What color does cyan and violet make when mixed as paint?

A blue close to Qing Dynasty Dragon (#4557F1). Pigments subtract light, so the mix is darker and duller than either parent; exact results vary by brand and binder.

What do cyan and violet make as light?

A color near Skyan (#5DC9FF). Light mixes additively, so overlapping sources brighten instead of darkening, which is why screens and paint disagree about the same pair.

What happens with more cyan than violet?

The result slides toward Cyan along the mixing curve; the live slider on this page computes the paint and light result at any ratio, with the hex code of every step.

What does cyan and violet make?

In paint, cyan and violet make a blue close to Qing Dynasty Dragon (#4557F1). Mixed as light, the same pair gives a result near Skyan, because light adds while pigment subtracts.

50% Cyan · 50% Violet

As paint

#4557F1

As light

#5DC9FF

Theory

Why paint and light disagree

Pigments work by absorbing light: each paint removes part of the spectrum, so combining cyan and violet removes more light than either alone and the result darkens. Screens and stage lights work the other way. Each light adds energy, so overlapping them moves the result toward white. The slider above computes both models at any ratio: the paint result uses red-yellow-blue pigment interpolation, the light result uses additive blending.

Reference

The 50/50 paint result, specified

HEX: #4557F1
RGB: rgb(69, 87, 241)
HSL: hsl(234, 86%, 61%)
CMYK: cmyk(71%, 64%, 0%, 5%)

Closest named color: Warm Blue. Real pigments vary by brand and binder, so treat these values as the screen approximation of a physical mix.

FAQ

Quick answers

What color does cyan and violet make when mixed as paint?: A blue close to Qing Dynasty Dragon (#4557F1). Pigments subtract light, so the mix is darker and duller than either parent; exact results vary by brand and binder.
What do cyan and violet make as light?: A color near Skyan (#5DC9FF). Light mixes additively, so overlapping sources brighten instead of darkening, which is why screens and paint disagree about the same pair.
What happens with more cyan than violet?: The result slides toward Cyan along the mixing curve; the live slider on this page computes the paint and light result at any ratio, with the hex code of every step.