Colors give us a certain impression. Whether you are an artist or want to color food or anything, it is easy to paint something with a primary color. But what about the secondary color, for instance, purple. Many of us wonder how to make purple color or mix what colors to make purple. If you are also interested to know about the making process of purple color, we assure you that you are not in the wrong place.
The History of Color Purple
Archeologists suggest that the purple color is being used since the Neolithic period. Primarily, people used to use manganese powder and hematite powder to create purple color. During the Renaissance period, many artists used purple color in several religious paintings. For example, we can see purple color in some paintings of the Virgin Mary where she is dressed in purple robes. As the purple color was expensive, we can also notice that historically, the purple color is associated with money and status.
The Meaning of Color Purple
The red color reflects the concept of wisdom and knowledge, and the blue color signifies peace and stability. However, the mixture of these two colors, purple reflects independence, creativity, and mystery. As in the past, only wealthy people could wear purple-colored dresses, therefore, purple is also linked with royalty, nobility, wealth, and power.
The Science Behind Color Purple
The basic science behind color is that the absorption and reflection of the light waves are responsible for what we see as colors. Different colors are associated with different wavelengths. Our eyes visualize a color on the basis of the wavelength of the light that an object reflects. For instance, we can see red color when an object absorbs all the wavelengths of light except the wavelength of 700 nanometers. On the other hand, the blue color becomes visible when the wavelength of the light is 475 nanometers. The combination of red and blue colors makes purple. Therefore, we see purple color when an object reflects light of wavelengths between 700 nanometers and 475 nanometers.
What Colors Make Purple?
If you ask what two colors make purple, the answer is simply mixing red and blue together will give the purple color. However, the shade of your purple color depends on the percentage of the primary color in the mixture. For instance, if the amount of red is more in the mixture, the mixture will look like a reddish-purple and when the amount of blue is high, the mixture will be bluish purple. You can also add other colors in order to get different shades of purple. For example, if you want to have a light purple color, you can mix yellow, white, or gray. On the other hand, to get a darker purple color, you can add a little amount of black color.
How to Make Dark Purple Color?
The purple color is naturally very dark. However, if you want really darker shades of purple color, you can mix different colors. Firstly, you can mix Burnt Umber with Dioxazine Purple or Provence Violet Bluish. This will give you a dark muted purple color. Secondly, you can combine Dioxazine purple or Provence Violet Bluish with Pthalo Green and Alizarin Crimson in order to get a very dark purple color.
How to Make Light Purple Color?
When you mix red and blue colors, this will give you purple color that looks naturally dark. But if you want to have a light purple color, you have to add other colors to the mixture. The best way to prepare a light purple color is to mix the white color with a suitable amount. You can also combine yellow with purple to have a lighter shade of purple color.
What Two Colors Make Purple in Additive Mixing?
Additive mixing is about combining different light waves. In order to prepare colors for computer monitor screens, television screens, disco lights, the additive mixing method is used. Therefore, to make purple color for visual electronic screens through additive mixing, you have to combine the wavelengths of red and blue light in different proportions.
How to Make Purple through Subtractive Mixing Method?
The subtractive mixing method helps to eliminate certain wavelengths of light through absorption, and we can only see the reflected wavelengths of visible light. Physical elements such as dyes, paints, pigments are used in this method. The combination of red and blue paint creates a combination of different wavelengths. This combination of reflected light creates the visual impression of purple color.
What Colors Make Purple Muted?
In order to make the muted color, you have to mix a color with its complementary color. The complementary color of purple is yellow. Therefore, if you combine yellow and purple, this will give you muted purple color. However, you can use different color variants to get different shades of purple color. For instance, you can mix Cadmium Yellow or Yellow Ochre with Provence Violet Bluish or Dioxazine Purple to get different shades of purple muted.
