Does blue and purple make periwinkle?
Purple and blue are two colors that complement each other beautifully. When mixed together, they create a lovely tertiary color known as periwinkle. So the simple answer is yes, combining blue and purple makes periwinkle. But let’s take a deeper look at how these colors interact and the specifics of creating the perfect periwinkle shade.
The Color Wheel
To understand how secondary and tertiary colors like periwinkle are formed, it helps to visualize the colors on a color wheel. The color wheel arranges primary, secondary and tertiary colors into a circle to show their relationships.
The primary colors are red, blue and yellow. These are pure pigment colors that can’t be created by mixing other colors. Secondary colors are formed by mixing two primary colors: purple (red + blue), green (yellow + blue) and orange (red + yellow).
Tertiary colors are made by mixing a primary color with a secondary color next to it on the wheel. For example, red (primary) mixed with purple (secondary) makes red-purple. And yellow (primary) mixed with green (secondary) makes yellow-green.
Periwinkle is a tertiary color between blue and purple on the color wheel. To make periwinkle, you mix a primary color (blue) with a secondary color (purple). The exact ratio of the mix determines the hue of periwinkle you end up with.
Mixing Blue and Purple Paint
When working with paints, mixing blue and purple requires having the right shades of each. A vivid royal purple and a true blue are ideal. On the color wheel, royal purple leans slightly red-violet, while true blue leans slightly toward green-blue. Combined, they make a perfect periwinkle.
Here are some tips for mixing periwinkle paint:
– Use a 1:1 ratio of blue to purple for a balanced periwinkle. Adjust the ratio depending on if you want it more blue or more purple.
– Start with small amounts of paint and gradually add more until you get the desired periwinkle shade.
– Make sure both paints are thoroughly blended together so there’s no streakiness.
– Add white paint to lighten the periwinkle to a pastel hue.
– Add a touch of black paint to mute or darken the periwinkle.
Mixing Blue and Purple Dye
When mixing colors for dyeing fabric or other materials, the same color theory applies. Combining a purple dye and blue dye will produce periwinkle. But getting the right shades of blue and purple dye is key.
For dyeing, look for:
– A pure purple dye that has a slightly red-violet tint without too much red.
– A pure blue dye on the green-blue side of the spectrum rather than one leaning toward violet.
– Both dyes should have similar depths of shade for even mixing.
Then follow these tips when mixing the dyes:
– As with paint, start by mixing equal parts blue and purple dye.
– Adjust the ratio as needed depending on if you want a more blue or purple periwinkle.
– Make sure the two dyes are thoroughly blended for a consistent periwinkle color.
– Add white dye or neutral dye to create a lighter pastel periwinkle.
Mixing Blue and Purple Frosting
In baking, periwinkle blue-purple frosting can give a delightful color to cupcakes, cakes, sugar cookies and more. Here’s how to mix food coloring to create periwinkle frosting or icing:
– Use a gel food coloring rather than liquid food dye for more intense, vivid color.
– Mix a small amount of pure blue gel coloring into the icing first.
– Then add a touch of red-violet or pure purple gel coloring. Red gives purple its hint of red-violet so this will enhance the purple hue.
– Mix the blue and purple thoroughly to avoid streaks.
– Adjust the ratio until you reach the perfect periwinkle for your needs. More blue and less purple will give you a blue-leaning periwinkle, for example.
– Add white icing to lighten the periwinkle to a softer, pastel effect.
Mixing Blue and Purple Digital Colors
In digital graphic design programs like Photoshop or Illustrator, you can easily mix custom colors. This includes mixing periwinkle shades by combining blue and purple.
Here are some tips for mixing digital periwinkle colors:
– Use the color selection tools like the color wheel or color sliders. Move between blue and purple to choose the right hue.
– Input specific RGB or HEX codes to select shades of blue and purple to combine.
– Use a 50/50 mix of blue and purple then adjust as needed.
– Lighten the periwinkle with more white or darken it with more black.
– Use tint and shade tools to manually adjust the amounts of color, white and black.
| Blue Code | Purple Code | Resulting Periwinkle |
|---|---|---|
| RGB: 0, 127, 255 | RGB: 127, 0, 255 | RGB: 63, 63, 255 |
| HEX: #007FFF | HEX: #7F00FF | HEX: #3F3FFF |
This table shows some examples of mixing RGB and HEX codes for blue and purple to create periwinkle digital colors. Adjust the values to create your own custom periwinkle shades.
Light and Dark Periwinkle Variations
Periwinkle can be mixed in various shades ranging from very pale, light periwinkle to very dark periwinkle. Some examples include:
Light periwinkle: By adding a lot of white, light periwinkle has a soft, delicate appearance. Textiles and baby items are sometimes this hue.
Lilac periwinkle: This is a light purple-blue with a slightly greener, cooler tone. It’s close to the color of lilac flowers.
Periwinkle blue: More blue than purple, this has a rich, vivid blue appearance closer to blue-violet.
Dark periwinkle: With the addition of black or by using darker blue and purple base colors, you can achieve a deep dark periwinkle.
So in summary, the more white added to periwinkle, the lighter and more pastel the shade. The more black added, the darker and richer the periwinkle color will be.
Complementary Colors for Periwinkle
Periwinkle works beautifully with shades of green, yellow, peach and pink. These are colors on the opposite side of the color wheel that harmoniously complement periwinkle’s cool tones.
Some examples of complementary colors for periwinkle include:
– Yellow-greens like chartreuse, lime green and greenish-yellow
– Warm yellows like golden yellow, mustard and lemon yellow
– Peach, salmon, melon, and apricot shades
– Dusty pinks, light corals, and soft rose colors
Pairing periwinkle with warmer neutrals like cream, beige and tan can also be very pretty. This helps ground periwinkle’s cool blue-purple tones.
Use of Periwinkle in Fashion and Decor
Throughout history, periwinkle has been a popular color for clothing, home decor, porcelain, dried flower arranging and more. Here are some of the ways periwinkle is commonly used:
Clothing: Periwinkle works nicely in women’s dresses, blouses, and accessories. Light periwinkle is especially pretty in flowy chiffon and silk fabrics. Dark periwinkle can be striking in velvet or satin evening gowns.
Home decor: Walls, bedding, pillows, and accent pieces in shades of periwinkle help create a soothing, relaxing environment. Use periwinkle to add a pop of color that isn’t overpowering.
Flowers: Periwinkle colored roses, tulips, hydrangeas and other flowers with blueish-purple petals have an elegant, romantic look. They work nicely in bouquets and centerpieces.
Porcelain: Fine bone china sometimes features hand-painted periwinkle designs like flowers or pinstripes. Periwinkle glaze is also used on porcelain pottery like vases and teacups.
Periwinkle Gemstones
There are a few gemstones that naturally exhibit a periwinkle blue-violet color similar to mixing blue and purple. These periwinkle gems are very rare and valuable. Some include:
Tanzanite: This blue-violet gem discovered in Tanzania displays different hues depending on the crystal orientation, including periwinkle.
Larimar: This light blue pearly stone found only in the Dominican Republic can show periwinkle and lilac shades.
Blue zircon: Zircon comes in many colors, and some rarer specimens have a blue-violet periwinkle tone.
Iolite: Called the Viking stone, iolite can vary from violet-blue to light blue with some periwinkle gems.
Periwinkle in Nature
While periwinkle as a distinct color doesn’t often appear in nature, some living things display blue and purple shades reminiscent of periwinkle. These include:
Hydrangea: The popular garden shrub blooms in a range of cool colors including periwinkle blue and lilac-blue.
Morning glory: This flowering vine produces light and dark periwinkle blue flowers as well as vivid purple blooms.
Blue grapes: Grapes grow in shades of purple, blue and mixtures of the two, resulting in periwinkle-hued varieties.
Betta fish: These fish are specially bred to exhibit many colors, including steel blue, violet and periwinkle shades.
Doves: Some dove species have soft grayish-blue and purple iridescence in their plumage, creating subtle periwinkle tones.
Conclusion
Periwinkle is a lovely tertiary color that combines the serenity of blue with the regality of purple. While not super common in nature, periwinkle has many decorative uses, with endless possibilities for mixing custom shades. From whisper-soft pastel periwinkle to dramatic bold periwinkle, the combinations of blue and purple can produce the perfect periwinkle hue for any project or palette. So the magic combination of blue and purple does undeniably make periwinkle!
