What Color Do Blue and Purple Make?

Are you curious about what color blue and purple make?

Let’s find out…

The colors are amazing! The options of colors are limitless because a shade can change easily just by adding another color to it.

The more you mix, the more colors you can create. Most of us grow up knowing the basics about mixing primary colors: yellow and blue make green, red and yellow make orange, and blue and red make purple.

You can change the hue of each of those secondary colors by adding or subtracting the amount of primary color that goes into it.

You can also change the shade of a color by adding black or white to it as well. Here is some additional information about mixing colors and some bonus material that answers the question, “what color do purple and blue make?”.

The Color Wheel

Mixing colors start with the color wheel. If you are not familiar with the color wheel, it is simply a chart that looks like a multicolored pie that is sliced into pieces.

The color wheel was designed to show the relationship between colors and the way they can mix together to create new colors.

You can check out the basic color wheel here. Keep in mind that as colors get more advanced, color wheels grow far beyond the basic variety.

Tertiary Colors

The three primary colors and the three secondary colors together are probably the most common and recognizable colors that we are familiar with. However, when the colors are extended beyond that by mixing a primary color with a secondary color that is adjacent to it, tertiary colors are created. These colors include:

• Red-orange
• Red-violet
• Yellow-green
• Yellow-orange
• Blue-green
• Blue-violet

On the color wheel, these colors are located between the primary and secondary colors from which they are made.

Making Colors Lighter or Darker

Contrary to popular belief, white and black are not colors. They are actually considered neutral achromatic (without color). Black and white are used to change the tint and shade of every color. When a color is made lighter in hue, it is known as a tint, and when it is made darker in hue, it is known as a shade. You create tints by adding white and shades by adding black to existing colors, whether they are primary, secondary, or tertiary.

What Color Does Blue and Purple Make

Alright, now that you have a little background on how to mix colors, let’s answer the question what color do blue and purple make?

Mixing blue and purple requires you to mix a primary color with a secondary color. Mixing these colors together creates the tertiary color blue-violet.

But, that is a far too simple answer to the question of what color is created when blue and purple are mixed. The final color you get is highly dependent on how much of each color you use.

If you choose to use equal amounts of each, you will get a different shade than if you add more blue than purple or vice versa.

Also, any small amount of white or black that is added to blue-violet will change its hue and create a new tint or shade of it. Further, there are also other factors at play when determining what color is created by combining blue and purple. Much of the answer lies in whether you are dealing with pigment or light.

Too Much Blue?

If you decide to mix blue and purple, it is wise to keep in mind that purple already has blue as one of its components. So, if you want to have a more even color tone, you will likely want to add more purple than blue so the blue hue does not overpower the purple.

Mixing Analogous Colors

Blue and Purple are considered analogous colors because they are next to each other on the color wheel.

Generally, any three colors in a row on the color wheel are considered analogous, primarily because they are in the same relative family of colors. There are both positive and negative aspects of mixing analogous colors.

Since the colors are so close to each other, they work in a harmonious manner and make good complements to each other. In fact, it is nearly impossible for analogous colors to clash. However, the opposite side of the coin is also true. Mixing analogous colors give you almost no variety or visual interest.

Keeping Analogous Color Mixes From Being Boring

Just because mixing analogous colors can be monotonous, it does not mean it needs to be boring. You can create innumerable tints and tones by adding various amounts of black, white, and gray. So, mixing blue and purple together can create a rich and deep hue that you can then play with to create additional shades and tints.

What color do blue and purple make? This seemingly simple question has many answers. It is completely dependent on many factors. The best way for you to get an answer is to try it yourself!