What Two Colors Mix to Make Purple?

The secondary color purple or violet is made by mixing the primary colors red and blue. However, to get a purple that is not muddy in appearance, it is important to mix the right types of blue and red, especially when mixing paint colors to use in a painting.

In theory, a pure blue color mixed with a pure red should give a proper hue of purple. However, many paint colors contain different mixtures of pigments. To avoid a muddy purple, it is wise to find a blue color that does not contain any of the added pigments red, yellow or green. Similarly, the red paint color should not have yellow pigment.