How to Mix Purple Acrylic Paint

Crockett Johnson's Harold used a purple crayon, Prince sang about Purple Rain, and how majestic would those purple mountains be without the color purple? While you can buy a pre-mixed tube of acrylic purple paint, you will have more control over the final hue if you mix your own purple paint. Mixing purple acrylic paint can be tricky. It's not as simple as mixing equal parts of red and blue. You need to use the right red and blue.

How Much Acrylic Paint to Mix

When mixing, "one part" can be equal to one speck, or the equivalent of three-quarters of an inch if the squeezed paint is measured with a ruler. If you're doing a big painting, make the "one part" bigger. It could be the equivalent of a quarter of a cup for example, Whatever you determine to be sufficient for your "one part" needs to be consistent when adding additional colors.

If you're unsure of how much you need, mix more not less otherwise you risk not matching the purple hue you created.

Colors Needed to Mix Purple Acrylic Paint

Permanent Blue
Cobalt Violet
Magenta
Titanium White

How to Mix Purple Acrylic Paint

Create a deep purple with one part white and two parts magenta paint. Ligthen it up by increasing the parts of white.

Mix a mid-range purple by adding 1 part white to two parts of cobalt violet.

For a dark purple on the bluish side mix one part white, one part permanent blue and 2 parts cobalt violet. You can create a range of lighter colors by increasing the parts of white, from three to 10.

Mix a Bluish Purple

For a more bluish purple acrylic paint, you need to use Ultramarine Blue, Phthalo Red Rose and Titanium White. On the darkest end, mix one part titanium white, 1 part phthalo rose and three parts ultramiarine blue.

More Tips and Tricks for Purple Acrylic Paint Mixing

Use these tips for any value, monochromatic or underpainting.

1. Make a light tint by adding white to your final purple. Start by adding a little and then create an entire range of purple tints by increasing the amout of white paint.

2. Make a tone of purple by adding gray to your purple.

3. Create a shade by adding pure black to your purple.

Take It Further

Experiment by adding more and more white to the mixes to create an infinite range of purples. A purple that you mixed looks more painterly than any purple paint squeezed directly from the tube.