Dioxazine Purple is unlike any other colour on the oil painter's palette. Based on the PV23 carbazole dioxazine pigment, it is the single most powerful tinting colour in oil painting: a deep, saturated violet-purple of extraordinary intensity that can darken and shift any mix with amounts almost too small to see. In mass tone it is a near-opaque darkness that leans toward a deep blue-purple. Thinned to a glaze, it becomes a luminous, transparent violet of remarkable depth. Art Spectrum Studio Blend Oil Dioxazine Purple uses this exceptional pigment at its full strength, giving studio painters access to the deepest purple available in oil paint at a price that makes it practical to use freely.

What Makes This Colour Special

PV23 is the deepest, most saturated violet pigment available to the oil painter and one of the most chemically complex. Before it was developed in the mid-twentieth century, painters did not have access to a true, permanent violet of this intensity. Earlier violet pigments were either fugitive or muted. Dioxazine Purple changed the range of what was achievable in oil painting, making deep, rich, transparent violets available for the first time with genuine permanence.

Its most critical practical characteristic is its tinting strength. No other common oil pigment comes close. A very small amount mixed into any other colour will shift it toward violet. This makes it extraordinarily efficient for darkening mixes without deadening them with black. Where Ivory Black or Raw Umber would add a grey, flat quality to a dark shadow mix, a trace of Dioxazine Purple adds depth and life, keeping the dark passage luminous. Flower shadow, fabric shadow, and deep natural shadow passages all benefit from this approach.

For Australian painters, Dioxazine Purple is the essential colour for jacaranda, wisteria, native violet, and the deep lavender of distant ranges at dusk. Mixed with Titanium White it gives the lavender tints of early morning light on pale surfaces. Used sparingly in dark shadow mixes, it gives the shadow passages in deep-toned Australian bush paintings that characteristic quality of depth without muddiness that distinguishes well-observed shadow from flat, grey-made darkness.

Why Art Spectrum Studio Blend Oil Belongs on Your Palette

• The deepest violet available in oil. PV23 produces a richness and depth of violet-purple that no other pigment can match. One tube covers the full range from pale lavender tint to near-black violet-dark.
• Replace black in dark mixes. A trace of Dioxazine Purple darkens a mix without the deadness of Ivory Black, keeping shadows luminous and optically complex. The most useful darkening tool on the palette.
• ASTM I lightfastness. Outstanding permanence despite its high intensity. A modern synthetic pigment with the stability required for serious, long-term work.
• Exceptional for glazing. The semi-transparent quality of PV23 gives glazed violet passages a luminous depth that opaque painting cannot achieve. Applied thinly over a lighter dry layer, it transforms.
• Australian-made since 1966. Art Spectrum has produced artists' materials from their Epping, Victoria facility for over six decades.

Getting the Most Out of This Tube

The most common mistake with Dioxazine Purple is using too much. Start with an amount you think is insufficient and it will almost certainly be enough. When mixing lavenders, start from a large pile of Titanium White and add Dioxazine Purple a tiny amount at a time. The reverse approach, starting from the purple and adding white, wastes enormous amounts of white trying to dilute an overwhelming quantity of tinting strength.

For darkening mixes without black, add the smallest possible trace of Dioxazine Purple to an existing dark mix. It will drop the value of the mix and shift it slightly toward violet without the flat, chalky quality that black introduces. This technique is particularly useful for deep floral shadows, dark foliage, and the shadow side of dark-coloured objects where opaque darks tend to look dead.

For glazing, thin Dioxazine Purple significantly with an oil glazing medium and apply over a pale, dry passage. One thin layer is usually enough to produce a dramatic violet shift. Multiple thin layers can build extraordinary depth. Allow each layer to dry fully before the next. The fat over lean principle applies: glazing layers must be at least as oil-rich as the layer beneath.

About Art Spectrum Studio Blend Oil: Melbourne Made Since 1966

Art Spectrum has been manufacturing artists' materials in Epping, Victoria since 1966. The Studio Blend Oil range is the rebrand of the former Art Prism range, with fresh new packaging and artwork. The formula is unchanged: same pigments, same linseed oil base, same manufacturing standards. It is a studio-grade oil paint designed for working artists who want reliable, lightfast colour at a practical price. The 26-colour palette covers the complete mixing spectrum and is fully compatible with all Art Spectrum oil mediums and varnishes.

Art Shed Online is an authorised Australian stockist of Art Spectrum products. All Art Spectrum Studio Blend Oil colours are sourced through official distribution channels. We ship Australia-wide.