you don’t have any Quinacridone Violet swap it for Permanent Rose and ultramarine blue instead.
• Ultramarine and Quinacradone Red

I found this video on YouTube it explains it beautifully

How To Make Dark Purple Quickly

The best way to make a dark purple is to take the purple color you want to use either pre-mixed or mixed by yourself and add its complementary color to it in very small stages. So as yellow is purples complement on the color wheel you can add that.

the much-disputed alternative is to add black instead. However, avoid black until you are more experienced if you can.

Hi, I’m Fay and I created ArtPol to help people with their art and share what I learn. more about my background here

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