Quick answer
Red + blue make purple, but use a cool red (quinacridone magenta or alizarin crimson) with ultramarine blue. Orange-leaning reds and green-leaning blues hide a little yellow, and yellow is violet's complement, so the mix turns brown or grey. Add white for lavender, and more ultramarine or a dark like Payne's grey for deep purple.
On this page
Why mixed purples go muddy
Purple sits between red and blue on the color wheel, so mixing the two should be simple. The catch is color bias. Most paints lean slightly toward one neighbor.
Many reds, including cadmium red light and most "fire-engine" reds, lean toward orange, which means they carry a little yellow. Many blues, such as phthalo blue (green shade) and cerulean, lean toward green, which also means a little yellow.
Yellow is the complement of violet. When an orange-leaning red meets a green-leaning blue, those hidden yellows partly cancel the purple you're trying to make, and the result drifts toward a slate grey or a brownish mauve. That's the same thing that happens when you mix complements on purpose to make greys and browns.
Try it: Mix a purple
Open full mixer →Which reds and blues to choose
For a clean purple, choose a red that leans blue and a blue that leans red, so neither one brings yellow into the mix:
- Reds: quinacridone magenta, quinacridone rose or permanent rose, and alizarin crimson (or a modern quinacridone substitute). These look cool and pinkish rather than orange.
- Blues: ultramarine blue is the classic choice because it leans violet. Cobalt blue is fairly neutral and also works.
Quinacridone magenta + ultramarine is the most dependable pair. Shift the ratio to move from a red-violet (more magenta) to a blue-violet (more ultramarine). Avoid phthalo blue for purples unless you pair it with a very cool magenta, because its green bias pulls mixtures toward grey-blue.
Tip: Purples are dark at full strength, so it can be hard to judge their hue on the palette. Pull a little out with white (or water, in watercolor) to see whether the mix leans red, blue or grey.
Purple mixing chart
The same idea with different reds and blues. Notice how the bias changes the result.
| Red + blue | Result | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quinacridone magenta + ultramarine | Clean, bright violet | Both lean toward purple |
| Alizarin crimson + ultramarine | Deep royal purple | Cool red + warm blue |
| Cadmium red + ultramarine | Muted, brownish purple | Cadmium red leans orange |
| Cadmium red + phthalo blue | Dull grey-brown | Both carry hidden yellow |
| Lavender | Soft lavender | A clean purple + white |
| Dark purple | Deep, cool purple | More blue + a blue-grey dark |
Tube purples and when to use them
Some purples are hard to mix as cleanly as you can buy them. Dioxazine purple is intense and very strong, nearly black in masstone, with a lovely violet when tinted. Use it in tiny amounts. Quinacridone violet is a transparent red-violet that's great for glazes.
Cobalt violet is delicate and fairly weak, and mars violet is an earthy, muted purple-brown that's useful for shadows and skin. A single tube purple plus white can save a lot of mixing, especially for lavenders.
Purples in acrylic, oil and watercolor
- Acrylic: purples often dry a little darker than they look wet, and dark violets can be hard to read until they're lightened. Test a dab mixed with a little white before you commit to a large area.
- Oil: transparent purples such as alizarin crimson + ultramarine or quinacridone violet glaze beautifully over a dry, light underlayer. Glazing gives a luminous purple that's hard to match by mixing in white, which tends to turn violets milky.
- Watercolor: magenta + ultramarine is a favorite, because the ultramarine granulates and the two pigments separate slightly on wet paper, giving lively red-violet and blue-violet variations within one wash. Let the colors mingle on the paper rather than mixing them to a uniform violet on the palette.
In every medium, purples in nature are rarely fully saturated. Lavender fields, dusk shadows and distant mountains are usually soft, greyed violets, so be ready to tone your mix down.
Lighter, darker and more natural purples
- Lavender and lilac: add the purple to white, not the other way around. White cools purples slightly. A touch of magenta brings back warmth.
- Deep purple and aubergine: add more ultramarine, or a little burnt umber. Avoid black, which tends to grey purples out quickly.
- Muted, natural purples: for shadows, distant hills or dusk skies, add a speck of yellow or yellow ochre, purple's complement. A muted purple can even be the target. Cadmium red + ultramarine gives a soft mauve-grey that suits shadows, as long as you aren't expecting a bright violet.
Recipes by medium
Proportions are starting points in parts by volume. Pigment strength varies by brand, so add strong colors gradually. The swatches are computed with Pigmento's pigment-mixing model and are approximations.
Clean violet
1 Quinacridone Magenta + 1 Ultramarine Blue (parts). The most reliable pair for a vivid purple. Add more ultramarine for blue-violet.
Lavender
1 Alizarin Crimson + 1 Ultramarine Blue + 4 Titanium White (parts). Mix the purple first, then add it to the white a little at a time.
Dioxazine tint
1 Dioxazine Purple + 4 Titanium White (parts). Dioxazine is very strong, so a tiny amount tints a lot of white.
Royal purple
1 Alizarin Crimson + 1 Ultramarine Blue (parts). Deep and slightly warm. It's lovely thinned as a glaze.
Smoky violet
1 Dioxazine Purple + 1 Yellow Ochre + 3 Titanium White (parts). Intentionally muted. Ochre, the near-complement, softens the purple for skies and shadows.
Cool purple
2 Alizarin Crimson + 1 Phthalo Blue (GS) (parts). Keep the crimson dominant, because phthalo pushes the mix toward grey-blue quickly.
Granulating violet
1 Quinacridone Magenta + 1 Ultramarine Blue (parts). Ultramarine granulates, which gives a soft texture in washes.
Blue-violet
1 Quinacridone Magenta + 2 Ultramarine Blue (parts). For twilight skies and cool shadow passages. Dilute for lilac.
Shadow mauve
1 Cadmium Red Light + 1 Ultramarine Blue (parts). A deliberately dull mauve-grey. It's useful in shadows, but it isn't a bright purple.
Paints used in this lesson
Shop links coming soon- Quinacridone Magenta
- Ultramarine Blue
- Alizarin Crimson
- Titanium White
- Dioxazine Purple
- Yellow Ochre
- Phthalo Blue (GS)
- Cadmium Red Light
Student-grade paints work for every recipe here. Single-pigment artist paints mix cleaner and stronger. We may add affiliate links to paint sets later, and they will be clearly marked.
Frequently asked questions
What two colors make purple?
Red and blue. For a clean purple use a blue-leaning red (quinacridone magenta, permanent rose, alizarin crimson) with a red-leaning blue (ultramarine). Orange-leaning reds and green-leaning blues give duller, greyer purples.
Why does my purple look brown or grey?
The red and the blue probably each contain a little yellow, the complement of purple. Cadmium red light and phthalo blue are common culprits. Switch to magenta or crimson with ultramarine.
How do you make light purple or lavender?
Mix a purple, then add it gradually to titanium white. In watercolor, dilute with water instead. Add a touch more magenta if the lavender looks too cold or grey.
How do you make dark purple?
Add more ultramarine blue or a small amount of burnt umber to your purple, or use dioxazine purple, which is very dark at full strength. Avoid relying on black, which greys purple out.
How do you make purple paint darker without black?
Add more ultramarine blue or a touch of Payne's grey. A very small amount of burnt umber also works, but too much turns purple brown. Black tends to make purple look grey and flat.
Can you make purple without blue?
Not from scratch, because purple needs a blue component. A magenta that leans strongly blue (quinacridone violet, for example) or a tube purple such as dioxazine gets you there without a separate blue paint.