PaintwellPaint mixing, from the tubes you own

How to mix purple paint

The recipes below come from Paintwell's pigment model, worked out from the real tube paints named, in oil and in acrylic. Percentages are by volume of paint on the palette.

Purple
#6a3d8f
Oil, any brand
  • 85%Manganese Violet Old Holland
  • 15%Phthalo Blue Reddish Rembrandt
Very close match
Winsor & Newton oil
  • 56%Cobalt Violet
  • 44%Winsor Violet Dioxazine
Very close match
Gamblin oil
  • 44%Cobalt Violet
  • 32%Quinacridone Violet
  • 24%Dioxazine Purple
Very close match
Acrylic, any brand
  • 54%Permanent Violet Amsterdam
  • 37%Brilliant Purple Liquitex
  • 9%Deep Magenta Liquitex
Very close match
Golden acrylic
  • 56%Cobalt Violet
  • 44%Dioxazine Purple
Very close match
Liquitex acrylic
  • 44%Deep Magenta
  • 44%Light Blue Permanent
  • 12%Brilliant Purple
Very close match

How to get there

Put out the Manganese Violet first: it is 85% of the mix.

Add the Phthalo Blue Reddish a little at a time, mixing fully between additions. The smaller shares are usually the stronger paints, and it is far easier to add more than to take it back.

Judge the color in the light you will paint in, and test a dab on the canvas: wet paint and dry paint can read differently, especially acrylic, which usually dries a little darker.

Every brand's version of a pigment is a little different, which is why the recipes change from brand to brand. If you own other tubes, Paintwell works the recipe out from those instead.

Match any color from your own photo

Take a photo of your reference, tap any color, and Paintwell gives you the recipe from the paints you actually own. Then point your camera at your mix and it tells you which way you're off.

Related colors

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