Color Comparison

What’s the difference between Lavender and Smalt?

by

In this post, I’ll be comparing Winsor & Newton’s Smalt (Dumont’s Blue), which is made from Ultramarine Violet pigment (PV15), with Daniel Smith’s Lavender – a mix of white, Ultramarine Blue, and Ultramarine Violet.

Note that the color WN calls “Smalt” is not traditional Smalt pigment, which is made from finely ground glass containing cobalt. Instead, it’s a version of Ultramarine Violet that leans heavily toward blue, somewhere between a typical Ultramarine Violet and Ultramarine Blue hue.

Because of that, I found it to be a good hue match to Lavender, which is made from a mix of Ultramarine Violet and Ultramarine Blue. The main difference is that Lavender also contains white, so it’s opaque and can have a pastel (“chalky”) appearance. Smalt has no white, so it can get darker, and is more transparent.

Both colors are granulating blue-purples with similar use cases: the violet tones in sky mixes, clouds, hazy distant mountains. I don’t think I need both, so which should I choose?

Read more

What’s the difference between Titanium White and Zinc White?

by

White is a really important color in gouache, and I defaulted to Titanium White until I started reading some interesting opinions online about Zinc White. It seems that Titanium White is more opaque and better for highlights and stars and things, but Zinc White is supposed to be a better mixing colors – to make nicer pastels.

So I got myself a tube of Zinc White gouache and tested out pastels made from Titanium vs Zinc with all my gouache colors.

Read more

What’s the difference between Cobalt Blue and Ultramarine Blue?

by

Cobalt Blue is a bright middle blue, while Ultramarine Blue is more violet-toned. But Ultramarine Blue also comes in a range of shades, from a Green Shade that is almost identical to Cobalt Blue, to a more violet-toned (and usually more granulating) deep or French shade.

Comparison of DV Cobalt Blue (PB28); WN Ultramarine Blue Green Shade (PB29); DV Ultramarine Blue (PB29); Holbein Ultramarine Deep (PB29); WN Smalt (PV15).

Read more

What’s the difference between Pyrrol Scarlet (PR255), Scarlet Lake (PR188), and Quin Coral (PR209)?

by

In choosing between these three scarlets, I decided to do a “what’s the difference” post! Hue: Pyrrol Scarlet and Scarlet Lake have almost the same hue. Quin Coral is a bit more blue-toned and looks pinker, less orangey. Opacity: Pyrrol Scarlet is semi-opaque, where Scarlet Lake is transparent. (This does not appear to be an … Read more

What’s the difference between Hansa Yellow Deep (PY65) and Isoindolinone Yellow Deep (PY110)?

by

These two deep yellows are very similar in hue, so what’s the difference? I find Hansa Yellow Deep (this Daniel Smith one, at least) to be slightly more yellow, where as the Holbein Isoindolinone Yellow Deep that I tested is slightly more orangey. If I’m squinting, HYD looks more dull in masstone but brighter in … Read more

What’s the difference between Phthalo Green (Blue Shade) and Phthalo Green (Yellow Shade)?

by
Top: Da Vinci – Phthalo Green Blue Shade (PG7).
Bottom: WN Winsor (Phthalo) Green Yellow Shade (PG36).

The two Phthalo Greens, Blue Shade and Yellow Shade, are made from different pigments (PG7 and PG36, respectively), but they share many properties. They are both very strong and staining, transparent, bold greens. They are similar enough that you probably don’t need both on the same palette, so which should you choose?

Read more

What’s the difference between Nickel Azo Yellow (PY150) and Rich Green Gold (PY129)?

by
Top: Mission Gold – Green Gold (PY150), a Nickel Azo Yellow.
Bottom: Daniel Smith – Rich Green Gold (PY129).

Both of these golds are metal complex azomethine yellows: PY150 made from nickel, and PY129 made from copper. Both are highly transparent, smooth, and dispersive. They differ in hue; Nickel Azo Yellow (PY150) is more of a yellow – warm and ochreish in masstone and cool and lemony in dilute – while Rich Green Gold (PY129) is more, well, green! It looks to me like pickle brine. Both make glowing yet subtle, naturalistic greens with Phthalo greens/blues.

They have the same role as green mixers, so which of these should I pick for my palette?

Read more

Da Vinci PV19 Comparison: Is Alizarin Crimson Quinacridone Reduplicative With Red Rose Deep?

by
DV Red Rose Deep (PV19), top, vs DV Alizarin Crimson Quinacridone (PV19), bottom

I chose my watercolors by slot: my favorite green-blue, my favorite black, my favorite yellow ochre… Of course, slot boundaries and malleable. Over time, I broke out reds into several categories: bright magenta/rose, bright orange-red, deep crimson, and deep scarlet. My bright orange-red (which varies between Quin Coral or Scarlet Lake) is pretty different from my deep scarlet (Deep Scarlet), so no problem there. However, when it comes to my “cool reds,” I think my bright and my dark are too similar!

My quin rose choice is Da Vinci’s Red Rose Deep, and my crimson choice is Da Vinci’s Alizarin Crimson Quinacridone. They both use the same pigment, PV19, and now that I look at them together, I’m wondering if they’re basically… essentially… the same color?

This is the problem with choosing colors one-by-one like this: as your slots become increasingly fine, you may end up with some pretty similar colors. In fact, you’re likely to, since the common denominator is you, with your same aesthetic preferences. In my case, apparently, I tend to go for lively, cheerful, deep pinks! RRD is one of the more “crimson-like” roses, and ACQ is one of the more “rose-like” crimsons.

So, are these colors reduplicative? Do I only need one, and if so, which one? Or do they actually serve different palette roles?

Read more