That’s because in some mediums, certain colors like red may contain slight traces of other colors like yellow, and this can completely change what purple you come away with.
Mixing Clean Violet in Paint
The color violet is can only be mixed by the pairing of two pure primary colors magenta and cyan – otherwise known as primary red and blue. But some red and blues will result in a dirty grey color, not ideal for clematis, summer skies or sun-dappled snow. What are the best pigments an artist can use for violet, purple and maroon color mixes?
The Best Blue and Red for Purple
Objects of Varying Purple
Many objects possess different purples. Tags for this color are: maroon, mauve, magenta, indigo, lilac, plum, wine, violet, lavender, purple lake or quinacridone. When it comes to painting purple objects, it is important firstly to judge how red or blue the violet is; then its tone and lastly its purity.
Guide to Purple in Art
Before exploring the best color mixes for violet, it must be stated that red is not a primary color and neither is any blue, but colors that resemble the primary colors of printing ink, which are magenta and cyan. These two pigments closely resemble permanent rose and pthalo blue in acrylics and oil paints, and therefore can be used as ‘primary red’ and ‘primary blue.’ These two colors form essential ingredients if the artist is to mix clean purples on the palette. How to Mix Clean Purples
Purple (or violet) is situated between blue and red on the color wheel. For this reason, violet can go either way when it comes to its bias, and that is violet-red or violet-blue. Mix primary red and blue (magenta and cyan) in equal measure and violet will have little bias either way. Violet can also be either pale or dark, or exhibit varying degrees of purity from bright purple to somber purple. The inclusion of essential art pigments for color mixing will enable the artist to mix any purple required.
The Best Blue for Purple Mixes
If a clean, bright violet is the aim, blues and reds that are biased towards each other are best. Ultramarine is a violet-blue. Permanent rose is also the perfect partner for mixing clean purples. Many other blue and red art pigments are biased towards one another and therefore would produce clean purple mixes. In terms of the blue counterpart, the following would be suitable: pthalo blue, Indianthrene blue, cobalt and Winsor blue (red shade).
The Best Red for Purple Mixes
Why is violet an essential secondary color?
For artists, the color palette is boundless. If they intend to create the most extraordinary depictions of nature or their imaginations on sketch pads, many hues and shades are required. Although several artists can work with just a couple of basic or primary colors and create a variety of secondary colors from them, some might need multiple primary and secondary colors and mix them in varying proportions to get their desired effects Read More
Violet is one such secondary color that could fill your sketching pad when using the paper for painting with acrylics. From flowers like clematis to the sun-dappled snow and even the dramatic summer skies after sundown, violet makes its appearance in nature several times. However, such violets’ tone, saturation, and depth might vary. Thus before judging the tone
and purity of the violet that you want to render in your creations, first, it is crucial to find out how red or blue the violet in concern is.
How to mix two colors to create clean violet in your sketchbook for acrylic painting?
The color violet is not very new, and it dates to prehistoric ages when traces of the violet was created by crushing manganese ore and mixing it with animal fat. However, we have come far ahead of that time, and now we can get a fresh, rich mix of violet by combining a couple of colors in the ideal proportions. However, since you will be painting on paper and using your sketchbook for drawing, the bias, saturation, and tone of violet you need will solely depend upon you. The color mixing should happen likewise Read More
The violet color can be achieved by mixing cyan and magenta, in other words, primary blue and red. However, certain reds and blues might create a dull or bland violet – one that is too ‘greyed down.’ Hence, you should learn to use the right blues and reds to obtain the ideal violet that helps paint your imaginations in fiery color variants!
In this context, it should also be mentioned that without the assistance of an ideal sketchbook, all this effort might become futile. A sketchbook for acrylic painting pairs with acrylic paint the same way a good notebook with a fountain pen creates magic! At Ayush Paper, you will get the most extensive collection of excellent notebooks that enable shading, shimmering, and detailing effects without any form of bleed-through or see-through consequences. The pages are of high quality and offer adequate times for the ink to dry and resistance to moisture. Grab the best notebooks and sketchbooks today at the lowest prices!
Mixing red and blue to get violet
Before we go into the intricacies of mixing two colors and obtaining violet, we must remember that the red or blue that we know or come by is not even close to the ‘primary red’ or ‘primary blue’ required to create violet. In this regard, the colors most comparable to these primary
forms of red and blue are magenta and cyan. Magenta and cyan are the essential components for an artist to obtain violet on his color palette by mixing them in the right amount Read More
In the case of acrylic painting on paper, you must learn to work with permanent rose and blue. These two pigments are the closest to the primary red and blue variants and can be mixed in the right proportions to obtain violet.
Here, we must take note of the position of violet on the color wheel.
Violet is situated between red and blue within the color wheel. As a result, violet can go either way or exhibit a bias towards red or blue, becoming violet-red or violet-blue. Even if you measure the magenta and cyan and mix them, the violet will show some bias. It could be a pale violet or exceptionally dark violet and even display various degrees of purity ranging from bright to somber.
Thus, while using your A4 sketchbook to create a visually striking impression employing violet, you should be mindful of the inclusion of essential art pigments. It would help if you also were careful about using white to tone down the rich violet mixes or neutralize the bias to some extent.
After multiple sessions of color mixing, notable artists have come forward with a couple of conclusions regarding violet.
the best blue for obtaining the clean violet shades will be ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, indanthrene blue, Windsor blue, and blue. However, Windsor blue can shift the bias towards red.
the best red for obtaining the clean violet shades in the art will be the permanent rose.
How to Use Opposing Colors to Make Different Shades
Although the first thing you’ll think of when making shades of purple would be to use different hues and amounts of blues and reds, did you know that opposing colors on the color wheel can come in handy as well?
Let’s take yellow, for instance. Adding just the right amount of the main yellow tone or even one of the many shades of yellow can help you change purple to a different tint. These purples are usually more muted and can work out quite well.
Also, you aren’t limited to just using more blues or a touch of black to make dark purple. You can successfully utilize shades of green, darker red tones, or even some brown tones to create different shades of a darker purple.
As always, it’s best to be careful how much of the opposing color you use, as you still want it to be obvious that the underlying color will turn out to be purple.
Purple and Violet: What’s the Difference?
PURPLE
HEX #800080
VIOLET
HEX #8F00FF
In your quest to make purple, you’ve probably noticed violet pop up on the color wheel. Some people confuse the two as the same color, but they are actually quite different.
The most obvious standout difference between them is that purple isn’t actually on the electromagnetic spectrum, but violet is. In fact, violet has the shortest wavelength of visible light that the human eye can detect. Purple is a manipulated color since you have to combine two colors to get there.
Also, violet tends to contain more blue rather than being a balance between red and blue.
Precautions to Creating Purple
To reiterate some of what we mentioned before, creating purple is simple, but you should know whether you want true purple or various shades, as this will determine what colors you need to combine.
Once you get purple, you can use that to dive into the assortment of shades from lighter tones to darker ones. Just take care not to mix too much of any color. This can cause you to blot out the purple, leaving you with a completely different color.
This is especially true if using white or black, as both colors can drown out purple if used in excess.
So, you can start out with the simple approach of combining a bold red with a good blue to come to your main purple color. From there, your choices are endless.
