PY3 single-pigment lemon yellow that is usually called Hansa Yellow Light. It’s a semi-opaque, bold, bright light yellow with a cool/greenish cast.
Pigment Stats for PY3
Per ArtIsCreation:
Chemical composition: Monoazo Arylamide
Lightfastness: LFII
Toxicity: Considered nontoxic (does not require a Prop 65 warning), but noted on ArtIsCreation as “possible carcinogen.”
Observations of Daniel Smith Hansa Yellow Light
Gradient: True to its name, Hansa Yellow Light doesn’t get very dark; it gets bright, but never dark. It’s very cool-toned. It’s not green, but it feels like it’s teetering on the edge of wanting to become lime. It dilutes to what looks to me like a more neutral pale yellow.
Opacity: Daniel Smith calls this semi-transparent, but for a yellow I found it closer to semi-opaque. There’s not a lot of residue on the line, but the fact that it’s visible at all is unusual for a yellow. You can see it bloom in visible yellow streaks in mixes, and the glazing is hardly apparent.
Comparison to Other Brands
Some brands call PY3 Hansa Yellow Light; others call it Lemon Yellow. (I use the term ‘Lemon Yellow’ to mean PY175.)
Da Vinci – Hansa Yellow Light
This is the same pigment and in my opinion it looks and behaves pretty much exactly the same as DS’s.
Lightfastness Test
Very subtle difference here. The exposed strip has faded slightly, more noticeably in the lightest tint. However, it’s almost imperceptible.
Mission Gold – Lemon Yellow
On the opaque side. I don’t love this one for the dry texture, which is stickier than the others I’ve tried, and attracted a massive amount of lint/dust on my palette (extremely visible in a yellow).
Schmincke Horadam – Lemon Yellow
On the transparent side. I had some trouble with cauliflowering, as with many Schmincke paints.
Comparison to Other Yellows
Yellows in general look really similar, IMO.
These are arranged in cool-to-warm order. I’d say PY175 is about a cool as PY3, but PY154 is warmer – more of a neutral than a cool yellow.
Lemon Yellows made from PY175 are more transparent, while the Hansa Yellows from PY3 are more opaque and bolder.
Color Mixes
Benzimida Orange (PO62)
Bold yellow-oranges.
Phthalo Green Blue Shade (PG7)
Phthalo Green Yellow Shade (PG36)
My Overall Thoughts
What I love about this yellow:
- It’s very bright and bold – just about one of the boldest yellows you can get – so it’s excellent when you want your yellow to really pop!
- It makes just about the brightest greens imaginable.
- Its opacity can also be useful for things like foreground foliage, dotting the middle of flowers, etc. where you actually want the yellow to pop out. (Cadmium Yellow or any yellow gouache can also be used!)
What I don’t love about this yellow:
- It makes just about the brightest greens imaginable… they often read as “unnatural” to people, and can be tough to tone down.
- It is so green-toned that it mixes dull oranges. There are other lemon yellows (e.g. PY175) that manage to mix similarly bright greens without sacrificing the oranges as much.
- Because of its opacity, it tends not to mix as evenly with other colors, settling instead into a gradient. This can be annoying if you want to use it as a mixer (e.g. to make greens and oranges), though can be an asset if for multi-color gradients e.g. sunsets.
- It is not the most lightfast, especially in tints.
Favorite version: Da Vinci and Daniel Smith are both good!
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Da Vinci – Hansa Yellow Light, 8ml tube: Da Vinci Paints
Da Vinci – Hansa Yellow Light (Lemon), 15ml tube: Da Vinci Paints | Blick | Utrecht
This is also part of DV’s Jane’s Color Wheel set.
Daniel Smith – Hansa Yellow Light, 5 ml Tube: Blick | Utrecht
This is also part of the Daniel Smith Essentials set.
PY175 is also more reliably lightfast! Apparently some batches of PY3 are not: https://justpaint.org/hansa-update/