Purple shades - Royal Talens
Purple shades - Royal Talens

About violet shades

Violets are often found in landscapes in the form of flowers and other plants, but when you look at impressionists’ works, you can find hints of violet hidden in snow, for example. Van Gogh loved using violets in skies and even faces.

Aside from being a useful colour for various artworks, violet is also a colour with deep meaning. It is the colour that represents the pope, wealth and spirituality, though it can also be the colour of mourning and loss. Violet may seem like a simple colour, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Undertones

Violets come in many shades and offer various properties. They can have red or blue undertones and are often mono pigmented. Most violets are transparent or semi-transparent. Mixed with white, they transform into the most delicate rosy and lilac shades. Try mixing them with yellow as well for some surprising hues.

Examples

Cobalt Violet (539), for instance, is a special pigment. It is extremely pricey and has a unique, interesting tone in its pure form. When mixed, this shade is easily overpowered, but it truly shines when used on its own.

Ultramarine Violet (507) is a variation on the well-known Ultramarine (504). This deep violet shade leans more towards the red side of the spectrum. Just like the original Ultramarine, Ultramarine Violet is beautifully transparent, which makes it perfect for mixing and layering.

Assortment

The Rembrandt oil paint collection features various intense violet shades, made with exceptional pigments that are nearly impossible to recreate by mixing. These colours are great for adding depth to shadows, for instance, and can have blue or red undertones. To highlight these undertones, all shades were mixed with 104 Zinc White.

The following shades of violet were used in this video:

  • 567 Permanent Red Violet
  • 539 Cobalt Violet
  • 568 Permanent Blue Violet
  • 537 Permanent Violet Medium
  • 507 Ultramarine Violet

Rembrandt oil paint - violet shades

Related blogs

The Old Masters’ palette and its relevance today - Royal Talens
Painting with oil paint

The Old Masters’ palette and its relevance today

Seventeenth century painters like Rembrandt, Vermeer and Hals are known for their dramatic light and rich colours. Their carefully chosen...
Exploring limited palettes and glazing techniques with Ale Casanova - Royal Talens
Painting with oil paint

Exploring limited palettes and glazing techniques with Ale Casanova

One of the greatest needs of painters is to keep putting themselves in situations that must be solved, challenges that...
The construction and finishing of an oil painting - Royal Talens
Painting with oil paint

The construction and finishing of an oil painting

Oil paint is the most complicated of all paints from a materials point of view when it comes to the...
Oil paint Colour-mixing - Royal Talens
Painting with oil paint

Oil paint Colour-mixing

Using Van Gogh oil paint in the three primary colours: 267 Azo Yellow Lemon, 366 Quinacridone Rose and 570 Phthalo...
Painting an ear - Royal Talens
Painting with oil paint

Painting an ear

Ears are ignored by so many artists but it's incredibly interesting to paint them! There are so many things going...
Painting a nose - Royal Talens
Painting with oil paint

Painting a nose

"Today we’ll paint a nose. I love noses! And I hope that I could share a piece of my love...
Painting a blue eye - Royal Talens
Painting with oil paint

Painting a blue eye

Inspiration can come from anywhere. For this eye, I was inspired by an incredible paint color - King’s Blue. I...
Landscape painting - Royal Talens
Painting with oil paint

Painting a landscape

In this step-by-step plan, Anouk Bijsterbosch shows us how to create an open-air landscape using Rembrandt oil paint. Also watch...