I did this a color comparison of ACQ vs PR264 back in November 2022, but at that time, my PR264 was DS Pyrrol Crimson, which I did not really like. How do they match up if I use a PR264 I like better: Holbein’s Pyrrole Rubin?
Both read a crimson (dark red) to me. The masstone color of PR264 strikes me as being more beautiful though perhaps it is just because it doesn’t get as dark, and ACQ you can make almost too dark. The second-stage (juicy) color is almost identical. In dilute, the colors really start to diverge, with PR264 diluting to a light-valued brick-red color with hints of texture, and ACQ diluting to a smooth, rosy pink wash.
Pigment Information
Pigment Descriptions
PR264 is a pyrrol pigment, and PV19 is a quinacridone pigment.
Lightfastness
I have personally tested both of these colors!
Both of the colors did fade noticeably, although not so much that I’d call them fugitive. I expected ACQ to do better, but if anything I think PR264 did slightly better. I would call both of them LFII.
I tested ACQ for longer, but in earlier checks on the colors I found that the majority of the fading had occurred within 3 months. It did not fade significantly more between 3 and 6 months.
Toxicity
Both of these pigments are nontoxic.
Price
Generally, where brands offer both pigments, they seem to be priced the same – generally the equivalent of series 2, not the cheapest nor the most expensive.
Color Mixes
PR264 mixes of orange are brighter and more vivid though still not as much so as with a scarlet. ACQ orange mixes are more bricky. This makes sense as ACQ is the cooler color that is further from yellow on the color wheel.
Phthalo Turquoise (PB16)
These look similar at first glance but in practice I find the mixes with PB16 to be one of the biggest differences between these two colors.
- A bit of PR264 mutes the Phthalo Turquoise just enough to make it a darker blue, kind of a Prussian Blue hue. More PR264 and you have a very muddy mauve.
- A bit of ACQ does not mute the Phthalo Turquoise but instead turns it violet. It’s easy to get a mid-chroma violet which is among my favorite mauve mixes. It’s not really possible to just mute the color and get a dark color as with PR264.
Depending on whether I want to mix up a deep blue or a mauve, either PR264 or ACQ is useful, and they really can’t be substitued for each other.
However, other substitutions are possible:
- Phthalo Turquoise mixes with PR264 are more similar to those with Pyrrol Red (PR254).
- Phthalo Turquoise mixes with ACQ are more similar to those with Quin Rose/Red (PV19) or Quin Coral (PR209).
Indigo
Range of dark blackberry colors; the PR264 mixes are more neutral (closer to black/brown) while ACQ mixes are more purple.
Phthalo Green Yellow Shade (PG36)
PG36 appears to be more of a complement to ACQ.
Conclusion
Personally, I like both colors! I’m a longtime fan of ACQ. And I don’t know why, but the Holbein Pyrrol Rubin just looks a lot nicer to me than my previous Daniel Smith Pyrrol Crimson. To me, HO Pyrrol Rubin looks like a luscious deep velvety rose red, while DS Pyrrol Crimson to me had a dull, workmanlike, bricky look. This is, I recognize, entirely subjective.
In terms of differences from ACQ, here are the general patterns I noticed in my swatches:
| Attribute | Pyrrole Rubin (PR264) | ACQ (PV19) |
|---|---|---|
| Hue | Warm crimson (like a deeper Pyrrol Red; similar to Cadmium Red Deep) | Cool crimson (like a deeper/redder Quin Rose) |
| Opacity | Semi-opaque; colors appear more hefty, solid | Transparent; colors appear more luminous |
| Drying shift | Loses saturation (paints out nearly fire engine red but dries muted); does not appear to lose value. | Loses value, especially in tints. |
| Dry/On-Palette Appearance | Looks similar to its painted color color. | Looks much darker on the palette; can be difficult to tell if it’s dirty. |
| Lightfastness | Fades somewhat after 3-6 months. | Fades somewhat after 3-6 months. |
If I’m going with my gut, I prefer ACQ – its hue and transparency are right up my alley! As a pink fan, I love its subtle magenta undertones and rose-colored tints. However, because of that preference, I generally also have an even pinker quin rose/magenta on my palette, so ACQ can feel reduplicative.
For me, Pyrrol Rubin tends to have a more distinct palette role, given that I can’t resist putting on more pinks. I also found Pyrrole Rubin a bit more predictable, because it had less tendency to lose value in drying. ACQ had a tendency to dry lighter than I expected; I found that masstone and midtone looked similar wet, so it could be hard to predict how it would dry. I felt that I needed less precise water control skill to make Pyrrole Rubin work, especially in quick, on-the-go sketches.
Ultimately, which I prefer may depend on application. I love the luminosity of ACQ in sky mixes, such as mauve clouds, while the more substantial body of Pyrrole Rubin is lovely in landscape applications, such as winter berries and autumn leaves.