Azo yellow, short for benzimidazolone yellow, is a super bright yellow that mixes clean, bold oranges and greens.
Color Spotlight: Azo Yellow (PY151)
schmincke horadam
Color Spotlight: Magenta (PV42)
I featured Schmincke Magenta (PV42) when comparing to Quinacridone Rose (PV19), to show how it is almost exactly the same color. But I thought I’d go ahead and make this color its own page, for ease of finding my thoughts on it and reminding myself of my past decisions on whether I need it or not.
Color Spotlight: Hansa Yellow Light (PY3)
PY3 single-pigment yellow is usually called Hansa Yellow Light and sometimes called Lemon Yellow. It’s a semi-opaque, bold, bright light yellow with a cool/greenish cast. Similar to PY175 Lemon Yellows, but more opaque, and usually looks bolder as a result.
Color Spotlight: Napthol Scarlet (PR188)
Often called Vermilion (although it is not the traditional/historical Vermilion pigment), PR188 is a smooth, transparent, brilliant red-orange shade. Pigment Stats for PR188 Pigment Description: Naphthol Red Lightfastness: Very Good in most ranges, however Bruce MacEvoy and Kim Crick (my usual go-tos on lightfastness) have some reservations (see What Others Say below). Toxicity: Nontoxic. Cost: … Read more
Color Spotlight: Transparent Brown (PBr41)
This brown jumped off the page to me when I was doing the Schmincke dot cards; it is bright, clear, and vivid while still being undeniably brown.
Color Spotlight: Cobalt Turquoise (PG50, PB28, or PB36)
Cobalt Turquoise is a super bright, true turquoise usually made from the pigment PG50 (same as Cobalt Green), though sometimes from PB28 (same as Cobalt Blue) or PB36 (same as Cerulean Blue). In any formulation, it is derived from the heavy metal cobalt.
Color Spotlight: Ultramarine Blue (PB29)
Ultramarine Blue is a bright, bold, almost electric violet-blue that is almost always granulating. It typically comes in two flavors: regular and French. French Ultramarine (or sometimes “Ultramarine Deep”) is the more granulating and violet-toned, while the regular Ultramarine is moderately granulating and a bit more medium blue. Some brands also offer a Light Ultramarine or Ultramarine (Green Shade) on the other side of the spectrum.
Let’s start by looking at Da Vinci Ultramarine Blue, a balanced medium color, and then we’ll explore the French and Green shade options as well as other brands.
Color Spotlight: Quinacridone Magenta (PR122)
PR122 magenta is a bold, transparent, non-granulating primary magenta option, purple mixer, and just an all-around lovely pink-purple-fuchsia-magenta shade.
Take care: some brands use the term “Quinacridone Magenta” to mean another color (e.g. Daniel Smith uses the term Quin Magenta to me PR202, and uses Quin Lilac for PR122.)
Color Spotlight: Imidazolone Yellow (PY154)
Imidazolone Yellow (PY154) is often known by brand-specific names such as Winsor Yellow or Da Vinci Yellow. It is a bright, neutral, primary yellow: not warm/orangey, not cool/greenish, just good ol’ bright banana yellow.
Color Spotlight: Phthalo Blue Green Shade (PB15:3)
Phthalo Blue (Green Shade) uses PB15:3, a green-toned variant of phthalocyanine blue PB15. (There is also a more middle blue variant, Phthalo Blue (Red Shade), which uses pigment PB15:1 or PB15:6. See my post, What’s the difference between Phthalo Blue (Green Shade) and Phthalo Blue (Red Shade)?)
Every major manufacturer offers some variant of this pigment, and mostly they share some characteristics, like being bright, bold, and highly staining. Daniel Smith’s version is even more bold than usual/than the rest of its line, so expect LOTS of color from this paint! It’s super-vibrant and actually kind of hard to mix because it has a tendency to overwhelm whatever mix it’s in.