Mixing Mauve for Watercolor Clouds

Last time I looked at purple mixes, I fell most in love with the vibrant ones. Recently, though, in my efforts to make more subtle watercolor sky & sunset colors, I’ve been trying to find my favorite mixes for mauve, aka dull purple.

Mixing Violet Color Theory Review

I put together a quick red-and-blue color mixing chart to see which combinations of color bias made the most promising mauves. I used the following colors:

• Example of a violet-biased red (magenta): Holbein Quinacridone Magenta (PR122)
• Example of an orange-biased red (scarlet): Da Vinci Permanet Red (PR188)
• Example of a violet-biased blue: Da Vinci Ultramarine Blue (PB29)
• Example of a green-biased blue: Winsor & Newton Phthalo Turquoise (PB16)

Observations:

• True to my previous observations of color bias, that the most vibrant violets come from violet-toned red (magenta) + violet-toned blue (Ultramarine Blue). This is too vibrant for what I’m looking for at hte moment, but good to know.
• Magenta matters most; both mixes on the left (with magenta) are significantly more vibrant than both mixes on the right (with scarlet).
• The mixes where neither color is violet-biased, scarlet + turquoise, result in a neutral gray. Also good to know, but also not what I’m looking for.
• The sweet spot: mixes where one of the colors is violet-biased.
• The scarlet and ultramarine mix is probably the closest, but I’m concerned that there’s no way to make it pinker. Adding more scarlet makes it more orangey. It has kind of a “licorice necco wafer” hue that I don’t love, and kind of a sinister vibe from the orange-red undertone. Maybe good for “red skies at morning, sailor take warning” type vibe, but not a gentle mauve cloud.
• The turquoise and magenta mix, now that is interesting. Still too vibrant, but feels like the right direction to explore further.

Cyan + Magenta Mixing Chart

Here’s a chart of a bunch of violet-toned reds (magentas) vs green-toned blues (cyans).

Magenta, left-to-right:

• Holbein Quin Magenta (PR122) – Brightest mixes
• DS Quin Magenta (PR202) – Significantly more muted mixes along similar hues
• DV Red Rose Deep (PV19) – Similar to Quin Magenta mixes, slightly less clean/bright
• DS Bordeaux (PV32) – Similar to PR202 mixes, couldn’t tell them apart in a blind taste test
• DV Alizarin Crimson Quinacridone (PV19) – Warmer and slightly browner-toned muted mixed.
• HO Pyrrole Rubine (PR264) – Much more neutral/gray mixes, not really mauve in most cases.

Cyans seem to have less impact on the mix, so there are harder to tell apart. As far as I can tell (top-to-bottom):

• DV Phthalo Blue GS (PB15:3) – Among the brightest/cleanest mixes in this set
• WN Phthalo Turquoise (PB16) – The balance of blue-to-red may be throwing me off here, but I do think these are similar to PBGS but more muted.
• DV Prussian Blue (PB27) – Just kind of slightly darker than PB16, I guess?
• HO Indigo – Duller/darker mixes
• DV Cerulean (PB36) – This is one of the few that stands out from the other blues. Significantly brighter/lighter than other mixes, and color-separating. I think these are kinda magical, though maybe not dull enough for the purpose of offsetting bright sunset colors.
• DV Cobalt Turquoise (PB36) – Similar to Cerulean mixes, but with a greener case due to the fact that the floating granulation is more green-toned.
• DS Phthalo Green (PG7) – More neutral gray mixes, but with many of the colors (especially the bluer magentas) they still read as mauve. I think the main problem with these is that they can have a greenish cast when the colors don’t blend perfectly and that can distract from the realism or make it look odd in a sky.

Cyan + Purple Mixing Chart

I took the same cyan colors and mixed them with colors I already see as being purple-y.

The purples, from left to right:

• Holbein Quin Violet (PV19) – These mixes came closest, on this page, to being what I wanted, and they get nice and dark. The ones with Indigo and Payne’s Gray are especially moody and interesting. Overall they are a bit on the blue side and because QV is not very red, they don’t get the flashes of red/pink I find kind of interesting with the magenta/red mixes. I do like these for stormy skies.
• DS Carbazole Violet (PV23) – On the blue and dark side, reminding me of night skies rather than clouds.
• DS Lavender (PV15, PB29, PW6) – This is basically just blue, granulating light blue mixes.
• WN Smalt (PV15) – Though a violet pigment this is blue enough that it’s basically Ultramarine Blue.

Deeper Dive on Phthalo Turquoise

I decided to zero in on Phthalo Turquoise mixes because I found it to be one of the more promising cyans. Its strong green bias means it doesn’t go too violet. It’s also a bit more muted than other Phthalos, and gets nice and dark. Prussian Blue works the same way if that’s a color you have on your palette.

Quinacridone Magenta (PR122) + Phthalo Turquoise (PB16)

Here’s a closer look at the mix from the chart above, Quin Magenta plus Phthalo Turquoise. I love these mixes but in many cases they will read as bright purple rather than cloudy mauve.

Quin Magenta (PR202) + Phthalo Turquoise (PB16)

Shifting to a more muted pigment for the magenta helps a lot.

Red Rose Deep (PV19) + Phthalo Turquoise (PB16)

Another option is to move in a more warm/rosy direction, such as by using Red Rose Deep, a warm, rosy variant of Quin Rose by Da Vinci. I still find these too vibrant!

Alizarin Crimson Quinacridone (PV19) + Phthalo Turquoise

This looks more like what I’m after! Distinctly violet, but greyed-out. The ACQ brings a nice warmness to the mix as well. This is one of my favorite pairs.

Pyrrol Rubin (PR264) + Phthalo Turquoise

Pyrrol Rubin looks a lot like ACQ unmixed, but its mixes with Phthalo Turquoise are more muted, and I found it more difficult to find a balance.

Bonus: Quin Coral (PR209) + Phthalo Turquoise

Quin Coral (PR209), one of my favorite sunset specialists, appears very orange-toned, but mixes much more vibrant violets than you’d expect. For example, its mixes with PB16 aren’t netural by any means! They are more vibrant than the ACQ mixes but still distinctly mauve rather than incredibly bright. I like these a lot. However, they don’t get as dark as easily as the ACQ mixes, especially on the warmer end.

Conclusion

The mix I can’t stop thinking about is Phthalo Turquoise plus Alizarin Crimson Quinacridone. Pyrrol Crimson is similar but grayer, and Quin Coral is similar but bolder (requiring some fiddling to get dark). ACQ just feels like a happy medium where it’s the easiest to make the type of mauve I’m after. I used the PT + ACQ mix in this sunset power lines painting:

With that said, I can’t help but be drawn to the “too bold” mixes, such as those with Quin Rose, and maybe it’s okay to use them in some scenarios where a more muted violet appears in the real world/photo, as Joyce Hicks does with Manganese Blue + Permanent Rose. Artistic license!

Another option is just to mix that bold violet (e.g. with Quin Rose and Phthalo Blue or Cobalt Blue), and toss in an earthy yellow or orange (e.g. MANS, Burnt Sienna, TRO) until it is sufficiently neutralized. As I learned in Maria Coryell-Martin’s cloud class, when it comes to cloud grays especially, it can be easier to get the precise shade you’re after from a triad than a duo.