I featured Schmincke Magenta (PV42) when comparing to Quinacridone Rose (PV19), to show how it is almost exactly the same color. But I thought I’d go ahead and make this color its own page, for ease of finding my thoughts on it and reminding myself of my past decisions on whether I need it or not.
Experiment Results
Hue: Middle magenta fading to a lovely pink. Not too purpley, but also not red: just straight up magenta.
Gradient: Gorgeous smooth gradient. Subtle horizontal streaks where it ran down the page a bit too quickly.
Opacity: Transparent.
Glazing: Glazes crimson.
Blooms: Nice blooms.
Color Mixes: Bolder purples than oranges. Note that I did this with mostly Schmincke colors and I found them easy to overdilute, but I was also using too large of a brush.
Comparison to Other Colors
Unmixed, it’s clearly a bit bluer than Winsor and Newton’s Permanent Rose (PV19), but nearly identical in hue to Daniel Smith’s Quin Rose (PV19). However, I’d say the mixes with PV42 look more like blue-toned mixes (e.g. those with PR122), with clear violets and blue-toned peachy oranges, whereas the PV19 mixes (even Daniel Smith’s) have a warmer tone and lend themselves better to oranges and plums.
Other Schmincke Pinks
My dot card paintouts show the context for Magenta in the Schmincke line. Magenta is second from the last swatch on this spread. The only one after it is Purple Magenta (PR122), and you can see it’s similar but noticeably purpler. Ruby Red (PV19), above, is Schmincke’s PV19 rose which is one of the more pinky/reddy ones (though still less red than Permanent Carmine (PV19), above that, which seems to be Schmincke’s answer to Alizarin Crimson Quinacridone).
I really like Schmincke’s Purple Magenta, but it’s a bit on the blue side for a primary magenta, so I think the PV42 Magenta would be an extremely solid choice for a primary magenta in the Schmincke lineup, as would Ruby Red.
Comparison to Other Brands
Daniel Smith – Quinacridone Pink
I never did a full paintout of Daniel Smith’s version of this pigment, but you can see it in the dot cards (second column, third row; Quin Rose is right underneath it.) Compared to Daniel Smith’s Quin Rose, it’s almost the same hue, but has slight texture that I wouldn’t quite call granulation. It’s just a bit “chunky” where Quin Rose is smooth. I would go for Quin Rose every time in the DS lineup.
What Others Say
Quinacridone pink PV42 is a lightfast, semitransparent, heavily staining, dark valued, intense violet red pigment… Unrated by the ASTM, and rated “excellent” (I) by the manufacturer, in my own tests it was slightly less lightfast than other red or rose quinacridones. […]
Quinacridone rose (PV19) provides almost exactly the same hue with better saturation at lighter values, and good handling attributes. If you choose to use PV42, I suggest you conduct your own lightfastness test to make sure of its permanence for your applications. See also the section on quinacridone pigments.
Bruce MacEvoy, handprint.com
Made with PV42, Quinacridone Pink is very similar to Quinacridone Rose. I wouldn’t get both and prefer the slightly higher lightfast rating of PV19. They both create wonderful purples when mixed with a blue.
Jane Blundell, Quinacridone Colours
Conclusion
I’m always tempted by this pigment because I love magenta, but realistically it’s either identical to, or slightly bluer than PV19 rose. I already struggle with deciding between PV19 and PR122 as a primary magenta, and PR122 is more distinct from PV19 than PV42 is. In theory PV42 could split the difference, but I think there’s also enough variation in PV19 options to do that (e.g. go for Daniel Smith’s Quin Rose which one of the bluer ones).
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this pigment but I also see no compelling reason to switch to it when PV19 and PR122 cover the magenta area so thoroughly.