Blue to Purple

Yes, you should be fine. You might find it goes more blue or darker than you want it, so it might be worth using a pink on the blue instead.

That's the colour wheel. So you have the primary colours, yellow, blue and red. Mixing the colours gives you various shades in between. Mixing blue and red gives purple. Think back to school and mixing paints, it works the same way. So further to that, mixing blue and pink give a more pink purple. But, if the blue is on the way to green, I think the pink might help to counteract that. But it is always worth doing a strand test if you're not sure.

Thanks for that. I still have no idea how to read the colour wheel, mind you I didn't get it in school either. My art teacher lost patience with me & just had me make her tea while she instructed the less hopeless!

So worst case scenario should be that it goes a bluey purple/purpley blue? That would be fine. I just don't want to end up with a horrid muddy mess.

It won't go muddy because they're not opposites and blue is a composite of purple 🙂

Blue would potentially go muddy if you wished to go orange, but I agree with Janine ... straight purple may go a slightly darker or more blurple colour, but putting a pink on top instead might give you a bright purple colour (though it might still be a bit blurple).

And when in doubt, strand test 😀

Ok, this might not help, but in case anyone else is reading and doesn't understand it either this is how to read it.

So pick a colour like blue. That is marked P as it is what they call a primary.

Now, opposite that is Orange, marked S because it's a secondary colour, that is made mixing two other colours. The two OTHER primaries that aren't blue to be specific, red and yellow. If a colour is opposite another on the colour wheel they compliment each other, they make each other look pretty!

Like here, see how the colours really pop against each other.

But you mix those colours together and you get mud!

So, any colours close, you can mix. So look at the wheel again. Blue to red, anything inbetween makes varying shades of purple. You can mix any of those shades from blue to red and not get mud. This will include pink as it's basically red or purple with more white.

The same with Blue to yellow with the shades of green between. You can mix any shade of green and blue and you won't get mud.

But, mix any of the orange shades with blue and you're more likely to get mud. If it is opposite on the wheel, they look pretty next to each other, but don't mix because they will go ick!

Even if that hasn't helps you lovali, hopefully it's helped someone 🙂

Ok that actually makes some sense I think. I'm going to have to print that off for future use. I've only ever been given these wheels with no information on how to read them!

Oh great! I'm glad it's hopefully got you on the way to understanding. It can be confusing, but once you understand it's pretty easy. It's just getting to that understanding part that's not always easy 🙂

janine thats such a good explanation it could be its own guide!