You can also add white paint to lighten the color or black paint to darken it. Another way to make magenta is to use the primary colors of red and blue.
How to Make Magenta Acrylic Paint? Color Mixing Guide
Often most mistakenly named “pink,” “purple,” or “violet,” but magenta has its own identity. Aren’t you curious about how to make magenta?
To make magenta using acrylic or oil paints, use equal parts of these colors:
- Cadmium red and cobalt blue
- Maroon and quinacridone rose
- cadmium red and permanent rose can mane bright magenta
- purple + red can make dark magenta
To darken the shade, use green,brown or dark green. To make a shade close to Fuschia, add red and white or yellow to lighten the shade.
It will be exciting to see what’s beyond magenta and learn how to make it, so sit back and learn with us through this article.
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What is magenta paint?
Magenta is a color often associated with violet, purple, or pink. In reality, magenta is a purplish-red or reddish-purple—a shade of purple leaning toward red.
Magenta is not an actual color like purple. You won’t see it on a rainbow and in the visible spectrum because it does not have its wavelength.
The human brain perceives magenta, a mixture of blue and red light.
There is a big discussion on forums about if magenta and primary red are the same colors and if magenta is a primary color.
Well, in CMYK color wheel, magenta as M is a primary color indeed. While color wheel many of us know is based on RBY model where red is primary. Some art students and painted claim that using red as primary doesn’t give you correct results while mixing paint and they do use magenta as primary color instead.
In RBY model artists say that red + blue produce magenta. But at the same time they say it about purple. So it is still a bit confusing.
Another explanation is that red, blue and yellow are primary color of light (we perceive colors with light) while magenta, cyan and yellow are primary color of pigments (the pigments are mixed to get new colors).
I see a big difference in how magenta and cadmium red work. Sometimes magenta works better than red, ex., hen you want to mux purples. But sometimes red will give you better results, ex.,when you are mixing orange.
Where is magenta in the color wheel?
Magenta is not included in the traditional color wheel; however, it is considered a secondary color. Magenta can be understood as a cool version of the traditional primary warm red (Cadmium Red).
In the RGB model, magenta is red-purple, although it is darker than magenta when mixing lights. It appears in the CMYK model.
That is also why magenta is a mysterious color. It isn’t included in the color wheel but can be found in the CMYK model.
CMYK color model is known for color printing, which means Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black. It is also known as the subtractive colors.
Now that we know where magenta is in the color wheel let’s talk about magenta in digital arts.
Magenta is #FF00FF (hex code) in the digital world. It comprises 100% red and blue and 0% green.
You may use the color conversion table below to use magenta well in your designs.
Color Conversion
The hexadecimal color #FF00FF has RGB values of R: 100, G: 0, B: 100 and CMYK values of C: 0, M: 1, Y: 0, K:0.
What are some shades of magenta?
Like purple and other colors associated with it, magenta has a wide range of shades. Let’s explore some shades of magenta readily available in the market.
- Quinacridone Magenta
- Bright Magenta
- Deep Magenta
- Medium Magenta
- Primary Magenta
How to Make Magenta Acrylic Paint
Pour the desired amount of white acrylic paint into a bowl, and add red and blue acrylic paints to the bowl. Next, add the desired amount of black acrylic paint to the bowl. Mix all ingredients until you have created the desired shade of magenta.
You can add more or less of each color to create different shades of magenta. For example, if you want to make light magenta, use more white paint.
If you want to make dark magenta, use more black paint.
What is Magenta Color?
Magenta is a color that is made by mixing red and blue together. It is usually a very bright, vibrant color.
In optics, color science, and color wheel, magenta is the color opposite of green on the visible spectrum. It is a purplish-red or reddish-purple color.
What Colors Make Magenta Acrylic Paint?
The colors that you will need to make magenta acrylic paint are white, red, and blue.
You can also use black to create different shades of magenta. Yellow can also work to make magenta.
Ways to Use Magenta
Magenta can be known as the color that brings emotional balance and also universal harmony. This color can be used in your bedroom, living room, kitchen, and even in your bathroom. Although magenta is quite a bright color, there are more subtle shades we can use. You could use magenta in your home and pair it with some dull gray colors, be sure to use minimal furniture and home décor. A good example of this would be if you have a magenta-colored bedspread, and have a gray painted wall perhaps, or even a gray piece of furniture.
Using lighter colors like white, or yellow with magenta will give your space a summery feel. This could be a good use for your bedroom, or even your living room space. Magenta will be the main focus, so be sure not to overpower it with these other colors. We can also mix a shade of magenta with plum. Interior designers would love a large sofa in the color plum, and match it with a magenta-painted wall. To add to this, you could bring in black and white pieces to finish it off. For a more sophisticated look, this is the way to go.
Do not be shy to mix shades of magenta with patterns as well! The color really pops off against a classic black and white pattern, be it a wallpaper, a checkered floor, a rug with patterns, or even a bookshelf with a pattern background.
If you have a magenta-colored piece of clothing, and you are struggling to pair it with something, you could wear it with something yellow, orange, golden brown, or even turquoise. If possible, do not wear too much magenta at once.
Colors to Use in Place of Magenta
We know what two colors make magenta, but sometimes we simply cannot get the right hue, or the store may not have the color you want in stock. So, after wondering about “how do you make magenta?”, an easier way to go about this would be to get a color that is very similar to magenta and just adjust it a bit.
Permanent Rose and Blue
If you do not have the time to mix colors but need a magenta color, other colors you could pick up would be permanent rose. This color is quite easy to adjust to get true magenta. Permanent rose is, however, pinker than that of magenta, so you might want to add a bit of blue to bring out the magenta color.
| Color Name | Shade | Hex Color Code | RGB Value | CMYK Code (%) |
| Permanent Rose | #e83d67 | 237, 67, 140 | 1, 88, 10, 0 |
Quinacridone Violet and Red
If you haven’t seen quinacridone violet before, it is a deep purple-red color. This would be a great substitute for magenta, it is almost indistinguishable from quinacridone magenta. If you add a gel medium or white paint to your quinacridone magenta, it will turn pink. If you add gel or white paint to quinacridone violet, it will remain closer to dark violet. So, to get the best result, it is recommended that you mix quinacridone violet with a bit of red if you are using gel or white paint.
| Color Name | Shade | Hex Color Code | RGB Value | CMYK Code (%) |
| Quinacridone Violet | #990099 | 153, 0, 153 | 49, 100, 0, 0 | |
| Quinacridone Magenta | #8e3a59 | 142, 58, 89 | 0, 59, 37, 44 |
Magenta is somewhat of a magical color, it has no wavelength, so it is created by two colors overlapping. So now that we know how to make magenta, we also know there many different shades that come along with it. This is something we can experiment with to find the hue that best suits us and what we want to use it for.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Magenta a Pink or Purple Color?
Have a look at the color wheel, there we will see what two colors make magenta. It is a mixture of red and blue, and is also situated between purple and red. Depending on how we mix the color, if we add more red, it will be more pink, and if we add more blue, it will be more blue. So, there is no way of really telling what color magenta is.
What Is the Difference Between Magenta and Fuchsia?
We will only really be able to tell the difference between these colors in color printing and design. They are very similar, but when used in color printing and design, magenta is more reddish, and fuchsia is more purplish in color.
What Colors Go Well With Magenta?
Some of the colors that would complement magenta could include darker shades like black, navy blue, dark blue, and dark gray. Some lighter colors you could use as well would be yellow, white, tangerine, lime green, and mint.
Will You Find Magenta in Nature?
Magenta is not an actual color, as we cannot find it in the color spectrum, but we can definitely find magenta-colored flowers in nature. Some of these flowers are known as zephirine drouhin rose, poinsettia, dianthus alpinus, rosaceae, dahlia pinnata, petunia, English rose, gospel rose, aptenia cordifolia, achillea millefolium, desert rose, carnation, antirrhinum, and many more others. Most of these flowers are the lighter shades of magenta.
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Larissa Meyer is a 32-year-old mother from Michigan and creative spirit since childhood. Her passion for painting and drawing has led her to an education as an illustrator and a career as a freelance graphic designer. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration and a degree in Graphic Design. Larissa is a talented artist who is able to master a wide range of styles and techniques to bring her artistic vision to life. Her greatest passion is currently fluid painting and epoxy resin art. Larissa’s love for art and her knowledge and experience in illustration make her the perfect Creative Director for our fluid-painting.com team. She is the creative head of our team and shares her passion and knowledge with our community through articles and tutorials.
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