What two colors make plum?

Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses 3 tubes rather than two: 7 parts Alizarin Crimson, 3 parts Ultramarine Blue and 3 parts Titanium White. Alizarin Crimson leads the mix. Chromilla's model predicts a 95% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Why does plum look different when acrylic dries?

Acrylic binder looks milky while wet and clears as it dries, so the dried film reads darker. Chromilla's model applies a 10% value shift for acrylic, so the wet mix #6B3552 is predicted to dry to about #633048. Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.

What is the hex code for plum?

Chromilla uses #6A3550 as the target for plum. The acrylic recipe is predicted to dry to about #633048.

Can I mix plum without black?

Yes. Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses no black: 7 parts Alizarin Crimson, 3 parts Ultramarine Blue and 3 parts Titanium White.

How to mix

Plum paint in acrylic, oil and watercolor, compared

Real pigment ratios for plum (#6A3550) in acrylic, oil and watercolor. The recipes below come straight from Chromilla’s mixer, calibrated to real manufacturer paint data.

Quick answer

To mix plum (#6A3550) in acrylic (oil and watercolor are compared below), use 7 parts Alizarin Crimson, 3 parts Ultramarine Blue and 3 parts Titanium White. Chromilla's model predicts a 95% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out. Chromilla is a web-based paint color mixer that turns any color, from a photo, the camera or a hex code, into exact paint-tube ratios for acrylic, oil and watercolor, using Kubelka-Munk pigment mixing and aiming at the color after it dries.

Plum in acrylic, oil and watercolor, side by side (dry match by Chromilla's color model, not a measured paint-out)
Medium	Tubes and parts	Predicted dry match	Drying
Acrylic	7 parts Alizarin Crimson, 3 parts Ultramarine Blue and 3 parts Titanium White	95%	Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.
Oil	7 parts Alizarin Crimson, 3 parts Ultramarine Blue and 3 parts Titanium White	98%	Dries true to color.
Watercolor	7 parts Alizarin Crimson, 3 parts Ultramarine Blue and 3 parts Titanium White	94%	Dries slightly darker and a touch cooler.

How we calculated this: Kubelka-Munk pigment mixing, then a per-medium dry shift, scored with CIEDE2000. Method and accuracy benchmark. Last checked August 2026.

Terms used here: Dry shift, Value, Kubelka-Munk, Delta E (dE2000), Transparency, Pigment code, Tint.

Target color

Plum

#6A3550

Live mixer

Open this color in the mixer

The Chromilla mixer is pre-loaded with #6A3550. Change your brand, medium or palette and the recipe updates instantly.

Open in mixer

Recipes by medium

Checked August 2026

Generic pigment ratios, the same ones the Chromilla mixer solves for. Open the mixer to swap in your own brand and tubes.

acrylic

Pigment recipe

95% when dry

Wet mix

#6B3552

1. Alizarin Crimson (PR83)53%
2. Ultramarine Blue (PB29)25%
3. Titanium White (PW6)22%

Dry-down

Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.

oil

Pigment recipe

98% when dry

Wet mix

#6B3552

1. Alizarin Crimson (PR83)53%
2. Ultramarine Blue (PB29)25%
3. Titanium White (PW6)22%

Dry-down

Dries true to color.

watercolour

Pigment recipe

94% when dry

Wet mix

#6B3552

1. Alizarin Crimson (PR83)53%
2. Ultramarine Blue (PB29)25%
3. Titanium White (PW6)22%

Dry-down

Dries slightly darker and a touch cooler.

Common mistakes when mixing plum

Plum is a dark, reddish-purple, and the mistake is building it from red and blue alone, which usually turns muddy at that depth of color. Adding a touch of the mix's own darkened complement (a dark green) instead of black keeps plum rich rather than flat when you push the value down. Quinacridone violet or magenta as the base tends to hold its color better at low light values than a straight red-and-blue mix.

Exact single-medium recipes

Straight-to-the-ratio versions of plum in each medium, from the Chromilla mix library.

Why the three mediums differ for plum

acrylic carries a 10% value shift on drying in Chromilla's model (dries slightly darker and a touch warmer), so the acrylic mix is predicted to dry to #633048.
oil dries true to color in Chromilla's model, so the oil mix is predicted to dry to #6B3552.
watercolor carries a 8% value shift on drying in Chromilla's model (dries slightly darker and a touch cooler), so the watercolor mix is predicted to dry to #61314D.
In watercolor the paper is the white, so lighter versions come from adding water rather than white paint.

Acrylic recipe in detail

Plum in acrylic: tube ratios, and ml for a 100 ml batch
Paint	Pigment	Parts	Share	100 ml batch
Alizarin Crimson	PR83	7	53%	53 ml
Ultramarine Blue	PB29	3	25%	25 ml
Titanium White	PW6	3	22%	22 ml

Variations on Plum (acrylic)

Each variation is its own target (lighter and darker move OKLCH lightness by 0.08; warmer and cooler turn the hue 12 degrees toward red or blue), solved fresh.

Lighter Plum

#824B66

9 parts Viridian Green, 4 parts Alizarin Crimson and 3 parts Titanium White. Chromilla's model predicts a 92% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Darker Plum

#52203B

7 parts Alizarin Crimson, 3 parts Ultramarine Blue and 1 part Titanium White. Chromilla's model predicts a 94% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Warmer Plum

#6D3446

6 parts Alizarin Crimson, 3 parts Titanium White and 1 part Ivory Black. Chromilla's model predicts a 94% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Cooler Plum

#663659

6 parts Alizarin Crimson, 4 parts Ultramarine Blue and 3 parts Titanium White. Chromilla's model predicts a 92% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.

Plum questions

What two colors make plum?: Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses 3 tubes rather than two: 7 parts Alizarin Crimson, 3 parts Ultramarine Blue and 3 parts Titanium White. Alizarin Crimson leads the mix. Chromilla's model predicts a 95% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.
How do you make plum paint lighter without losing the hue?: Re-balance the mix instead of only adding white. For a lighter plum (#824B66) in acrylic, Chromilla mixes 9 parts Viridian Green, 4 parts Alizarin Crimson and 3 parts Titanium White. Chromilla's model predicts a 92% dry match against the target, scored against its own color model, not a measured paint-out.
Why does plum look different when acrylic dries?: Acrylic binder looks milky while wet and clears as it dries, so the dried film reads darker. Chromilla's model applies a 10% value shift for acrylic, so the wet mix #6B3552 is predicted to dry to about #633048. Dries slightly darker and a touch warmer.
What is the hex code for plum?: Chromilla uses #6A3550 as the target for plum. The acrylic recipe is predicted to dry to about #633048.
Can I mix plum without black?: Yes. Chromilla's acrylic recipe uses no black: 7 parts Alizarin Crimson, 3 parts Ultramarine Blue and 3 parts Titanium White.

Related colors

More colours to try once you have plum sorted.