When we mix orange and purple in lights, we get a dark orange with pink undertones within a color gradient that runs through shades of red-orange, red, and magenta.
How to Make Purple Paint to Create Shades With Perfection
While working on a painting, you suddenly find that you are missing the appropriate shade of purple for your project. Your best solution, in such a situation, is to know how to mix other colors on the pallet to get the perfect shade of purple that you wanted. Let’s check out a few techniques on how to make purple paint at home.
Home / Uncategorized / How to Make Purple Paint to Create Shades With Perfection
While working on a painting, you suddenly find that you are missing the appropriate shade of purple for your project. Your best solution, in such a situation, is to know how to mix other colors on the pallet to get the perfect shade of purple that you wanted. Let’s check out a few techniques on how to make purple paint at home.
Quick Tip!
To create bright and luminous shades of any color, make sure that the colors that you are mixing are manufactured using very few pigments, the best being the ones made with one pigment. Most good quality paints have the pigments mentioned on the labels.
To be a good artist and create paintings that will create interest, it is important that one knows how to mix colors properly, so that they are able to use any shade that they can think of. Primary colors red, yellow, and blue can be used to create secondary colors, which can be further mixed to create tertiary colors.
Purple is a bright and vibrant color, that comes in many shades. It is a secondary color, created mostly by mixing the primary colors red and blue. Although most stationary and art stores stock the ready-made version of this color, it is quite easy to create one at home in emergencies. This also has the added advantage of being able to create you own shade of purple. Creating your own paint will save you money, especially if you paint regularly. Learning and remembering this process requires practice and a lot of experimentation. Let’s see which colors one should use to get a purple color.
Which Two Colors Make Purple
True Red and Blue:
- First make sure that the red and blue colors you are using are actually true colors. This is because, reds and blues made with a combination of pigments will not create purple, but a dark black or brownish shade.
- Check to see if your red looks slightly yellow or orange, and if the blue has a tinge of yellow or green. Such colors are not true colors.
- To be absolutely sure, mix your red and blue with white in separate parts of the pallet. The red should turn into pink, not peach, and the blue should become sky blue, rather than a light green-blue.
- For rich dark purple shades, add more blue, and for warm brighter shades, add extra red.
Magenta and Cyan:
- This is the best way to get a bright and beautiful color, which you cannot get by mixing red and blue. This is because, red paint absorbs red and blue light, while blue paint absorbs red and green light. Since the human eye is equipped to see in only red green and blue, you end up seeing a dark (almost black) purple color.
- Magenta and cyan paint absorb only green and red light, respectively. This allows your eyes to get a better color input, and you see a bright, vibrant purple color.
- Mixing magenta and cyan in varying proportions results in a wide range of purple and blue shades.
Changing Shades in Purple Paint:
- Adding white to purple paint will make the shade lighter. However, add white in small amounts to get the right shade. Equal amounts of purple and white will give you a pastel color.
- To make your purple darker, you can add a very small amount of black, or you can mix in some yellow/lime green which will give a rich, dark shade. If you add too much black to the purple, it can be difficult to rectify the error, so it is important that you are careful.
- Mixing small amounts of black and white in various proportions will result in a gray-lavender color of varied brightness.
Making Purple in Water Colors
To create a purple water color, it is important that you mix a blue that reacts well to reds, and a red that reacts well to blues.
Blue Shades with Red Bias:
- Brilliant blue
- Victoria blue
- Cobalt blue
- Verditer blue
- Cyanine blue
- Ultramarine blue
- Mountain blue
- Indigo
Red Shades with Blue Bias:
- Scarlet lake red
- Magenta
- Alzarin crimson
- Rhodamine red
- Carmine red
- Rose madder red
- Crimson lake red
- Opera red
These color combinations work well with acrylic paints as well.
What Do Blue and Purple Make? Color Mixing…
The next exploration in our color mixing chart adventures is one of my all-time favorite combinations. It’s the answer to the question, “What do blue and purple make when the colors are mixed together?”
As background, I’m an artist and teacher, and I do hands-on illustrations in these tutorials to help explain what happens when paint hues are mixed — such as figuring out what red and green make. Here’s my first drawing from our purple plus blue experiment, showing the beauty that results from just swirling together the two pigments…
What Does Purple and Blue Make?
Unlike the answer to the question, “What do blue and red make?” which pretty much has just one answer (purple), the correct response to what blue and purple make is a more complicated one. Why is that?
Well, the former color combination of the two listed above is a mix of two primary colors (red and blue), which yields a secondary color (purple). The latter combo, however, is an example of tertiary or intermediate colors made from mixing a primary color (in this case, blue) with a secondary color (purple). This tends to introduce more variations of results, as the “ingredient colors can vary.
Another complication is that sometimes the secondary color I’m calling purple is labeled “violet” on certain color wheels. But what’s the official answer to the question of blue plus purple?
Making Violet Color
The technical name for the tertiary color formed by 50% true primary color blue plus 50% true secondary color purple is blue-purple. More commonly, this combination is known as the color violet (sometimes called blue-violet, in versions of color wheels that call the color I’m labeling “purple” here as “violet” instead).
Because blue and purple are next to each other on the color wheel, they are known as “analogous colors,” and thus the resulting intermediate color from their mix is a bright and happy combination right between the two hues. In contrast, orange and purple are complimentary colors — colors that sit across from each other in the color wheel — and thus cancel each other’s brightness out when mixed, forming a muddy brown, gray, or even black.
Other bright, clear, and happy intermediate colors like violet include magenta (what red and purple make), teal (what blue and green make), chartreuse (what green and yellow make), and amber (what orange and yellow make).
Periwinkle, Indigo, Lilac, and Lavender
But wait — it’s not just violet that blue and purple produce when mixed, because we all know that the “ingredient” colors are usually not perfectly pure, and the ratios are rarely 50-50. So what are some other resulting colors from this combination? In my illustrations above and below, you can see the range of beautiful blue-purple and blue-violet hues that come from playing with different shades and types of pigments coming together.
Periwinkle is a personal favorite resulting color from the mix: it is a lighter blue with a dash of purple — pictured in the second line from the bottom in my drawing above. The colors lilac and lavender are the same idea in that they’re a lighter color and slightly dusty, but they have more purple, with a dash of blue. Lavender is slightly darker and less dusty than lilac.
Indigo is bold and beautiful: it’s a deep, rich blue-purple, with an emphasis on an almost sapphire blue base. In the world of chakra colors, that hue often associated with the 6th or Third Eye Chakra, and has a spiritual and mystical vibe because of its powerful pigmentation.
If you add a bunch of black into the mix, you can even get a deep, dark shade called midnight purple. (Yes, this is an exciting new variant on the concept of “midnight blue.”)
Blue and Purple Make…
Now you know the answer: technically, when combined, the colors blue and purple make violet or blue-purple. However, the combination can also yield variations of bluish-purple and purple-ish blue, including lilac, lavender, periwinkle, and indigo, depending on which ratios and “ingredient” shades you use, as well as how much white or black is added into the swirl.
Do you love this mix as much as I do? Do share in the comment section, below!
The author and artist, Lillie Marshall, is a National Board Certified Teacher of English who has been a public school educator since 2003, and an experienced Reiki practitioner since 2018. All art on this site is original and hand-drawn by Lillie. She launched DrawingsOf.com Educational Cartoons in 2020, building upon the success of her other sites, AroundTheWorldL.com (established 2009), TeachingTraveling.com (founded 2010), and ReikiColors.com. Subscribe to Lillie’s monthly newsletter, and follow @WorldLillie on social media to stay connected!
What Color Do Purple And Orange Make in Lights?
On the color wheel, orange combines yellow and red, and purple is created by blending blue and magenta.
While the primary colors in the lighting industry are red, green, and blue (RGB), this mixture does not use all of the primary colors as paint does.
By mixing purple and orange, you get the color Cedar Chest.
Cedar Chest is a deep, muted orange with a dusty pink undertone. It has the hexadecimal code #C05340.
Understanding the RGB Color Model
The RGB color model is used in the lighting and electronics industry. This color space uses red, green, and blue as primary colors instead of the red, yellow, and blue used by the RYB system.
These primary colors can be mixed to create the secondary colors of the RGB color model, cyan, magenta, and yellow.
Since the tertiary colors are the same in both the RGB and CMYK color space, in both RGB and CMYK, the mixing of orange and purple makes dark orange with a pink undertone.
While the RYB color wheel is a form of subtractive color mixing, the RGB color wheel is a form of additive color mixing.
Mixing Lights
The RGB color model is widely used in the lighting and electronics industries. Instead of the red, yellow, and blue used by the RYB system, this color space uses red, green, and blue as primary colors.
These primary colors can be combined to form the RGB color model’s secondary colors, cyan, magenta, and yellow.
Because the tertiary colors are the same in both the RGB and CMYK color spaces, mixing orange and purple produce dark orange with a pink undertone in both.
The RYB color wheel is a subtractive color mixing method. In contrast, the RGB color wheel is an additive color mixing method.
Cedar Chest Color Meaning
Cedar Chest
Hex: #C05340
RGB: 192, 83, 64
CMYK: 0, 57, 67, 25
The color Cedar Chest is a dark orange with pink undertones. It’s an earthy orange that is subdued and orange.
Orange represents optimism, energy, enthusiasm, and creativity. Orange is a creative, spontaneous, and optimistic color. And optimism means life.
Dark orange hues are also associated with childishness, pride, and stubbornness.
This color can also remind you of late fall, and it can stand for warmth and caress.
Dark orange, on the other hand, can represent deception and distrust.
Purple and Orange Mixed in Lighter and Darker Shades
Copper red, Chocolate web, Cadmium orange, and Carrot orange are the lighter shades created by combining purple and orange in the RGB color model.
Copper Red
Hex: #C85E38
RGB: 200, 94, 56
CMYK: 0, 53, 72, 22
Chocolate Web
Hex: #D06830
RGB: 208, 104, 48
CMYK: 0, 50, 77, 18
Cadmium Orange
Hex: #E07C20
RGB: 224, 124, 32
CMYK: 0, 45, 86, 12
Carrot Orange
Hex: #F09110
RGB: 240, 245, 16
CMYK: 0, 40, 93, 6
Deep chestnut, English red, Amaranth MP, and Flirt are the four darkest versions of the color produced by mixing purple and orange.
Deep Chestnut
Hex: #B84948
RGB: 184, 73, 72
CMYK: 0, 60, 61, 28
English Red
Hex: #B03F50
RGB: 176, 63, 80
CMYK: 0, 64, 55, 31
Amarant MP
Hex: #A02A60
RGB: 160, 42, 96
CMYK: 0, 74, 40, 37
Flirt
Hex: #901570
RGB: 144, 21, 112
CMYK: 0, 85, 22, 44
Similar paint to the result of mixing purple and orange in lights
Fire Dance 2171-20 by Benjamin Moore is the best paint color to match the color created by combining orange and purple within the lighing industry. It has smoky orange undertones and is a shade of red.
This is an excellent paint color for painting your living room or kitchen.
What Color Do Purple and Orange Make in Paint?
When purple and orange are mixed, they create brown with a red tint, known as reddish-brown or Russet.
Purple is created by artists by mixing equal parts red and blue. They mix half red and half yellow to make orange. So, to get brown by combining purple and orange, we’ll need 1 part red, 1/2 part blue, and 1/2 part yellow.
In case you didn’t know, brown is made by mixing red, blue, and yellow.
When we mix orange and purple, we get Russet, a brown with a hint of red. It’s called reddish-brown. Its hexadecimal value is #80461B.
This color is more appealing than the common brown because it resembles the fur of the European brown bear. Use red paint in a brown base to achieve this color more easily.
Why Orange and Purple Make Reddish-Brown
In painting, the combination of orange and purple creates Russet, a reddish-brown hue.
As we saw above, paint creates purple by combining red and blue.
Orange is created by combining red and yellow paint.
When we combine blue and yellow, we get green.
When we combine the red from the orange color composition with green, we get brown. When we combine the brown and the red from purple, we get reddish-brown. The same result is obtained by combining one part red with half yellow and half blue, the primary colors of the RYB color model.
Suppose you wish to experiment further with these hues. In that case, you should be aware that we obtain a muddy pink when we use less saturated or lighter colors as a base.
Understanding the RYB Color Model
RYB is a color wheel commonly used in painting and other art forms.
The primary colors in the RYB color wheel are red, yellow, and blue. They produce the secondary colors green, orange, and purple when mixed.
This color model is a type of subtractive mixing, which is based on the principle of absorbing other colors to create a new color.
As a result, it is critical to understand that mixing two paint colors produces a completely different hue than performing the same mix in the RGB model.
Purple is created by combining blue and red. Orange is made up of the colors yellow and red.
Yellow is the opposite of purple on the color wheel, and blue is the opposite of orange. In the RYB color wheel, orange and purple are both secondary colors.
In the painting industry, combining purple and orange makes a reddish brown.
The results of blending orange and purple range from reddish brown to muddy pink.
Russet Color Meaning
Russet
Hex: #80461B
RGB: 128, 70, 27
CMYK: 0, 45, 79, 50
Russet, a reddish-brown color, derives its meaning from brown and is associated with honesty, strength, stability, and dependability.
Additionally, this color is associated with wisdom, appreciation, and support.
It can also be associated with humility, sadness, and depression.
How to Mix Lighter and Darker Colors of Purple and Orange
We discovered that mixing orange and purple results in dark orange with dusty pink undertones.
Making Tints
Tints are lighter versions of a color. For example, to create tints of the color created by mixing orange and purple, add a little white or use less saturated color bases.
Depending on the proportion of bases and their saturation, we can achieve lighter shades ranging from dark orange to reddish brown with pink undertones in the painting industry.
Making Shades
Darker versions of color are called shades. To get a darker shade of the resulting mix of purple and orange, you will need to add a little black or use darker, more saturated colors as a base.
Purple and Orange in Design
Despite being diametrically opposed colors, purple and orange resonate more strongly together. So they do belong together in this sense.
Purple and orange can be used together in a design to create something eye-catching and vibrant.
You should be aware that orange is a warm color instead of purple, which is cool.
Whether it’s reddish brown hues in painting or dark orange shades with pink undertones in lighting, the colors orange and purple make are more frequently used in design.
Complementary shades of dark orange or reddish-brown are best to provide contrast and a positive color impact in a clean design.
Final thoughts on the Purple and Orange color mixture
Orange, the color of hope, and purple, the color of royalty and mystery, combine to create some stunning shades of reddish brown in painting and dark orange with pink undertones in lighting.
So the combination of purple and orange in the lights creates Cedar Chest, a dark orange with pink undertones. Its hex code is #C05340.
In painting, the combination of purple and orange creates the color Russet, a reddish-brown hue. Its hexadecimal value is #80461B. We can achieve a muddy pink by using less saturated shades.
We hope you enjoyed today’s article and that we were able to answer your question, “What do orange and purple make?”
