Caroline
Blue and purple are two rich and evocative colors that are common in many elements of art and design.
They may not technically be complementary colors in terms of the color wheel, but they go well together!
You may be wondering what color does blue and purple make when mixed, though. That’s what we will be exploring in this guide, so anyone asking this question is in the right place!
This guide will show you how you can mix these colors together as well as the different variations you can land up with when you mix them together.
Get ready to see what is possible with these colors!
How you can mix blue and purple?
So how can you mix blue and purple? That is the question we should look at first before we examine some ways that you could mix these colors together.
On the color wheel, blue and purple are neighbors and both are considered cool colors. This means that many shades of these colors would work well either used together or when mixed.
We will go over some of the specific colors you could use if you want to mix them together. By now, you may again be wondering what color blue and purple will give you when mixed.
Because the colors are so similar, depending on the shades you will get a bluish-purple or a purple-blue. How you actually go about mixing the colors will depend on your medium.
It is a good idea to practice the act of color mixing before you worry too much about the actual colors you will mix. There are tons of mediums you may be using, but the methods are more or less the same.
For this guide, we will be focusing mainly on paint mediums. Even with this classification, there can be a lot of differences between mediums like watercolor, oils, and acrylic paints.
There is a lot of experimentation needed if you’re trying to mix a specific color for a picture. We will be showing you different examples to help eliminate some of the guesswork.
For now, try to mix different colors of your paint to see what happens. Some artists like to use different kinds of paint on a single picture to create a mixed media piece.
This can be great, but if you’re mixing paint colors then you should stick to one medium. If you were to mix one blue color of oil paint with purple acrylic then you are not going to have much success!
Now we will look at whether the colors of blue and purple are a good combination to use with one another.
Are blue and purple a good combination to mix together?
We mentioned in the previous step that blue and purple are both cool colors that are neighbors on the color wheel. On the color wheel, blue is one of the three primary colors, whereas purple is a secondary color.
Purple is created by mixing blue and red together, whereas blue is a base color. This means that these colors create a soft and pleasing look when used with each other.
Most shades of these colors should at the very least look decent together, but some can look great.
In design, you will usually find that cool colors like blue and purple are used in situations that are meant to elicit a calming effect.
Bright colors like yellow and red are really eye-catching and bold, whereas these colors calm us down.
If you’re creating a picture that uses lots of blues and purples, you will likely have an image that will be relaxing to look at.
When you mix these colors together, the effect is enhanced even further. The colors you will end up with when mixing these colors will vary greatly depending on the shades that you use.
We will be showing you specific color codes that you can use to create colors in the next step. But you can see the results yourself if you find a blue object and a purple one in your house.
Put them together and we bet that they will go together nicely! If you have some paints to play around with, you can see this as well.
Try out a few combinations of blue and purple painted close to one another on a practice surface. Then you can also see how they go well together when mixed.
Trying out different combinations and seeing what happens is the best way to learn!
What results you can expect?
Now you may be wondering what results you can expect from mixing blue and purple together. If you have played around with these colors as we suggested in the previous step, you may be getting an idea!
The simple answer to what you can expect would again be that there will be a bluish-purple or a purple-blue. Sometimes these can even result in specific colors like violet or lilac.
You can tend to anticipate what the results will be in most cases. Let us look at a few examples of how you can do this!
If you want to follow precisely along, you can use hex codes. These are codes that begin with a # symbol with various numbers.
You can look up the hex codes we will provide in order to see what we mean in a tangible way! Let’s start with a dark blue and purple.
For the blue, let’s use #2900F5. For the purple, we will go with hex code #530881.
These are both dark shades of these colors, and they result in a lovely and rich dark purple color. If you want to see what these colors create, you can look up #5B25C0 to see the result.
Then, let’s use lighter shades like hex code #00E5FF and #DD00FF for blue and purple respectively. These give us a pretty light purple in the form of #5a7ac0.
Using these examples, we can safely assume that two light shades mixed together will result in a light shade. The same is naturally true with dark shades.
But what of a combination of one light and one dark? Let’s try an example.
Take hex code #00E5FF from earlier for a light blue and #530881 for a dark purple. These result in the very bluish-purple color of #4b7ac0.
The results can become a bit less predictable when mixing light with dark, but that’s why it can be important to practice and try out a few different combinations.
Later on in this guide, we will show you how you can tweak the colors to be lighter or darker and see some ways you can customize them.
For now, we will be looking at a few of the best uses for blue and purple you can have in your art whether they are mixed or used together.
Best uses for blue and purple mixes
As we mentioned earlier in this guide, blue and purple are both considered cool colors on the color wheel. Purple can have warm tones to it, but for the most part it is considered cold.
Different colors definitely have different associations, and we also mentioned how these colors produce a calming effect, especially when used together.
With these colors, you will find blue more frequently in nature, whereas purple is a bit less common. That’s not to say that it is unheard of in nature!
Purple shades are common in flower petals, plants, bird feathers and even something like a poisonous frog.
Blue can be used for the sky, water and also some animals, among other uses. If you use these colors near each other, you could find all sorts of uses for them!
For instance, you may want to mix these colors to make a light lavender purple if painting that flower. Two shades you could mix would be #539DFD for blue and #8F0062 for the purple.
These would result in a stunning lilac purple. If you make blue the more dominant color of the two, then you could use it for an atmospheric sky or maybe some reflective water.
You could also use these colors for other elements of design. For example, if you need a calming poster for a doctor’s office, blue and purple would be great colors to use.
It is a color combination that makes the viewer feel nice and calm and it would help to soothe anxious feelings.
If you are styling furniture, wall paint or other objects for a room then blue and purple would also work well.
As you can see, it’s a very versatile pairing of colors! Whether you are making a painting or doing some interior decoration, you will find that it is a great combination.
Of course, if you are trying to create something warmer that will grab attention then you would be better off with warmer colors like red or yellow.
Now that we know of some uses for these colors, we can start to look at how you can mix light and dark shades of these colors.
Lighter and darker blue and purple mixes
When creating art or any kind of design, you may need certain shades of colors. This could be because you are painting something specific, like that lavender we mentioned.
It could be as simple as you just having a specific shade that you like that you need for a design. In either case, you can tweak the colors to become anything you need.
Logically speaking, it makes sense that dark colors will make it darker and the same for light. That is the obvious part, but it can be less obvious when you look at subtle tones.
For instance, let’s say you’re painting a flower with some mild yellow tones to the purple. You would want to add a small amount of a light yellow like #FFEC9E for instance.
This will serve the dual purposes of making the color lighter while also giving it that subtle yellow tone.
If you are trying to replicate a specific color, then you need to be able to observe the colors closely.
Of course, if you simply need to make it lighter or darker then you will want to use white and black. These are the way to go if you have the right color tones but it’s just not dark or light enough.
Adding black or white should be done with care, however. If you squeeze the paint tube too hard and put a giant blob of black in the mix then it could overpower your colors.
Carefully add small drops of these colors, mix it in and see what happens. So to summarize, you can either add some black and white or mix in tones of other colors.
This can take a lot of trial and error, so try to do your mixing on a separate surface. Once you have the color you need, try to remember how you created it.
Then you can have as much as you need for the artwork you are creating!
In summary
We hope that you feel a bit more confident about these two beautiful colors after finishing this guide.
You set out to discover what color does blue and purple make when mixed, and now you know that this can have many answers!
Whether you’re painting some beautiful flowers, creating a poster or rearranging a room you will find that these colors can be very useful in many contexts.
Just remember to use your color wheel, observe the colors closely and don’t be afraid to experiment a bit. If you do all of these things, you will be creating amazing colors before you even know it!
