What Do Red and Purple Make When Mixed? Paint Swatches and Exact Color Ratios
By James H. Sterling
Q1: What color does red and purple make in paint?
Mixing red and purple produces red-violet, an intermediate tertiary color on the standard artist color wheel. Depending on the exact ratio and undertones, this shade ranges from bright magenta and raspberry to deep burgundy and plum.
Q2: Why did my red and purple mixture turn brown?
Your mixture likely incorporated a warm red containing yellow undertones, such as Cadmium Red. Combining red, purple (red + blue), and yellow forms a three-primary blend, which naturally subtracts light wavelengths to produce brown or muddy gray. Use a cool, blue-leaning red like Alizarin Crimson or Quinacridone Red to keep blends vibrant.
Q3: How do you make a true magenta using red and purple?
True primary magenta cannot be perfectly mixed from scratch using standard secondary purples and scarlet reds because magenta is an ink primary. You can simulate a vibrant approximation by combining a cool, transparent Quinacridone Red with a small touch of clean Dioxazine Violet and a speck of Titanium White to lift the value.
Q4: What is the difference between burgundy, maroon, and plum?
Burgundy is a red-dominant shade of red-violet with brown and purple undertones. Maroon leans strictly toward brownish-red with minimal blue presence. Plum is a purple-dominant tertiary shade containing higher concentrations of blue, giving it a much cooler, darker cast.
James Sterling reports on renewable energy developments, climate policy, ecological conservation, and green tech innovations around the globe.
