What color does orange and purple make when mixed as paint?

A orange close to Spiced Nut (#C06A40). Pigments subtract light, so the mix is darker and duller than either parent; exact results vary by brand and binder.

What do orange and purple make as light?

A color near Fluorescent Red (#FF5656). 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 orange than purple?

The result slides toward Orange 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 orange and purple make?

In paint, orange and purple make a orange close to Spiced Nut (#C06A40). Mixed as light, the same pair gives a result near Fluorescent Red, because light adds while pigment subtracts.

50% Orange · 50% Purple

As paint

#C06A40

As light

#FF5656

Theory

Why paint and light disagree

Pigments work by absorbing light: each paint removes part of the spectrum, so combining orange and purple 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: #C06A40
RGB: rgb(192, 106, 64)
HSL: hsl(20, 50%, 50%)
CMYK: cmyk(0%, 45%, 67%, 25%)

Closest named color: Oak Palace. 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 orange and purple make when mixed as paint?: A orange close to Spiced Nut (#C06A40). Pigments subtract light, so the mix is darker and duller than either parent; exact results vary by brand and binder.
What do orange and purple make as light?: A color near Fluorescent Red (#FF5656). 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 orange than purple?: The result slides toward Orange 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.