i'm in course 2 and we have to make the pansies coming up and i really want that deep purple color but i've had problems getting it... i have the violet coloring but it just seems to stay lighter no matter how much i add. i've tried blending red and blue but i get a really ugly purple that's kinda brownish... anyone know a combo to where i could get that deep purple? thanks ahead of time

Have you tried adding black to it... youmight get that grey tone to it but maybe if you add a touch of blue to that it would come out okay. Don't take my word for it though... I would have done the same thing you did to get a deep purple. Good luck.

I haven't tried to make the deep, deep purple, but if you look at the color wheel, it may have the answer for you. Red and Blue together make violet, but if you're already starting with violet, to make it darker I would try adding more blue icing. When you're mixing colors to get shades, you always want to mix colored icing in, not the straight gel paste or you may easily add too much color and overshoot what you're going for. This is what Roland Winbeckler recommends and I would think he knows what he's talking about so I would give it a try.

Also, when I made my pansies, I took some of the purple crystal sugar sprinkles that you would put on sugar cookies and sprinkled a bit on--it really made them pop.

Ok---I reread his article and need to add something. To darken a color, add more intense primary colors---so use a primary blue icing.

Also, it says that colors that appear opposite one another on the color wheel will always mute or neutralize each other. If a small amount of a color is added to its opposite, a muting effect will result. If a large amount is added, the result will be a muddy gray or brown color.---This must explain what happened with your first attempt.

One more thing--it says that bright pink is usually a better substitute for red when mixing colors, as red food coloring is often not pure and as such does not mix true color. Interesting, huh?

So I would think you could take a primary blue colored icing and add bright pink (or red) icing bit by bit to achieve the deep purple color. Just a thought.