Blue and what makes purple

The more you mix, the more colors you can create. Most of us grow up knowing the basics about mixing primary colors: yellow and blue make green, red and yellow make orange and blue and red make purple. You can change the hue of each of those secondary colors by adding or subtracting the amount of primary color that goes into it.

You can also change the shade of a color by adding black or white to it as well. Mixing colors starts with the color wheel. If you are not familiar with the color wheel, it is simply a chart that looks like a multicolored pie that is sliced into pieces.

The color wheel was designed to show the relationship between colors and the way they can mix together to create new colors. You can check out the basic color wheel here.

Keep in mind that as colors get more advanced, color wheels grow far beyond the basic variety. The three primary colors and the three secondary colors together are probably the most common and recognizable colors that we are familiar with.

However, when the colors are extended beyond that by mixing a primary color with a secondary color that is adjacent to it, tertiary colors are created. These colors include:. On the color wheel, these colors are located between the primary and secondary colors from which they are made.

Contrary to popular belief, white and black are not colors. They are actually considered neutral achromatics without color. Black and white are used to change the tint and shade of every color. When a color is made lighter in hue, it is known as a tint, and when it is made darker in hue, it is known as a shade.

You create tints by adding white and shades by adding black to existing colors, whether they are primary, secondary or tertiary. Alright, now that you have a little background on how to mix colors, lets answer the question what color does blue and purple make. Mixing blue and purple requires you to mix a primary color with a secondary color. The best way to do this is to use the same color blue you chose to make your original purple.

Remember, the blue shade needs to be a warmer blue to avoid creating a muddy color. When mixing colors, always use small amounts as you do not want to add too much. If you add too much, you might have to then adjust the color again by adding more red to achieve the color you are looking for.

If you are following along, you will know that to make a warmer shade of purple , you need to add red. Again, add the same red you used in the original base purple color. The red shade should be a cooler version, otherwise, you will land up with a muddy color. The same applies here, add small amounts so as not to drastically alter the color.

Add tiny amounts until you reach the shade of purple you want. Maybe you do not want a bright purple color? You might be looking for a more realistic purple color to match the scenery. Softer or light purple colors are essential to enhance brighter colors.

Learning how to soften bright purple shades can create just what you are looking for. To do this, you need to add a small amount of a complementary color. This is where you need to use a color wheel. The complement of a particular color is the color that sits opposite on the wheel. For example, the color that complements purple is yellow.

The process of softening your purple color is then simple, slowly add a little yellow until you have the color you want. Color temperature again plays an important role, if you are looking for a softer earthy purple, you should consider using a bit of yellow ochre. On the other hand, if you want a warmer color, using a yellow that leans towards orange is a good way to go.

A cooler purple will need a cooler yellow color, so using a color like cadmium yellow should work. Again, it is not as simple as blending two colors like yellow and purple. Each color has its own unique color shades.

So, it is important to understand color theory and how the color wheel works to achieve the most realistic colors for your artwork. When wanting to create different shades and tints of purple, you will need to consider blending a light purple and dark purple color.

Blue Purple, deep purple color, or lighter shades of purple are all necessary to create depth and other features to an art piece. We have already gone over adapting colors, which is not that simple. The same process applies to different shades of purple. To portray the effects of light and its varying depths, you will need to create different highlights, tints, and shades of your purple color.

Purple naturally leans towards a darker color, so you will most probably need to lighten the purple often to achieve the color or look you want on a painting. There are a few ways to do this. The easiest way to lighten your purple color is to add a bit of white. When adding white to purple, is the best way to create a light purple without affecting the hue. In other words, you will be creating a lighter version of your original pure base purple.

Another method is to add a bit of light yellow. We have already discussed how yellow can soften a vibrant purple, so naturally using a light yellow can help to create a softer and lighter purple tint.

We suggest using cadmium yellow and cadmium lemon yellow for the best results. The cadmium lemon yellow would be the first choice for a lighter purple hue. Whenever you are creating different shades of purple, or for any color, it is generally a personal choice. So, to get the color you want, you might have to experiment to get the color shade you are looking for. As mentioned, purple does naturally lean towards the darker color. So, it should not be hard to make it a little darker.

The darker purple color lends itself to creating shadows and also adding dimension to the artwork. The purple shade needed all depends on how complex your composition is, you might need to create multiple dark purple color shades. When painting, it is recommended you create a variety of light and dark shades of your base color. The most obvious answer to making purple darker is to add black. However, this is not the best way as it is rare to get pure black paint pigments. Many of the black tubes contain various black pigments and usually have a green pigment base.

You can test this out by taking some black paint and mixing it with a little white. If you look closely, the color that is created has more of a green tinge to it than being a pure grey color.

When darkening purple with black, it could cause unwelcome shades of color. We do recommend using some burnt umber to darken your purple color. This dark and reddish-brown color when blended into purple creates a soft deep purple color. The burnt umber is considered a warmer color and will, therefore, create a warmer purple shade.

Another alternative is to use phthalo green to create a full-bodied dark purple color. You can also use this green and combine it with alizarin crimson to create a dark black. This black shade can then be blended with your base purple to create the darkest purple you can get. All colors are needed to create beautiful pieces of art. However, purple has a special place because of its place in history and without it, a painted picture will simply not be the same.

There are so many variations of purple, all enhancing and complementing each other. There is no limit to the combinations of colors you can make. So, fire up your imagination and get painting. The result is a purple-black or gray. Alizarin crimson, a popular color, carries a color bias of blue but it is a dull or de-saturated red.

You can achieve a mixture that is somewhat purple using alizarin crimson, but it will never be a clean and bright purple. This is one of the reasons I do not like alizarin permanent or otherwise as explained in my blog: Could You Toss Your Alizarin Crimson?

You can see from the color mixture and swatch below, that alizarin and ultramarine do not make a bright purple.

I added a little white at the bottom of the swatch so that you can see that it does make a grey-purple. When I was working in watercolors, my secret to mixing purple was having permanent rose on my palette. I like that color for many other reasons. Hence, it was my favorite blue-red.

Currently my blue-red tubes of paint, no matter my medium, are: permanent rose, quinacridone magenta or primary magenta. Below I mixed permanent rose and ultramarine blue to get a nice purple.

As you have been reading this article, you have noticed that the blue I am using is ultramarine blue. Because it is a blue that has a color bias of red.

There is no yellow or green in it. For fun, try mixing a cadmium red with phthalo or Prussian blue and see what happens. Now for a bit of a twist. If you are up for experimenting, try your permanent rose your nice clean blue-red with one of your green-blues, such as cerulean blue and see what happens. I have provided an example below. How do you like this purple? There is a little bit of white added at the bottom of the swatch.