Xpress Deep Purple

A dark violet belongs at the start, not at the end

In a violet scale the hardest thing is usually to find a reliably dark member that still stays violet and does not fall into a brown-black. This shade fills that role: on open areas it is deep and in the hollows it closes up into an almost black-violet, so it gives drapery, gloves or leather equipment the lower value on which further work can be built.

How to build a trio of your own from it

A range of paints of this kind is not built as a classic graded set. Every bottle is sufficient in itself and the grading is assembled by the painter choosing siblings from the same color family: a warmer one adds a red cast to it, a grayed one shifts it into a twilight tone. A trio put together this way often comes out more precisely than a ready-made package, because you tailor it to a particular figure.

Field of use

Wizards' robes, velvet shabraques, dark leather saddles, a night sky on a base, magical discharges and shadows on black fabrics, where a pure black would look dead. In science fiction it proves itself on armor that is meant to look costly.

A practical note

The darker a shade, the more readily it forgives an imperfect ground, but even here it holds that it comes out more colorful on a light base. It is applied generously, let to run its course, and not interfered with afterward.

• A saturated dark violet with no leaning toward brown-black
• In the hollows it closes up into an almost black-violet tone
• An anchor on which lighter siblings are laid
• It thins with water, dries matte and will take a further coat