Painting a purple piece of artwork is exciting. Firstly, because it’s your creation, which you don’t see that often, and secondly, because you get to take something home that no one else has. Painting is a fun thing to do. There are many hues, shades, and tones of color that can combine with other colors to create something unique. Have you ever wondered how to make purple with acrylic paint? Purple is one of the more difficult colors to create with acrylic paint. Mixing red and blue will not always give you purple because the resulting color could be darker than you expect or even black!
Purple is one of the most used colors in paintings and art worldwide. We experience this color every day, whether outside on a sunny day or within your home. This blog will show you how to make purple with acrylic paint. And if you love painting but are on a tight budget, you’re going to love this article. Follow the steps below to learn how to make a lovely purple color.
History of Color Purple
The grinding of berries to produce pigments was a prehistoric practice, and colors have been an integral part of human culture. As a result, color encompasses much more than just a specific spectrum of lightwaves. There is a combination of historical and cultural significance infused into every color, and the knowledge of these histories will enhance your work of art. Purple pigments have always been popular with royalty due to their rarity and price.
Tyrian Purple
During the Neolithic period, purple became popular. Hematite and manganese powder sticks were used to create various Neolithic paintings. Tyrian purple is a deep purple dye made by hundreds of thousands of tiny snails. Due to its laborious and expensive process of making, whoever wore purple robes in Ancient Greece would have been extremely wealthy. This led to Tyrian purple becoming a symbol of priests, kings, nobles, and magistrates across the Mediterranean.
Purple in China
The purple gromwell was used to dye rather than snails from the Mediterranean in ancient China. As a result, the purple dye adhered very poorly to the fabric, making the fabric very expensive. During this period, purple became extremely popular among the rulers of Qi state, and its already high price rose even more.
In ancient China, colors held great value for their propriety and significance. Historically, the primary colors were of greater importance, and purple was often overlooked in favor of crimson. It was only in the 6th century. However, that purple overtook crimson as the most popular color.
The Renaissance and the Middle Ages
The cardinals and priests of the church wore robes of Tyrian purple for many years. In 1464, since the Byzantine dye had ceased to be available, Pope Paul II prescribed scarlet robes for cardinals instead. Members of the lower ranks of the Christian church did not have purple dye placed on their new robes. Instead, a mixture of indigo and red kermes dye was used to dye the purple robes. During the Renaissance, paintings depicting saints frequently used the color purple. In depictions of the Virgin Mary, purple or violet robes are commonly seen.
During the Medieval and Renaissance periods, kings and other royal figures started wearing purple less often, making university professors more likely to do so. Especially religious studies students and professors wore purple robes. During this period, purple started to be associated with knowledge and wisdom.
During the 18th and 19th century
Royalty, aristocrats, and Christian clergy wore purple on their sleeves throughout the 18th century. However, this trend began to change towards the end of the 19th century. Scientists, who were trying to develop synthetic quinine, came up with the first synthetic aniline dye due to their experiments. Mauveine, or mauve, is the name of this new purple color.
Mauve silk dresses worn by Queen Victoria propelled the popularity of this new purple shade. Purple shades were once the exclusive preserve of the very wealthy until the new synthetic shade was invented. This color was one of the first to impact the fashion and chemical industries due to the new industrial production methods.
How to Make Purple With Acrylic Paint
Purple is synonymous with wealth, luxury, and power in color psychology. In addition, purple is also a color associated with royalty, as it may seem, given its history. In purple, the blue color is said to evoke a sense of stability and calm, which, paired with the red, represents wisdom and knowledge.
As far as mixing purples is concerned, it’s no different than mixing red and blue colors. However, anything worth doing in life cannot be taken for granted. Before we pick up our paint tubes, we need to ask ourselves several questions. For example, what type of purple do you like? Would you prefer a deep aubergine or a bright violet? Will you need to make highlights and shadows in the color purple? All of these questions will be answered in due course, but let’s begin at the beginning.
Acrylic can be a very fun medium to work with! You can use it for painting on glass, ceramics, and even wood. Acrylic is a water-based paint that offers the ability to work on multiple different surfaces. One thing you will want to look for in your acrylic paints is the pigment loads. You want the pigment load to be at least 30% or higher if you can find them. If a bottle of acrylic has no pigment listed on the label, it probably isn’t going to give you the best results we achieved here today, as shown in our example.
True Red With Blue
A shade of pure purple would result when pure primary blue combines with pure primary red. Purple is a secondary color, just as orange and green are. Color mixing charts can greatly assist those who are new to painting. The color that sits between two opposite colors on the color wheel will be created by mixing them. If you combine opposite colors, red and blue, you will get purple, which lies between red and blue.
We would stop the article and call it a day if creating the perfect shade of purple was so easy. Color theory, however, is a little more complex. You have to start considering the color temperature if you want to mix different shades of purple. The concept of color temperature also appears to be straightforward. Cool colors like blues and greens contrast with warm colors such as oranges and reds. Nonetheless, some reds and blues are cooler than others within each category.
A small amount of blue pigment is present in cooler reds, which tend to lean more towards purple hues. A warm red, on the other hand, a warm red tends to lean towards orange because of the presence of some yellow. To create the perfect shade, you must understand color bias, or the tendency of particular colors to veer toward others. Depending on the temperature of your red and blue base colors, your purple color will have different properties.
Follow These Tips to Make Purple With Acrylic Paint:
- First, ensure that the colors you select are actually true red and blue. If not, a combination of reds and blues will not produce a purple color but instead a dark reddish or brownish shade.
- See if your red looks have yellow or orange undertones and if the blue looks yellow or green. Those aren’t true colors.
- Mix the red and blue with the white separately in any part of your palette to be sure. Instead of peach, the red should be pink, and rather than a light green-blue, the blue should be sky blue.
- Add more blue to rich, dark purple shades. For warmer, brighter hues, add more red.
Magenta With Cyan
- Red and blue, when mixed together, don’t form a bright, beautiful shade, which you can only get with this method. It is because red and blue paint absorbs the most light and blue paint absorbs the least. Due to only being able to perceive red, green, and blue, the human eye is able to see purple (almost black).
- Only green and red light are absorbed by magenta and cyan paint, respectively. Seeing a purple color that is bright and vibrant is the result of this better color input for your eyes.
- Magenta and cyan mixed together in various proportions result in a wide array of purple shades.
Shades of Purple
- Lighten the shade of purple paint by adding white. Be sure to add white sparingly for the right shade. Mixing purple with as much white as you like will give you a pastel color.
- The darker the purple, the more you can add black or add yellow or lime green, making it a rich, dark shade. There can be difficulties correcting an error when there is too much black in purple, so you have to be careful.
- When mixing black and white in small amounts in various ratios, a gray-lavender color will result with varying intensities of color.
Adjusting the Temperature of Your Purple Shades
In addition to color temperature, we should take the time to create warmer and cooler shades of purple. You can use purple hues to add more realism to any composition, whether it’s a field of purple tulips or a silken gown. One way you can begin building a purple pallet by adjusting the temperature of your purple shades.
Making Cooler Purple Colors
Adding more blue to your purple color is the simplest way to cool it down. If you decide to use this method, the most important factor is the color blue. If you made the original purple color from blue, use that blue again. You need a warm blue, or your purple shades will be muddy.
When adding blue to purple, it is a good practice only to add a little at a time. In the event that you apply too much blue too quickly, you may need to add more red to achieve your desired shade. Even a small amount of paint can drastically change the appearance.
Making Warmer Purple Colors
Adding more red is the best way to go for a warmer purple. The red you used to make your base purple should definitely be the same red you used for your highlights, and this red should be cooler. Otherwise, your highlights will appear muddy. Add red gradually to your purple shade if you are adding red to it, and continue adding until you are satisfied with the hue.
Make Tints and Shades of Purple
When it comes to blending dark or light purple shades, you have to consider the tints and shades. Adding depth and dimension to your paintings with dark-purple colors and lighter tones of purple is essential. Now you know that adjusting colors isn’t that easy, and you’ll need to do the same with tints and shades.
How to Make Light Purple Tints
To capture the effects of light and depth in purple hues, you need to have highlight shades and tints of that color. It is likely that you will have to lighten purple colors quite often, as they are dark colors in nature. For creating light purple colors, you can try a few different methods.
It is easiest and most common to make light purple by adding white to your purple hue. Among the greatest advantages of using white to tint light purples is that it will not alter the color of purple. By blending white with pure purple, pure purple will become lighter in color.
Adding a little bit of light yellow can also help create light purple tints. If you add a light color to your purple, it will appear lighter. We know that you can muffle purple hues by using yellow. To create a muted purple tint, you should use a light yellow.
How to Make Dark Purple Shades
The color purple is already dark, so making it darker is not difficult. To give your paintings depth and shadow, you definitely need those dark purple shades. Various dark purple shades may be necessary depending on the composition’s complexity and light values, various dark purple shades may be necessary. If you are going to use your primary purple shade, you should create light and dark variations of it. You can also make dark purple hues in a few different ways.
The same way you can lighten purple with white, you can also darken it with black. It is a common warning among artists, including us, that using black when you are trying to make your purple hues darker is not the best option. Black paint is rarely a pure black pigment, so this method is not the best.
A black paint tube usually contains many colors of pigment, and the base color is often green. Try it for yourself if you want. Mix some white paint with the black paint. It is more likely than not that this combination will have a slight green tint rather than forming pure grey. When black is used to make dark purple, unwanted colors may appear.
You can make dark purple by combining burnt umber with a little amount of indigo. Combined with pure purple, burnt umber creates a deep, muted shade of reddish-brown. Due to burnt umber’s higher temperature than purple, it will warm up shades of purple.
It is also possible to make a rich dark purple with Phthalo green. Phthalo green and alizarin crimson can be combined to produce a dark black color. You can get a truly dark hue if you mix some of this hue with your purple shade. It is probably the darkest of all the purple hues you can mix by yourself.
Final Words
The color purple has been used in paintings for thousands of years. In fact, the ancient Egyptians were one of the first civilizations to use purple dyes to color their clothing. Why? Because it makes you feel good! Purple is often associated with power and wealth.
Now you know how to make purple with acrylic paint. This is a wonderful color that is popular in many paintings, ceramics, and other types of art. If you want to add some color to your life or simply see how the process works, the top of this post shows you the steps you should take to create this shade. Now all that’s left is for you to get started.