What colors make purple?
Red and blue make purple. For a brighter violet, mix magenta with blue or cyan; add white for lavender.
How to mix purple
Purple is the secondary color between red and blue. In paint, mixing them often gives a muddy or very dark purple because the red pigment contains some yellow. The cleaner the red leans toward blue, the cleaner the purple.
Lighter, darker and muted purple
- Lighter purple (lavender, lilac): add white.
- Darker purple (eggplant): add a little black or more blue.
- Reddish purple (plum, magenta): add more red or pink.
- Bluish purple (indigo, violet): add more blue.
Add darkening colors a little at a time: it is easy to darken a mix and hard to lighten it again. When you need a lot of a color, mix more than you think you need, because matching a batch later is difficult.
Purple in paint, print and light
There are three color-mixing models. Paint uses the traditional red, yellow and blue primaries. Printers use cyan, magenta and yellow (plus black). Screens mix red, green and blue light, and light adds up instead of absorbing. On a screen, red and blue light make magenta, and purple is mostly blue light with some red, such as #6E2D91.
| Model | Primaries | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| RYB (paint) | Red, yellow, blue | Painting, art education |
| CMY(K) (print) | Cyan, magenta, yellow (+ black) | Printing, many modern paint sets |
| RGB (light) | Red, green, blue | Screens, web and digital design |
Shades of purple to aim for
Named shades near purple. Each links to its hex, RGB and OKLCH values and the colors that go with it.
What purple makes with other colors
| 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 + pink | orchid (light magenta-purple) | 2 purple : 3 pink | #B86CB9 |
| 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 color mixing answers
- What colors make brown?Mix any two complementary colors: red and green, blue and orange, or yellow and purple. All three primaries together also make brown.
- What colors make green?Blue and yellow make green. Cyan and yellow give the brightest green; yellow and black give olive green.
- What colors make orange?Red and yellow make orange. More yellow gives amber; more red gives red-orange.
- What colors make red?In paint, red is a primary color and cannot be mixed from others. In print, magenta and yellow make red; on screens, red is a primary of light.
- What colors make blue?In paint, blue is a primary color and cannot be mixed. In print, cyan and magenta make blue; on screens, blue is a primary of light.
- What colors make yellow?Yellow is a primary color in paint and print and cannot be mixed. On screens, red and green light make yellow.
- What colors make pink?Red and white make pink. Magenta and white give a cooler, brighter pink; add a touch of yellow for coral or salmon.
- What colors make black?Mix the three primaries, or two dark complementary colors such as ultramarine blue and burnt umber, to make a near-black.
- What colors make gray?Black and white make gray. For a richer gray, mix two complementary colors (blue and orange) and add white.
- What colors make teal?Blue and green make teal. Add a touch of black for dark teal or white for light teal.
- What colors make gold?Mix yellow with a little orange or red, then a touch of brown. Metallic gold needs a metallic or pearlescent medium.
- What colors make tan?Brown and white make tan. A little yellow keeps it warm; a touch of black makes it darker.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my purple muddy?
Most reds contain some yellow, and yellow is the complement of purple, so it dulls the mix. Use a blue-leaning red such as crimson, quinacridone or magenta.
What two colors make purple?
Red and blue. In print and digital color, magenta and cyan (or magenta and blue) make a brighter violet.
How do you make light purple?
Add white to purple, or mix blue with pink. See purple and white and blue and pink.
Mix purple digitally
Blend colors by weight in a spectral paint model, OKLab or linear light, then copy the hex codes.