IONIC Grape Red

Where red passes into violet

Grape Red was named by the manufacturer after dark grapes, and the shade bears that out. It is a red turned toward purple, cooler than the classic blood red and noticeably richer than wine tones. In the numbering of the palette it sits exactly on the border between the red and the violet group, so it ties both families together and makes transitions between them easier.

Who it is for

Painters of figures will get the most out of it. It serves for velvet clothing, for princely and cardinal's fabrics, for the upholstery of carriages and for the places in skin where a bruise or a chill should show. Collectors of vehicles will find it useful for red-brown base finishes and for cabin interiors, where a color with no orange undertone is what is wanted.

Mixing and application

Purple pigments are very strong in acrylic, so when mixed with white the shade breaks quickly; add it in small doses. With brown, on the other hand, it gives an elegant muted sepia. It is thinned with water or with a product from the same family and will handle a brush as well as an airbrush. Once cured it stays matte, so you decide the final sheen with the closing clear coat, according to what the surface is meant to represent.

Further uses

Painters of fantasy worlds make demon blood and glowing runes from it, where a cool purple suits better than a warm blood red. On a diorama it serves for bunches of grapes, for ripening plums and for ceramic glazes. Thinned into a weak glaze over gray stone it gives rock a cast that lifts an otherwise dull area of base.