What color do purple and pink make?
Purple and pink make orchid (light magenta-purple). Pink lightens purple and pushes it toward red, giving orchid, mauve-pink and light magenta.
Purple + pink = orchid (light magenta-purple)
Why purple and pink make orchid (light magenta-purple)
Pink is a tint of red (red mixed with white), so purple and pink behave like purple and red, with white added: the result is lighter and softer than the same mix with pure red.
Paint mixes subtractively: each pigment absorbs part of the light, and the mix reflects only what both let through. That is why paint mixes get darker and duller as you add colors, while light mixes get brighter.
Change the ratio
Equal parts are only the middle of a range. More purple pulls the result toward purple, more pink toward pink. Mix a small test batch, note the parts you used, and scale up once you like it.
All three are mixed with the same spectral paint model. Dark paints are strong, so a little of them changes a mix a lot; light paints such as white and yellow need more parts to show.
Purple and pink on a screen
Tips for mixing purple and pink
- Start with the pink and add the purple to it a little at a time. Darker colors overpower lighter ones quickly, so this way round wastes less paint.
- Mix thoroughly with a palette knife; streaks of unmixed purple or pink change how the color reads from a distance.
- Let a test swatch dry before judging it. Acrylics usually dry a little darker, while watercolors dry lighter.
- Write down the ratio that works (for example 2 parts to 1) so you can mix the same color again.
- To match a color on screen, compare the paint swatch against the hex code here on a calibrated display, and remember print and paint cannot reach every screen color.
More purple color mixes
| Mix | Result | Ratio | Hex |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purple + red | red-violet (plum) | equal parts | #8A2E48 |
| Purple + orange | russet (red-brown) | 3 purple : 2 orange | #874847 |
| Purple + yellow | brown (muddy gray-brown) | 2 purple : 1 yellow | #885056 |
| Purple + green | slate gray (dark gray-brown) | equal parts | #4A4F54 |
| Purple + blue | blue-violet (indigo) | equal parts | #3B3A9F |
| Purple + brown | plum brown (aubergine) | 2 purple : 1 brown | #6F3856 |
| Purple + black | deep purple (eggplant) | 2 purple : 1 black | #312632 |
| Purple + white | lavender (lilac) | 1 purple : 2 white | #D7A7E6 |
| Purple + gray | mauve (gray-purple) | 1 purple : 3 gray | #89768C |
More pink color mixes
| Mix | Result | Ratio | Hex |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pink + red | rose red | equal parts | #EC4F5C |
| Pink + orange | coral (salmon) | 2 pink : 1 orange | #F3976A |
| Pink + yellow | peach (light orange) | equal parts | #F8B646 |
| Pink + green | grayish taupe | 2 pink : 1 green | #949E8F |
| Pink + blue | lavender (light purple) | 2 pink : 1 blue | #808EC2 |
| Pink + brown | rosy brown | equal parts | #AE734E |
| Pink + black | dusky gray-mauve | 2 pink : 1 black | #504C4F |
| Pink + white | pale pink (baby pink) | 2 pink : 3 white | #FCCEE3 |
| Pink + gray | dusty pink (dusty rose) | 3 pink : 2 gray | #C398AF |
Frequently asked questions
What color do purple and pink make?
Purple and pink make orchid (light magenta-purple) in paint (about #B86CB9, mixed 2 purple : 3 pink). Pink lightens purple and pushes it toward red, giving orchid, mauve-pink and light magenta.
Is purple and pink the same in paint and on a screen?
Not exactly. Paint gives orchid (light magenta-purple) (about #B86CB9 at 2 purple : 3 pink), while a 50/50 digital blend in a design tool gives #AE65AB, because screens mix light rather than pigment.
How do I make the mix lighter or darker?
Add white to lighten it into a tint, black (a little at a time) to darken it into a shade, or gray to mute it. Changing the ratio of purple to pink shifts the hue itself.
Mix any two colors
The color mixer blends up to five colors by weight in a spectral paint model, OKLab or linear light, and exports the steps.