Yellow-oranges made from PY110 have many possible names, including Isoindolinone Yellow Deep (Holbein, shown) and Permanent Yellow Deep (Daniel Smith). I like the Schmincke name, Yellow Orange, because it’s simple, descriptive, and easy to spell. This color exists in the liminal space somewhere between a deep, orange-toned (warm) yellow and a light, yellow-toned orange.
Pigment Stats
Pigment Number: PY110
Names: Isoindolinone Yellow Deep (HO), Permanent Yellow Deep (DS), Yellow Orange (SH)
Chemical name: Tetrachholo-isoindolinone
Invented in: 1946
Lightfastness: ASTM I (Excellent)
Toxicity: Nontoxic
Transparency: Transparent
Staining: Yes
Granulating: No
Experiment Results
Gradient: In mass, it’s a fiery yellow-orange, and diffuses to a warm glow. Glazes to a pumkiny orange.
Opacity: Looks 100% transparent to me.
Glazing: Achieves a very vibrant orange in glazing.
Comparison to Other Brands
Daniel Smith – Permanent Yellow Deep
Daniel Smith’s Permanent Yellow Deep is high-chroma, strong, and pleasant to work with. It is a bit more chromatic than Holbein’s version. This scan makes it look like it goes yellow in dilute, but it does not; it remains peachy throughout.
Schmincke Horadam – Yellow Orange
This is an older Color Spotlight that I painted a long time ago, so it’s kind of terrible for that reason. I think the color is good. (Schmincke gives me a lot of hard edges in general, though.)
Comparison to Other Colors
Hansa Yellow Deep (PY65)
The two colors are very similar.
- PY110 is a bit more muted, while PY65 is a bit more satured.
- PY110 is a bit more orangey, especially in dilute. The masstones are more similar, but PY65 tends to dilute to a more yellow color, while PY110 remains orangey throughout. PY65 looks more similar to premixed colors that mix PY110 with yellow, such as DS New Gambote or SH Indian Yellow.
- In all the versions I’ve tried, PY110 tend toward streakiness and bubbly-ness in masstone, while PY65 tends to be more dispersive and easy to grade.
- PY110 is slightly more transparent.
For more detail, What’s the difference between Hansa Yellow Deep (PY65) and Isoindolinone Yellow Deep (PY110)?, which compares Holbein PY110 with DS PY65. I’ve since tried DS PY110, which is a bit higher chroma than Holbein but still less so than PY65.
PY65 is more similar to commercial mixes of PY110 with a yellow, e.g. DS New Gamboge (PY110, PY97) or Schmincke Indian Yellow (PY110, PY154).
Mission Gold – Yellow Orange (PO73, PY65)
A slightly oranger hue with the same name, made from a mix of Pyrrol Orange (PO73) and Hansa Yellow Medium (PY65).
Commercial Mixes Using This Pigment
Daniel Smith New Gamboge
A mix of PY110 and PY97 (Hansa Yellow Medium).
It is quite similar to plain PY110 but the added yellow makes it more suitable for use as a warm yellow in primary triad, compared to plain PY110 which can be kind of orangey. Observe that New Gamboge makes nice sap green mixes while plain PY110 tends to make more brownish colors with blue.
Color Mixes with PY110
Quin Coral (PR209)
Very vibrant oranges and siennas
Quin Rose (PV19)
Similar to PR209, really – just slightly less vibrant
Cobalt Blue
I like PY110 Yellow Orange as a sunset horizon color, but the problem is that it doesn’t mix in nice way with a neutral blue like Cobalt. I find this gray kind of ugly. A teensy bit does neutralize the blue just enough to make it blackish, which is nice for night skies.
Phthalo Blue Green Shade (PB15:3)
Deep pine greens!
Viridian
A small amount of PY110 is a great mixer with Viridian turning it from a bright blue-green to a more naturalistic and yellower leaf green. This mix is a great granulating Sap Green alternative.
Phthalo Green Yellow Shade (PG36)
Hooker’s Green
What Others Say
TOP 40 PIGMENT… My 2004 tests suggest it may be the most lightfast deep yellow pigment available…. PY110 is a beautiful warm yellow, with a hue between hansa yellow deep (PY65) and benzimida orange (PO62), but it is more transparent, slightly darker valued, somewhat more active wet in wet, and with a larger hue shift toward yellow in tints. It provides superior landscape green mixtures with both green or blue paints. For those concerned with paint lightfastness, toxicity and transparency, PY110 may be the optimal choice for a deep yellow paint, superior even to nickel dioxine yellow PY153.
Bruce MacEvoy, handprint.com
My Review
I like a bold warm yellow. I’ve gone back and forth between favoring PY110, PY65, or a mix of PY110 with a mid-yellow. I think it depends on whether I think of the color in this slot as a mixing color or an element of a limited palette.
As a mixing/support color, PY110 is great. Compared to the competitors I mentioned, PY110 is more distinct from other middle or cool yellows I might have on my palette. PY110 mixes nicely with those yellows, so I can find the exact shade of warm yellow I desire. It’s also great in mixes for autumn foliage and desert red rocks. Mixed with Phthalo Green, it creates a useful Hooker’s Green hue.
I don’t find myself reaching for PY110 to build a limited palette, however. I find it too orangey to serve as the yellow in a primary triad. Mixed with blue, it tends to go brown rather than mixing green unless a cooler yellow is added. Paintings painted with PY110 tend to look quite orange to me and lacking in “yellow-ness”.
Favorite version: Daniel Smith strikes me as being the strongest and highest chroma of the ones I have tried.
Alternatives: For a more flexible warm yellow to use in a limited triad, I would skip the plain PY110 and go for Hansa Yellow Deep (PY65) or a commercial mix of PY110 with a mid-yellow (e.g. DS New Gamboge, SH Indian Yellow).
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