This is a new colour introduced by Daniel Smith in early 2011, who claim exclusivity, at least for the present. It is a transparent non-granulating, medium staining, pigment described by the pigment website www.artiscreation.com/violet.html as a `Bluish Violet to Violet Blue'. Note there is no such thing as a `true' purple pigment which would be `PP' so we are in fact seeing a variation of violet. As a Quinacridone there won't be any of the possible lightfastness (fading) problems with dark violets like PV23 and PV37.
Up to now most purple shades listed by manufacturers have been convenience formulations composed of a red and a blue. There are a few single pigment mixes, one being Dioxazine Purple (PV37 Graham) - but see previous comment. The usual method of creating a purple is to mix a red and a blue. But which red and which blue? The Daniel Smith Purple is a mix of Ultramarine Blue (PB29) and Quinacridone Rose (PV19 - Violet Shade?) .For those who follow the single pigment argument - and not everyone does - the idea of such a purple holds attraction. Recently the colour has become available in the UK, initially it seems only via the SAA (Society of All Artists) www.saa.co.uk/ I have just bought a tube and made the following swatches as well as giving small amounts to Yvonne Harry and Jan Weeks, fellow friends in Avon Valley Artists, to test. North American artists can obtain it from the Daniel Smith website and also their retail shops plus other designated stockists.
The swatches on the left are pure Quinacridone Purple with the strongest at the bottom. The orange is Schminke Translucent Orange, a sort of compliment although not exactly so. I haven't explored the possibilities for mixing with other colours.
www.yvonneharryfloralwatercolours.com
www.watercolourflorals.blogspot.co.uk
Yvonne's comments are:
".......I have used it on the attached painting as promised. There was enough for the top two blooms, mainly, and then I had to mix my equivalent for the bottom flower. You can see that it is much duller than the upper two. .........I expected it to be closer to a blue than a magenta, but why I should think that I have no idea. I mixed it occasionally with Opera Pink and where I needed darks I dropped a little Ultramarine into the wet paint. This seemed to do the job.
Like all Daniel Smith paints I have tried, it flowed well, remoistened easily and was a pleasure to use. I am converted to the Daniel Smith and Graham paints for the future.I think it makes lovely shades of purple/magenta and the fact it is a single pigment does give it more freshness.and transparency.. All in all I was delighted to use it and am having some of that. I have ordered a tube from the SAA as Jacksons had none in stock".
Jan Weeks has this to say:
" I have tried out the Quinacridone Purple, a lovely clear colour, and I would imagine it would be very useful for painting flowers, but would have limited use in landscapes and figurative work. I don't think I will be adding this one to my palette but enjoyed testing it".
Yvonne is mainly a flower painter with Jan more of a landscape artist so you have two viewpoints starting from different directions. I do think it will be very useful for flowers and possibly some still lifes.
ADDED 17/10/2019. After several months this paint went hard and could not be squeezed out. I discarded it but when it now happens, and it does with several other paints, especially those with added white, I cut the tubes open and use as pan paint. This works with the first tried the Daniel Smith Lunar Black. PV55 has now been introduced in other ranges including the budget one Van Gogh and also White Knights.
Jan Weeks has this to say:
" I have tried out the Quinacridone Purple, a lovely clear colour, and I would imagine it would be very useful for painting flowers, but would have limited use in landscapes and figurative work. I don't think I will be adding this one to my palette but enjoyed testing it".
Yvonne is mainly a flower painter with Jan more of a landscape artist so you have two viewpoints starting from different directions. I do think it will be very useful for flowers and possibly some still lifes.
ADDED 17/10/2019. After several months this paint went hard and could not be squeezed out. I discarded it but when it now happens, and it does with several other paints, especially those with added white, I cut the tubes open and use as pan paint. This works with the first tried the Daniel Smith Lunar Black. PV55 has now been introduced in other ranges including the budget one Van Gogh and also White Knights.
Peter - Another informative post and like the fact you've got a couple of other viewpoints in there. However, you will have to desist before you bankrupt me. I've never been much of an experimenter with new colours but you and one or two others have been responsible for me ensuring that Jackson's cash flow remains high.
ReplyDeleteQuinacridone purple, a little dab will do you, for this is a powerful color some idiot chose to paint the front doors of our condos. It's a great touch in paintings, but totally out of place on a front entrance door--any door. Sad to know it won't be fading anytime too soon.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mick. You rich Northerners shouldn't have a problem with finding the cash for a few art materials! I'll have to think what else I can encourage you to buy.
ReplyDeleteHi Linda. I wouldn't have thought a colour like that would have been suitable for a front door.
ReplyDeleteThank you Peter, i really enjoy your posts on the paints. We are just starting to see DS paints here. The demo by Yvonne was very telling!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ray. Glad what I do doesn't always (grin) fall on stony ground! The DS paints are very good but price is certainly an issue here. In the USA I note the DS wedsite is always offering special deals but so far we get none.
ReplyDeleteIf price is an issue - and it is to many including me - then I would suggest the unique DS colours are the ones to buy. Things like Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, etc can be just as good from other cheaper makers.
I don't know if you saw the feature I did on DS paints on here, in three parts, but that points the way. Just my opinion of course.
I just ordered the Quinacridone Purple from Daniel Smith and was glad to read the reviews about it. I did luck out and get 25% off and free shipping. I didn't realize that you couldn't just shop on danielsmith.com and get the discounts. I did buy it to replace Winsor Violet PV23. My favorite permanent violet/purple was Bayeux Violet PV46 - Linel (Le Franc) Le Franc is not making watercolors anymore or if it is it isn't selling them in the US.
ReplyDeleteThank for the info, can't wait to try it.
Thanks Linda. You get much better deals on Daniel Smith than we do. I look at the website and note the offers but importing them is not a realistic option, what with custom duties and possible VAT on top - plus carriage.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of Bayeux Violet and I've never seen Linel on sale here.
Hi Peter,
ReplyDeleteThe usual excellent standard of information is once again shown here. Thank you for putting all this effort for the benefit of many of us.
Like Mick says I am just about to increase someone's cash flow as I cannot resist colours like this specially the effect you achieved when you used it next to Translucent Orange. When I receive it I'll be trying to use it also with Translucent Yellow which is probably another complementary colour to purple.
Kind regards,
Rui
Thanks Rui. The yellow would probably be a closer match than the orange. I'm tempted by these Translucent colours although I have the same pigments (PY110 and PBr41) in paints from Graham and Winsor & Newton.
ReplyDeleteThis really can be just the right single pigment purple hue we were missing. I was surprised to read that this is pigment PV55 because I have never heard of it. Now I know why. Thank you for sharing your findings Peter and for the informative article.
ReplyDeleteHi Daniel. Yes it could be. Those whop have used it so far are impressed.
ReplyDelete