Color Spotlight: Carmine (PR176)

Mission Gold – Rose Madder (PR176)

PR176 is a deep, pinky red is often suggested as an alternative to fugitive Alizarin Crimson (PR83). Mission Gold calls it Rose Madder, and Daniel Smith calls it Carmine.

Experiment Results

Gradient: Deep crimson through pink. Very high chroma. Smooth nice gradient. Like many Mission Gold paints, this was quite shiny in masstone (I don’t expect that to be a problem in other brands).

Opacity: Transparent.

Glazing: Glazes to dark red.

Comparison to Other Colors

Very similar to Alizarin Crimson Quinacridone (PV19).

What Others Say

Referring to Daniel Smith’s Carmine:

This color is ever so slightly cooler than [Alizarin Crimson Quinacridone]… Surprisingly vibrant oranges, beautfiul browns when mixed with a light green, bright vibrant purple tones that it just brings out depth from. Mixed with a darker tone, it mixes beautiful dark colors. Carmine is a little bit less lightfast than the other colors on this list.

Denise Soden, My Top 5 Favorite Reds

Conclusion

On my palette? No.

Favorite version: I haven’t tried it beyond a dot card, but I believe DS Carmine is well regarded. I think it would be better than Mission Gold Rose Madder, which is too shiny.

Alternative: I love Da Vinci’s Alizarin Crimson Quinacridone, and I can’t really tell the difference between these colors, so I see no reason to adopt Carmine or another PR176 into my palette, especially given that it’s less lightfast.

2 thoughts on “Color Spotlight: Carmine (PR176)”

  1. I got a version of this in my first Roman Szmal starter set, and it’s lovely (iirc, it wasn’t shiny even when I used it in masstone), but it’s also one of the first paints I saw fade in a light-fastness test! Very sad.
    I think PR264, although it’s less pink, satisfies the same part of my brain though.

    Reply

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