Experiment with mixing varying amounts of black paint into purple acrylic paint.
Purple acrylic paint can be purchased in a tube or created on a palette by mixing blue and red paints. While adding white paint to the mixture will lighten the color, adding black paint will darken it. Since black paint may flatten the vibrancy of the purple color, some artists prefer to use another dark color, such as a dark green, to darken purple. To see the effects of mixing purple and black paints, create a chart that shows the progression from the original purple color to the darkest value of purple.
Instructions
1. Purchase a small canvas panel on which to test your purple and black mixtures. Open a container of white acrylic gesso. Dampen a foam brush and use it to apply an even coat of gesso to the canvas panel. Replace the lid on the gesso container. Clean the foam brush in water. Allow the canvas panel to dry completely.
2. Open a tube of purple acrylic paint. Squeeze a nickel-sized amount of the paint on a plastic disposable plate. Replace the lid on the paint tube. Spritz the paint with water and stir with a round bristle brush. Clean the brush in water.
3. Open a tube of black acrylic paint. Squeeze out a dime-sized amount of the paint on a plastic disposable plate. Replace the lid on the paint tube. Spritz the paint with water and stir with the round brush. Clean the brush in water.
4. Dampen the bristles of the round brush in water. Load the brush with purple paint and paint a 1-by-2-inch area in the top left corner the canvas panel. Rinse the brush in water. Load the tip of the brush with black paint and apply it to a 1-by-2-inch area in the top right corner of the canvas panel. Rinse the brush in water. These two rectangular areas will serve as a reference for your future paint mixing samples.
5. Pick up a small dab of the black paint on the round brush and mix it into the purple paint. With the brush, paint a sample of this mixture in a 1-inch square area of the canvas panel starting on the left side of the canvas panel. Dip the brush into the black paint again and mix it into the purple/black paint on the plate. Paint a sample of this mixture in a 1-inch square next to the last sample. Repeat this process by progressively adding more black paint to the mixture and creating a series of square samples on the canvas panel. Stop when the sample appears black. Use this value guide in your future painting projects to determine how much black to add to purple to darken it for your purposes.
