What color do purple and teal make?
Purple and Teal make indigo.
Purple and Teal make indigo, #4b3f72. That is the result in equal parts, mixing pigment rather than light - paint, ink and dye all behave this way.
Equal parts purple and teal · #4b3f72
Change the ratio
Very little of a mix is ever half and half. Shifting the balance moves the result along the range between the two colours.
3 parts purple, 1 part teal · #651f79
Equal parts · #4b3f72
1 part purple, 3 parts teal · #30616c
Lighter and darker
With white added - a tint · #a59fb9
With black added - a shade · #2d2644
Why it works
Pigment mixes subtractively: purple paint absorbs the wavelengths it is not reflecting, teal absorbs its own set, and indigo is what neither of them absorbed. This is why paint behaves differently from a screen, where light adds together instead.
Frequently asked questions
What color do purple and teal make?
Purple and Teal make indigo, #4b3f72. Mixed in equal parts that is the result you get with paint, ink or any other pigment.
How do I make the result lighter or darker?
Add white for a tint - here that gives lavender. Add black for a shade, which gives indigo. Add white a little at a time, because it takes far less than people expect to shift a mix.
What happens if I use more purple than teal?
Three parts purple to one part teal gives indigo. Reversing it to one part purple and three parts teal gives teal instead.
Does this work the same way on a screen?
No. Screens mix light additively, so red and green light make yellow there. These results are subtractive - paint, ink, dye and pigment - which is what people mean when they ask what two colours make.