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Ok so heres a strange question. Im wanting to paint a nice rich purple that transitions to a really dark blue.

Im having problems finding a nice range of purples (i'm also looking to try out some vallejo paints) Would it be crazy of me to think maybe I could paint the purple parts a nice blue and then wash it with a purple ink/wash? Would that work?

I think that would make a more visible transition line - unless of course if you airbrushed it on. You could also consider using a red ink to do this to help the transition.

What are you painting? Have you tried mixing paints?

Purple wash over blue will work, so will grey, but it can be pretty dark right off the bat depending on the shade of your base color. For Space Hulk genestealers I paint the flesh areas white and then layer purple washes until I get the shade I want.

Johnson & The Juice Crew wrote:
Im having problems finding a nice range of purples (i'm also looking to try out some vallejo paints)

http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/paints/foundry-painting-system/big-paint-list/

Very good quality paints. Being in the UK, should be pretty easy for you to get. Color coded quite handily as well. Reaper would be another - though as I understand it...somewhat more difficult to obtain over there.

In terms of the effect you are looking for though - washes probably aren't the best way to get the needed control. Now, you can use thinned down paints (effectively washes) and apply them as a glaze in a controlled manner to tone the blue towards your purple, however most washes are designed to be translucent by nature, so you may never quite get to the purple you desire just with a purple glaze.

There are plenty of purple paints though - so, you can just use normal paint techniques - just like you would for transitioning between any other two colors. Thin your paints and work your way towards your goal - it isn't terribly fast, more layers are needed to prevent harsh transitions between colors. You can follow that up with a glaze to help tie the layers together if need be.

Airbrushing is definitely a viable option for a transition. Gradients are pretty basic stuff - just need to find the colors that you want to use. Not sure on how large an area you are looking to actually cover - that can pose a bit of a problem in terms of control.

Citadel has nice purples and blues. Reaper has a very nice dark purple, that is one step darker than Naggaroth Night. The highlights are pink.

I really dislike Vallejo's blues, purples, and pinks, at least, the fantasy shades, which (along with bright reds and oranges) is why Vallejo is not my primary paint brand.

As Sean OBrien says, the tool you use depends on what you are painting. An airbrush would be a rough tool to use for robes, but an awesome tool for a voidraven.

This was done using wet blending, which is very easy with purples and blues:

 Sean_OBrien wrote:

Johnson & The Juice Crew wrote:
Im having problems finding a nice range of purples (i'm also looking to try out some vallejo paints)

http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/paints/foundry-painting-system/big-paint-list/

Very good quality paints. Being in the UK, should be pretty easy for you to get. Color coded quite handily as well. Reaper would be another - though as I understand it...somewhat more difficult to obtain over there.
.

HORY gak Those are expensive! But i do like the way they display all the colours coded like that

BaronVonSnakPak wrote:
What are you painting? Have you tried mixing paints?

Purple wash over blue will work, so will grey, but it can be pretty dark right off the bat depending on the shade of your base color. For Space Hulk genestealers I paint the flesh areas white and then layer purple washes until I get the shade I want.

Im painting an imperial knight and wanted to try something different so I dont have any purples in my paint box. Its kinda hard to jusdge what shade of purple is what from my monitor I'm after something similar to this
maybe a tad darker.

Talys wrote:
Citadel has nice purples and blues. Reaper has a very nice dark purple, that is one step darker than Naggaroth Night. The highlights are pink.

I really dislike Vallejo's blues, purples, and pinks, at least, the fantasy shades, which (along with bright reds and oranges) is why Vallejo is not my primary paint brand.

As Sean OBrien says, the tool you use depends on what you are painting. An airbrush would be a rough tool to use for robes, but an awesome tool for a voidraven.

This was done using wet blending, which is very easy with purples and blues:

I spotted citadels purples but I really wanted to try another paint range for this project will take a look at the reaper one. I'm almost tempted just to spend £20 on a bunch of purple paints from various makers and see whats what. I have a test piece (old fw wing from some flyer) I need to try out some different basecoats as so far I have only used black

If you went with GW paints I'd recommend: base color is Xereus Purple, drybrush Genestealer Purple, highlight with Dawnstone Grey, then wash with Druchi Violet.

Johnson & The Juice Crew wrote:

 Sean_OBrien wrote:

Johnson & The Juice Crew wrote:
Im having problems finding a nice range of purples (i'm also looking to try out some vallejo paints)

http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/paints/foundry-painting-system/big-paint-list/

Very good quality paints. Being in the UK, should be pretty easy for you to get. Color coded quite handily as well. Reaper would be another - though as I understand it...somewhat more difficult to obtain over there.
.

HORY gak Those are expensive! But i do like the way they display all the colours coded like that

They are nice paints though...the bottles are 20ml, and if you buy them in the three packs (shade, base, highlight) the cost becomes more palatable overall. My biggest issue with them in the US is availability. In terms of other companies paints - I would probably compare them to P3 in terms of how they behave. Probably the single largest collection of fantasy/sci-fi colors though, which makes it a nice system for those with broadly varying tastes who don't want to mix there own paints.