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.
