What color do red and purple make?
Red and Purple make crimson.
Red and Purple make crimson, #bf0040. That is the result in equal parts, mixing pigment rather than light - paint, ink and dye all behave this way.
Equal parts red and purple · #bf0040
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 red, 1 part purple · #df0020
Equal parts · #bf0040
1 part red, 3 parts purple · #9f0060
Lighter and darker
With white added - a tint · #df80a0
With black added - a shade · #730026
Why it works
Pigment mixes subtractively: red paint absorbs the wavelengths it is not reflecting, purple absorbs its own set, and crimson 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 red and purple make?
Red and Purple make crimson, #bf0040. 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 salmon. Add black for a shade, which gives maroon. 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 red than purple?
Three parts red to one part purple gives crimson. Reversing it to one part red and three parts purple gives purple 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.