Violet pigments

Description

Violet is a color produced by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of about 400–450nm. It is considered a secondary color in the traditional RYB color wheel made by mixing blue and red. The shade of violet from the color wheel (halfway between blue and red) is represented by the following color coordinates:

• Hex triplet: # 7F00FF
• RGB: (127, 0, 255); CMYK (0, 0, 0, 100)
• HSV: (270°, 100%, 50%)

Examples of inorganic violet pigments:

• oxides (Mars violet)
• silicates (Ultramarine violet)
• phosphate (Cobalt violet, Manganese violet)
• other (Purple of Cassius)

Examples of organic violet pigments:

• animal (murex)
• vegetable (Archil)
• synthetic (Mauve, Magenta, Methyl violet)

Synonyms and Related Terms

purple pigments; magenta; violet (Dan., Ned.); Purpur (Deut.); pigmentos violeta (Esp.); añil (Esp.); pigments violets (Fr.); viola (It.); violaceus (Lat.); violett (Sven.); pigmentos violeta (Port.)

Resources and Citations

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)

• Nicholas Eastaugh, Valentine Walsh, Tracey Chaplin, Ruth Siddall, Pigment Compendium, Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 2004