Q&A for How to Make Purple Paint

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  • Question
    How do I make a lavender color?
    Renée Plevy
    Portrait Artist & Educator
    Renée Plevy is an Internationally Acclaimed Portrait Artist from New York/Palm Beach who has painted The Grand Dames of Palm Beach and various celebrities and community leaders. With over 50 years of experience, Renée specializes in painting realistically in oil and capturing the soul of the person. She has studied under internationally renowned portrait artists John Howard Sanden, David Leffel, Robert Beverly Hale, Clyde Smith, and Leonid Gervits. Renée is featured in over 68 shows and galleries including a one-woman museum show at the Paterson Museum. She has garnered numerous awards including “Artist of the Year” from The Bloomfield Art League and First Prize from the Boca Raton Museum Artist’s Guild. Renée has even painted a portrait of celebrity, Vanilla Ice. She also teaches at the Boca Raton Museum Art School - formerly at SVA in Manhattan.
    Portrait Artist & Educator
    Expert Answer
    Start by mixing equal amounts of blue and red paint. Then, slowly mix in a little dabs of white paint to lighten the purple to a lavender color.
  • Question
    How do you make purple with watercolors?
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    Mix blue and red shades that are already slightly biased towards each other. For example, ultramarine blue, brilliant blue, and cobalt blue all have a slight red bias. Alizarin crimson, carmine, magenta red, and crimson lake are all cool reds with a slight blue cast. Mix those types of colors together to avoid getting a muddy or brownish shade of purple.
  • Question
    What do I add to light green to make it purple?
    Community Answer
    Adding red and maybe blue might give you a purplish brown, but you cannot use green to make purple.
  • Question
    What should be mixed together to make lavender grey?
    Community Answer
    Lavender grey has a larger proportion of blue than most purples. Use very small and equal doses of red and blue to start, then add white to get to the lightness you want. It might look a little pink, so add a very tiny amount of blue to make it a cooler tone (some authentic greys even require a hint of black).
  • Question
    If I want to get pastel purple, should I mix in more blue or red?
    Community Answer
    For a pastel purple, you should use a combination of blue, red, and white. White is how you get lighter versions of colors. The proportions of the colors are up to you. Just add and mix until you get the shade you like.
  • Question
    What about if I don't have true blue and red?
    Community Answer
    You can try using a warm blue and a cool red. You can also try mixing blue and pink. Avoid using any cool or greenish blues, or orangey-reds, or you will get a murky purple instead. If you cannot find any blues or reds, then you will need to buy them. Blue and red are both primary colors and cannot be mixed.
  • Question
    How to make purple with only the colors yellow, red, green, and black?
    Community Answer
    You can't. You need some blue. Either buy blue paint and mix it with the red, or just buy purple paint.
  • Question
    What happens when I add black paint to purple paint?
    Sarah Battilana
    Community Answer
    You will get a darker shade of purple. Start by adding a small amount of black and then add more if you want it to be even darker.
  • Question
    Can I use this method for our home walls it will work or not?
    Sarah Battilana
    Community Answer
    This might not work for your walls at home, as the paint used on walls might not be meant to be mixed together. You could try mixing small amounts of red and blue paint beforehand to see if it would work, though!
  • Question
    What if I don't have red paint to make purple
    Sarah Battilana
    Community Answer
    You can use a pre-mixed purple and white to make different shades of purple. But if you don't have pre-mixed purple, you really do need a true red and a true blue to get the color you want.
  • Question
    What color can I add to purple to make maroon?
    Community Answer
    A little bit of red should work with a touch of brown.
  • Question
    How can I make bright purple?
    Community Answer
    Use Method 1. It is explained under the first step why this is the best method for making bright purple. Add a little cyan or blue to the magenta at a time until you are satisfied with the color. If you don't have magenta paint, you'll have to settle for a less bright purple.
  • Question
    What should I do if the paint looks too pink?
    Community Answer
    Add more blue.
  • Question
    Can I use ultramarine blue to make purple?
    Community Answer
    Ultramarine blue, honestly, is the best choice. With a crimson red and an ultramarine blue, you would get a decent color of purple. For me, the shade was a light lavender.
  • Question
    I have brown paint. What can I add to make it purple?
    Kate Brown
    Community Answer
    I used green, but you will just have to experiment. Try true and non-true colors. Anything is possible!
  • Question
    How do I make a dark maroon from purple paint?
    Sarah Battilana
    Community Answer
    Try adding small amounts of black paint to the purple paint. This should deepen the color.
  • Question
    If I have pink what can I add to make purple?
    Community Answer
    Red and blue make purple, and pink is just red and white, so just add blue.
  • Question
    How do I make purple without black and white?
    Community Answer
    You can't make it with just black and white. You have to have blue and red (or magenta) to make purple. You can mix the blue and red with black and white to make different shades of purple.
  • Question
    How do I make purple with dark blue, yellow, brown, turquoise, green and orange?
    Community Answer
    You cannot make purple with those colors. You need red and blue.
  • Question
    Do I add light blue or dark blue to my magenta in order to make purple?
    Community Answer
    It depends on the shade of purple. Try both and see which you like.
  • Question
    How do I make a rich purple?
    Community Answer
    Mix true blue and red. Pour equal amounts of red and blue paint onto a palette and use a brush to mix them to create a rich purple hue. For a purple color that leans more toward violet, add extra blue paint.
  • Question
    Would Alizarin red and Prussian blue make a good violet color?
    Community Answer
    Yes, it may be a little dull though. Try adding white or magenta for a lighter or more vibrant color.
  • Question
    When I have mix blue and red it gets maroon. What color should I add to it?
    Community Answer
    Try and add a bit of white, because maroon is a very hot purple.
  • Question
    How do I make violet paint?
    Sarah Battilana
    Community Answer
    Mix true red and true blue. From there, you may need to add small amounts of white paint or even cyan to brighten the shade a bit.
  • Question
    What colors do I mix for bright amethyst purple?
    Sarah Battilana
    Community Answer
    You could try using cyan and magenta to make this color. Play around with the amounts until you get the shade you want, and avoid mixing in too much white, and that will dull the shade a little bit.
  • Question
    What color paint will make a lilac yellow color?
    Sarah Battilana
    Community Answer
    Lilac yellow might be hard to make, as mixing yellow with purple often turns the shade brown. Try making lilac on its own and then adding a small amount of orange-red or orange-yellow to the mix to see if that achieves what you're looking for.
  • Question
    What if I only have blue and white and I want to make purple?
    Community Answer
    You can't make purple with only blue and white, you would need some red in there.
  • Question
    I want a perfect purple, but keep getting lavender purple. I definitely don't want this. How can I turn it right?
    Christiana Heitmann
    Community Answer
    "Lavender" sounds like it might be lighter (and possibly bluer) than "perfect" purple. To achieve fully saturated colors, you must (1) avoid mixing colors that contain white (2) avoid mixing colors that contain black (obviously!), and (3) Use magenta instead of red. If your result comes out too blue, then use more magenta.
  • Question
    How do I make pure purple?
    Community Answer
    Mix warm red and cobalr blue in equal amounts. By doing this, you get a rich hue of pure purple.
  • Question
    I believe that magenta is a primary color and that it cannot be made by mixing other colors. Is this correct?
    Community Answer
    Not quite. Red is a primary color that cannot be made from mixing other colors. Magenta, a derivative of red, is a deeper red, often achieved by mixing tiny amounts of black into red. Magenta is not a primary color, red is.
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