I’ve been going through the complete, 110-color range of Da Vinci from their dot cards.
Last time I looked at yellow and orange; this time, I’ll look at reds, including warm scarlet reds and cool magentas.
red
What’s the difference between Pyrrol Scarlet (PR255), Scarlet Lake (PR188), and Quin Coral (PR209)?
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
Da Vinci PV19 Comparison: Is Alizarin Crimson Quinacridone Reduplicative With Red Rose Deep?
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?
What’s the difference between Pyrrol Crimson and Alizarin Crimson Quinacridone?
It’s the battle of the crimsons! If you want a deep red on your palette, which should you choose? Which should I choose?
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?