You can visualize how a wavelength of light behaves by thinking about how water hits the shore at the beach. Waves sometimes hit the shore low and far apart. At other times, waves come in higher and closer together. The distance from crest to crest is what we call the wavelength of the ocean on the beach. Waves of light are a lot like waves of water--except light waves are a lot smaller and closer together. When light bounces off an object, our eyes measure the wavelengths and translate them into different colors.
The length of a wave of light is measured in nanometers nm. That may seem like a lot, but the spectrum of light extends far beyond that range in either direction. Red, a primary component of purple, is approximately nanometers in wavelength. Red is one of the longer wavelengths that our eyes can see. The distance from crest to crest is only a little bit thicker than the membrane of a soap bubble. But purple is also made of blue. Blue has wavelengths around nanometers , making it one of the shortest wavelengths visible to our eyes.
So what colors make purple? Purple is a combination of red light and blue light. An object that we perceive as purple has a makeup that causes it to absorb all wavelengths of light except those that fall around nanometers and nanometers in length. The object reflects those exact wavelengths mixed together, which gives the impression that the object is purple.
Purple is sometimes confused with violet. But purple and violet are different colors. Here is the difference between purple and violet: violet refers to the color of a single wavelength, but purple comes from a combination of wavelengths.
Violet is considered a spectral color. Like blue and red, violet is created through a single wavelength of light which falls on the visible spectrum between and nanometers. Purple is not a spectral color. Instead, purple becomes visible to our eyes when the wavelengths of the spectral colors red and blue are mixed together and reflected by an object. But purple is closer to red on the color wheel , and violet is closer to blue. Mixing purple might feel like magic--but it's not!
You can make the perfect shade of purple by using additive or subtractive mixing techniques. When objects that reflect light in different ways get mixed together, the ways that they reflect light are mixed together too. This is how more complex colors--like purple! The two main methods for creating color by mixing light are called additive mixing and subtractive mixing. Additive color mixing is specifically used for mixing light waves. Additive color mixing is used to create colors for televisions, computer monitors, and disco lights, for instance.
Basically, additive mixing creates colors by layering different wavelengths of light onto each other, then combining them with a white object. So what two colors make purple through additive mixing? In additive mixing, you can make purple by combining the wavelengths of blue light and red light in different proportions. Depending on the combination, you can get a pale purple like lavender Subtractive mixing creates color by removing wavelengths of visible light by using physical elements like paints, pigments, or dyes.
This process is called subtractive mixing because some wavelengths of light are absorbed instead of being reflected back as colored pigments are mixed together. So what two colors make purple in subtractive mixing? Red and blue! Mixing red and blue paint or dye actually mixes different wavelengths of light. Red paint reflects one wavelength, and blue paint reflects another wavelength. When combined, the compounds in the mixture reflect the red and blue wavelengths back in a new way.
That combo of reflected light is what we see as purple! Purple can also be created by making tints and shades. But what are tints and shades? A tint is made when you add white to another color.
Pink is an example of a tint because it is made by combining red with white. So by mixing purple with white, you can create a tint of purple! If you add purple and dark blue navy you will get a deep, rich dark purple. If you used a light teal or turquoise, you might get a lighter purple color. That said, because teal has green in it, you are going to start getting a muddier and muddier color the more you add green to purple!
Purple mixed with red or blue works great, when you get to the greens or yellows it tends to get more muddy. Okay… hopefully this is a little easier to understand than most color theory posts are!
I have found that color mixing is a lot easier when you just grab some paint and just start experimenting. It is only by getting in there and messing around that you can start to understand how all of the color palettes work together! Cleaning Your Kitchen with Essential Oils. What two colors make dark purple?
What colors make plum purple? Purple and blue makes what color? Purple and teal make what color? Prep Time 2 minutes. Active Time 20 minutes. So, I recommend mixing in a little bit of Alizarin Crimson or Cadmium red. Now that we have covered the practical side of how to mix different shades of purple it is time to look at the color purple at work in art. In the paintings below you will see how different shades of purple help to serve different roles.
Muted purples can act as shadows while bright purples can be highlights. Here is a painting by the American painter Edwin Dickinson. It contains a range of muted colors. In fact, Dickinson would often use the color purple in his paintings. There is a strip of dark purple on the lower right side of the painting — it is a dark bright purple and helps for the foreground to feel like it is in front.
In addition, the tree on the upper right side of the painting is made with a lighter muted purple. This particular fruit still life painting of his has many different shades of purple in it. The artist used dark muted purple under the lemon as well as underneath the plate to denote shadows. He mixed a cool purple for the area that is behind the lemon. Having a cool purple in this area works well as cool colors recede back in space while warm colors move forward.
On that note, he used shades of warm purple for the foreground area of the painting as you can see in the front center area of the work. I am showing a painting by one of the old masters to prove that they too used the color purple!
This painting by Vermeer is an example of how muted purple can play a strong role in a painting. Most of the wall in the background is made of different shades of muted purple. The color scheme works very well as Vermeer uses a complementary color palette.
Since the girl in the painting is dressed in yellow and the background is in purple the painting provides a beautiful Purple — Yellow complementary color scheme. The right side of the painting is a cool muted purple, though lighter than the other side of the wall.
The lower far left side of the wall is much darker and slightly warmer than the right side. However, there are patches of lighter areas on the left side of the wall as seen by the middle arrow. Purple has many uses beyond just using the color to paint areas of purple in your painting. It is very helpful to mix into all sorts of other colors as well, even if that color is not meant to look purple. In fact you can mix a really nice shade of brown color using purple. Often just adding a small amount of purple can help to create a rich and complex color.
It is important to always keep an open mind when it comes to combining and mixing colors — it is often the least expected color combinations that leads you to the best colors!
Want to remember this? Art Studio Life exists for you to be able to stay inspired, learn, and improve your skills. Subscribe to Art Studio Life and get my free color mixing guide! Gracias por tu generosidad en compartir tus conocimientos de mezcla de pinturas.
Colors show up differently on different screens. There are varying different purples in the article as well — some are quite dark and might look black at first but they are just a dark purple.
If the color were to be mixed with white it would turn out quite purple! Thanks for the methods for getting both warm and cool renditions. Another great resource, I cannot thank you enough, I will use it in future paintings.
Thanks very useful to me. Cant Wait the Next. Hello Elizabeth, Thank you for your kind comment, I am glad to hear that this article is helpful! Your email address will not be published.
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