Permanent Light Violet | Matisse Acrylic Paint

Permanent Light Violet is a beautiful pastel shade of violet that some artists might not see the need for at first glance. Yet this color has been selling for many years which is an indication of a real need since a lot of artists are using it. Graphic artists like these colors and it is easy to imagine using it in large poster style artworks, but it has a larger story to tell than that. For a start it has a large role to play as an off-white. Off-whites are very valuable for the artist. As their name implies they are whites with a little bit of color added. Matisse offers several of different colors. Using pure Titanium White does lighten colors but it can also be a little harsh and drain the color from the color. Thus it is always  better to lighten using a lighter color rather than just white and pure Titanium should be used only for the very lightest tints. Permanent Light Violet is just right for lightening violet colors.

It is also a great color as a base for making the full range of pale mauves, lavenders, and other light violet colors. These sort of colors are bountiful in landscapes and in more imaginative artworks violets create an ethereal feeling of otherworldliness. This was used to great effect by Romantic period artists, especially Turner, whose atmospheric scenes often contain beautiful contrasts of violet, mauve, and blue, with gold, yellow, and red. Violet creates a wide range of emotions depending on whether or not it is a sensual mauve, or a spiritual violet, or a rich imperious purple and this emotional depth makes it ideal for the dreamiest of subjects. It also can infuse a more traditional landscape with feeling. Mauve brings with it the heat of summer and a feeling of the expansiveness of wide open spaces reaching to distant hills and mountains. Permanent Light Violet mixed with Ultramarine Blue can create beautiful soft blueish mauves, or mixed with Dioxazine or Burgundy it gives more purple mauves. Mixed with Venetian Red it makes more earthy mauves that work well with the earth colors. It is a temptation for experimenting on the lighter side of the palette.