Both of these colors are muted violet reds. Naphthamide Maroon (PR171) is slightly more reddish while Perylene Violet (PV29) is slightly more violet, though they’re nearly indistinguishable.
maroon
What’s the difference between Deep Scarlet and Quinacridone Burnt Scarlet?
In analyzing my palette, one of the “gaps” I identified was a dark red to help me mix reddish browns and deepen my red and orange mixes, especially for autumnal paintings. There were a few options for this slot:
- Perylene Maroon (PR179)
- Quinacridone Burnt Scarlet (PR206)
- Deep Scarlet (PR175)
I’ve given Perylene Maroon a couple of shots and never really liked it, but I like both QBS and DS unmixed. They’re actually quite similar:

In terms of hue, Quin Burnt Scarlet is a bit browner and duller, and DS is a bit closer to a typical red-orange.
It’s hard to tell from the above because I made a concentrated effort to make a dark pasty mix on the leftmost square, but in general I also find it more difficult to get a dark tone from Quin Burnt Scarlet; the second square is more representative the darkest typical tone. The Deep Scarlet is very easy to get dark.
Both are transparent, staining, and non-granulating.
Since they’re really similar unmixed, which is better in mixes?