Cart is empty Making Purple & Creating Different Shades
Purple is a colour connected to luxury, wealth, and power. It’s been associated as a colour of aristocracy, royalty and wealth for centuries. In fact, purple fabric was so expensive in the past that it could only be purchased by rulers. The original colour used to make purple came from the Phoenician trading city of Tyre - now modern-day Lebanon. Fabric dealers got the dye from a tiny mollusk that lived solely in the Tyre area of the Mediterranean Sea.
The colour purple is a beautiful and adaptable hue that has been adored by royalty and artists all over the world. However, due to the many various hues of purple, learning how to create the correct one may be difficult, and, finding the right purple isn't always as simple. In this blog, we uncover all you need to know about what colours make purple, so that you can make any hue of purple you like. Grab your paint supplies and keep reading to find out more!
What Colours Make Purple?
Mixing blue and red together makes purple. The colour of your hue will be determined by the amount of blue and red you add to it. For instance, when more red is added to your purple, it will become redder; when more blue is added, it will become bluer.
Making Cooler Purple Colours
To cool down your purple hue, use more blue. The most crucial thing to remember if you do go down this route is which blue to select. It's usually a good idea to utilize the same blue you employed in the first place when making a new purple colour. It should be a warm blue, or your purple hue will become muddy.
It's also a good idea to only add a little bit of blue at a time to your purple. A tiny amount of paint may drastically alter the colour, and if you put in too much blue all at once, you'll have to add more red to get it back to your ideal hue.
Making Warmer Purple Colours
The best way to make a warmer purple is to add a little more red. You should utilize the same red that you used in your purple base, and it should be cooler; otherwise, your purple will get muddy. Keep in mind that if you want your purple shade to be more red, begin with a little bit and gradually add more in until you are satisfied.
How to Get a Muted Shade of Purple?
The opposite of bright colours are muted colours. In some works, you don't need a particularly vibrant purple colour - a muted shade may work better. Muted purples can be used to highlight a painting just as well as bright colours. Muted colours are made by using the colour at hand (in this case, purple) and mixing it with its complementary colour (in this case the complementary colour to purple is yellow). You can achieve several muted shades of purple by combining different shades of purple with different shades of yellow.
How to Lighten and Darken Your Purple
To lighten your purple, you can add some white, which would lead you to create a tint similar to lilac, while, adding black will help darken your purple. It’s important to add small amounts of white or black paint at a time to get the right colour you desire.
If you wish to change the shade of purple, you can add more red or more blue. By adding more blue than red to your purple you can achieve a violet, for example, whereas adding more red to your purple you can achieve a sangria or mulberry colour. A fun way is to experiment with the different possibilities and shades to help you understand how to achieve different purples. Understanding this may come handy for when you want to use different shades of purple for different elements in your artwork, for example, a lilac flower may look great in the garden or an eggplant purple may look great as a hair colour. Here are just some possibilities:
Tips for Using Different Shades of Purple in Your Painting
Purple is a fantastic colour to use in your artwork. Not only can you create lovely purple landscapes, but you can also combine purple with a variety of other hues. Purple is an excellent supporting colour that can help the other colours in a painting stand out. The only restriction when it comes to mixing your own purple hues and constructing colour combinations is your creativity and desire to experiment!
There you have it, we hope you’ve learnt a thing or two on what colours make purple paint and a few extra little hints and info along the way. If we’ve inspired you to get creative you can find our handy paint supplies here, including acrylic paints, oil paints, watercolour paints and gouache paints. Plus what’s paints when you don’t have brushes? Check out our brush range here, including acrylic brushes, oil brushes, watercolour brushes and even brush sets!
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