Cadmium Orange - Pigment Orange 20 (PO20)

Cadmium Orange (Cadmium Sulfoselenide) is an interesting pigment, although not a staple of many artists palettes, especially those restricted to 12 colours or less. Nevertheless Handprint rate it a `Top Forty' pigment.

 A few years ago I was on one of Judi Whittons courses in Cornwall and Judi was demonstrating. In the demo one of the colours she used was Cadmium Orange and she made the comment her preference was Maimeri because  the Winsor & Newton version behaved differently in mixtures.   As it happened I was able to explain that the Maimeri version was `true' Cadmium Orange Pigment PO20 which leans towards red, whereas the W & N Cadmium Orange was actually a `hue' comprising a mixture of Cadmium Red and Cadmium Yellow, consequently with a yellow bias. Winsor &  Newton also have Winsor Orange (PO62). Since then I have explored what is on offer from other makers.

 Here we have four oranges,. Maimeri is the only true PO20 version and notice how it is quite dark, very opaque and shows a red tinge.  The Daler Rowney Cadmium Orange  is strongly influenced by the addition of PY35 and shows a strong yellow bias. Use these for mixing and you get a totally different result. There are several other mostly newer oranges, two of which are shown. Apart from being transparent they are a different shade. The main drawback of Cadmium Orange as offered by Maimeri is that, being a Cadmium, it is toxic and quite opaque. I rather like it but some think it dull.  The main alternatives seem to be Perinone Orange (PO43) and Pyrrole orange (PO73). We also have PO36, PO71, and PO62. None are identical in hue or colour to PO20 but are transparent or semi-transparent.

What is the situation with leading makes?  Daniel Smith do not offer a `true' Cadmium Orange at all having discontinued this one in 2006. Why I wonder? Not having received replies to two previous e-mails to DS I doubt I'll bother to ask them. Smith list a Cadmium Orange Hue, a mixture of three pigments comprising two yellows and an orange, Permanent Orange (PO62), Pyrrole Orange (PO73), Transparent Pyrrole Orange (PO71), Perinone Orange (PO43) and finally Mayan Orange (PR N/A), mostly transparent or semi-transparent. Spoiled for choice! Which to choose is the dilemma? 

Looking at other leading makers Rembrandt follow Rowneys path with an identical PO20/PY35 mixture as do Sennelier (Cadmium Yellow Orange). Graham have Cadmium Orange PO20 as have Da Vinci who also list `Orange' and `Orange Deep', PO73 and PO36 respectively and finally Benzimida Orange (PO62).

This gets heavier when we look at Scminke the leading German firm. Scminke have  four paints listed as PO20, Cadmium Orange Light, Cadmium Orange Deep, Cadmium Red Orange and , would you believe Cadmium Red Light! Their Cadmium Yellow Deep is the same pigment mix as the Rowney and Rembrandt Cadmium Oranges! They also offer Translucent Orange (PO71) and Chrome Orange (PO62). The PO20 mixtures range from a light orange to a deeper reddish version.

I'll confine the rest of my summary to those companies that offer true PO20 - Cadmium Orange paints. Art Spectrum have one but they call it Cadmium Yellow Deep. Lukas and Old Holland Cadmium Orange while Bloxx list Cadmium Yellow Orange and Cadmium Red Orange.

 Finally Holbein. They miss out completely except for including PO20 in several mixtures notably the two Jaune Brilliant paints. Charles Reid likes the Holbein Cadmium Yellow Orange but this is PR108 - Cadmium Red.

What to make of all this? Despite Orange being a secondary colour, easily mixed from red and yellow (which red and yellow?), as you can see paint manufacturers list a whole range of alternatives with the newer pigments appearing in an increasing number of paints. 

The mixing compliments of Cadmium Orange (PO20) as listed by Bruce McEvoy of Handprint www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/mixtable.html are Phalo Blue (PB15), Prussian (PB27) and Cerulean (PB35/36). I have mixed very good neutral greys using Phalo Blue (PB15-3) Green Shade but with some trial and error first.

More on Viktoria Prischedko

Viktoria demonstrating

The interest in this artist has been considerable, one of the most popular posts recently, and I determined to find out a little more about her tecnique.

I've confirmed she uses Hahnemuhle 600gsm (300lb) rough paper which she lies loose on a plywood board. After an initial sketch with a soft pencil both sides of the paper are wetted with a sponge. She immediately dabs with a paper towel the focal point, approximately one third to two thirds vertically and horizontally, and some other places that are important in it's composition. Once she starts painting she varies the tone between warm and cool to determine relationships. Mostly she paints wet in wet but keeps the paper towels handy to dry off where she wants to place details.

She uses a lot of pigment and a little water for the detail. Lemon Yellow is an important colour used to contrast with dark colours in the background. Apparently her people are always Lemon Yellow + Orange with some Ultramarine. Paints are `Russian' (St Petersburg?) and Scminke. This is logical as she is originally from the old Soviet Union (Moldavia) and currently lives in Germany. She uses 3 - 4 colours up to a  maximum of 5 for each watercolour. Colours are Orange (Scminke), Ultramarine, Violet, LemonYellow, Green Gold.  I'm amazed at this with the riot of colour she creates. Looking at her paintings it is difficult to reconcile some of the above, at least on some of them. This additional information was obtained from a piece  on his website by a Dutch artist Dominiek Reynt Jens, who attended a course in 2009.

Nothing much to add on brushes which are described as `Da Vinci-type filbert sable in thickness and type 30/20/15/10 (broad brushes with fine tip) and a fine tug for details'. Quite what a `tug' is I'm unaware - could it be a rigger? Note Added: 01/05/11 .I looked up `tug' and eventually found someone selling them. They appear to be riggers.

Although virtually unknown outside the continent of Europe she is a very highly regarded and popular artist. Although her approach couldn't be more different than the path I am currently (trying) following I think she is a fabulous artist and should be better known outside her home turf. Do look at her website which is also for her husband ( I presume) Slawa. I am on the track of more great European artists and hope to feature others in the coming months.

Once again I make the proviso that I don't actually have permission to show the above paintings but as I am promoting the artist and have no commercial gain in mind hope this is okay. I will remove the material if asked to do so. Her website gallery is: www.prischedko.de/

Top Forty Pigments - Yellows

This is something I planned to do this year starting with yellow. This is heavily based on the researches and recommendations of Bruce McEvoy of Handprint  http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/water.html but I have attempted to simplify for those who don't wish to get deeply immersed.  If you do follow the link. Other sources of information are the books by Hilary Page http://hilarypage.com/  and Michael Wilcox http://www.schoolofcolor.com/ , although they are starting to get rather long in the tooth and many new pigments are coming onto the market not covered in these earlier works. Hilary Page does offer upgrades on her website but when I last looked it did not appear to have been altered for a while. Manufacturers websites give good information, Schminke are excellent and you can download a pdf file that gives much more extensive information than most others. http://Schminke.de/fileadmin/downloads/pdf/horadam_aquarelle_d_gb_01_08.pdf 
Amongst commercial sources Dick Blick  http://www.dickblick.com/categories/watercolors give detailed information on the huge  range of watercolours they sell, although you have to follow several links. Another fantastic source of pigment information is http://www.artiscreation.com/ColorCharts.html  Manufacturers offer information in various forms including proper chip charts, some of which can be purchased from suppliers like Jacksons. This as opposed to printed ones that are more freely available. Winsor and Newton do a very good leaflet on their artists watercolours.  Holbein and Schminke also have good literature- if you can find it. The chip charts and most of the printed colour charts don't normally give pigment details but if you search manufacturers websites it is usually there somewhere. Some are easy to find others more difficult.

The starting point is that these should be single pigment paints, which are superior for mixing purposes and clarity. All are reliably lightfast although even here there can be differences between manufacturers. Bruce recommends you do your own lightfastness tests but I don't bother.

Many popular pigments like PY3 and PY97, usually called Lemon Yellow (PY3) or Primary Yellow (PY97) or similar have not been included.  If you are using a yellow that doesn't appear here and you are perfectly happy with it comment by all means but remember I am not setting our `rules' that must be followed nor saying you shouldn't use this or that paint. Bruce McEvoy might but not Peter Ward. There is plenty of information about fugitive paints and most manufacturers rate them accurately but it's often in the small print! Overall there are more than 25 different yellow pigments on the market and this may be a slight underestimate. New ones, as with other colours, appear regularly. Actually if you look at the `artiscreation' link above you'll see the list of yellow pigments is enormous. However I refer primarily to those used for watercolour as listed by Handprint.

Essentially yellows come in three basic groups. Light Yellow (Lemon), Medium and Deep. The general consensus, if having only one on your palette, would be a medium yellow.

Where do we start? The obvious one is Cadmium Yellow which comes in deep/pale/light/lemon and medium hues. Two pigments are closely linked here PY35 and PY37. Incidentally P stands for pigment and Y for yellow. PY35 leans towards green and PY37 towards red. Widely available most leading manufacturers offer two or three versions. Make your choice and take your pick. The toxic nature and opaque quality of the cadmiums is something to be considered.

Next is a newish pigment PY110 tsoindolinone Yellow R, a deep yellow listed currently only by Daniel Smith and Graham. I have bought the Graham version via Lawrence of Hove but not used it yet. It is described as a warm yellow orange. Daniel Smith calls it Permanent Yellow Deep and Graham Indian Yellow (Hue).

We now come to Green Gold PY129 azomethine copper offered by W & N, Rowney, Old Holland as `Golden Green' , Graham as Azo Green and Daniel Smith as `Rich Green Gold'. This is an interesting paint that I have used for a while. It's a cool yellow that ranges in colour, depending on dilution, from yellow green to light yellow. A good one for landscape greens, particularly early in the year. I don't think PY129 can be considered as a standalone yellow but one to add if and when you expand your palette. This is one of the paints referred to as `two-tone'.

PY150 nickel azomethine yellow is another fairly recent pigment currently offered by Daniel Smith and Graham as Nickel Azo Yellow, Winsor and Newton and Schminke as Transparent Yellow. I've tried the W & N version and am not sure about it at all. So there you are Bruce! Winsor and Newton use it as one of the pigments in their Quinacridone Gold paint, a three pigment mixture.

PY153 nickel dioxide yellow. A deep yellow. This is one I use by Rowney  called Indian Yellow. On my most recent courses Charles Reid had added it to his palette as Winsor and Newton New Gamboge. Daniel Smith also offers it as New Gamboge while Sennelier call it Indian Yellow. The original true Indian Yellow, something to do with cow dung (!)I believe is no longer available.

PY154 benzimidazolone yellow H3G. A neutral yellow which Winsor and Newton call Winsor Yellow. Rembrandt offer two paints Azo yellow Light and Azo Yellow Deep, while Sennelier call it Sennelier Yellow Light.

Looking for other sources I see Lukas offer Green Yellow (PY129) and Gamboge (PY153), so being well priced might be worth trying. Amongst the student quality the situation is meagre. W & N Cotman offer PY153 as Gamboge Hue so that might be worth a try and Van Gogh PY154 as Azo Yellow Light. In the USA genuine Cadmiums are part of the Cotman range BUT not in the UK (to Windsor and Newton's shame and I've told them so).

To sum up this isn't an exhaustive study by any means but a taster perhaps for further investigation if you're  interested. There are many more yellow pigments but these have been singled out as outstanding. As I've suggested I'm not yet convinced about PY150 (I've had another look at it and NO I'm not) but Handprint is the place to go because he covers virtually all the currently available yellows and gives a very detailed analysis of each pigment. Some might not agree with his findings but no one else has gone into the subject in such depth. One alternative for a medium yellow is the popular PY97. I have seen different views about this pigment and have used the Maimeri version in the past. Recently I obtained some of the `Try it 'sheets from Daniel Smith.They call it Hansa Yellow Medium. I quite liked it and almost ordered a tube from Jacksons, which I may do at some future stage. Added 19.10.12: I later purchased the Daniel Smith Hansa Yellow Medium and find it excellent. Something that I should have made clear is that you find the pigment information somewhere on the tube of paint. All the major manufacturers put it on their tubes, although  usually it is in  very small print and almost requires a magnifying glass to read! The following website gives good  general information on pigments (and much else). http://www.channeling-winslow-homer.com/

I'll conclude by again pointing out this piece is not meant to be some sort of gospel that everyone should follow. As Bruce McEvoy says different manufacturing tecniques and paint recipes means that the same pigment doesn't appear as an exact homogenous mix across the range of manufacturers. Variations exist and when choosing  personal preference  comes into it. In addition pigments are supplied by several firms and this is a factor in the resulting paint.

There are also other important yellows in the earth colours and they will be covered separately.

More on Daniel Smith Watercolours

I have now received two Daniel Smith paints, Quinacridone Gold (PO49) and Quinacridone Fuschia (PR202). Five others have just been ordered Cobalt Teal Blue (PG50), Quinacridone Coral (PR209), Quinacridone Pink (PV42), Burnt Tigers Eye (Primatek) and Indigo (PB60,PBk6). Due to the price being so high compared to other leading makes, including Windsor & Newton, I am being selective. Indigo may not seem so but I am intrigued that the DS version is based on PB60, the darkest blue of all, Certainly paints made with PR209, PG50 are available in other ranges but come highly recommended.

Interestingly Daniel Smith offer a `66 Try-it Color Sheet', available from Jacksons at £3.99p  http://www.jacksonsart.co.uk/   . This comprises four rows of Primatek colours at the top, four `Quinacridone, Cadmium & More' ' in the middle and three Luminescent colours at the bottom.

Daniel Smith 66 Try-it Color Sheet

A closer look.

In addition a small three colour sheet is free. This comprises Indigo, Hansa Yellow and Quinacridone Burnt Orange (`One of our most popular colors').

Three Colour Trial Sheet.

On the trial sheet the most interesting one is `Quinacridone Burnt Orange (PO48). This is a fairy new pigment only offered I believe by Smith, Graham and DaVinci at the moment. I would describe it as a `glowing' Burnt Sienna - bright red-orange is Smith's description - , Hansa Yellow is PY97 and Indigo is PB60/PBk6.

I am intrigued by the Primatek range but they are expensive and before buying  I suggest you read what Bruce McEvoy has to say in his very extensive analysis of this range.  www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/primatek.html . Many of the American artists who post on the Wetcanvas forum love Daniel Smith watercolours. The unique paints like the Primateks also have many fans.

Jacksons have already been out of stock of some sizes, including Q Gold and currently Q Rose so I suspect these paints are already moving. For amateurs though price is a big problem, probably also for some professionals. Currently the Daniel Smith paints are more expensive than W & N, Daler Rowney, Maimeri and Scminke to name just four leading makes. Are they worth it?  A full list of the Daniel Smith range is available on the website with full pigment details www.danielsmith.com/item--i-G-284-600Q

Palettes Part One

I joined the wetcanvas forum a few weeks ago www.wetcanvas.co./forums/  and an interesting discussion has taken place about palettes, driven by some of the posters discovering the Craig Young hand-made versions. Several appear to have ordered them and according to one poster the waiting time is now a year and the prices he quoted (in dollars) indicated they had risen steeply compared to when I purchased mine.  Some of the contributors appeared a little confused with what to buy when balancing cost against functionality. As a result, and due partly to new information about what is available and where I decided to do this piece.

First of all watercolour palettes come in various shapes and sizes from small to (very) large. If you are painting on say half sheets or larger and use big brushes size 16 and above and large flats, 1" or more, then it is obvious you need a big palette. Not everyone uses conventional palettes and various sorts of flat trays are used by artists, including some top professionals. Butcher's metal trays of different sizes and/or the flat plastic ones sold in some kitchen shops can be perfectly adequate. With such trays you squeeze out paint from tubes. This method is normally associated with limited palettes of 6 to 9 colours.  You can mix large quantities of paint but it can be wasteful with what remains and is then washed off.

The above selection of palettes includes two of the largest, the John Pike (A) which is on the left hand side complete with lid, which can also be used as another mixing area. The Robert Wade Palette (B) is at middle bottom with the lid, also used for mixing, touching to the left. Top centre is a muffin tray (E) (as used by the artist Trevor Waugh) and to the left (D) is a plastic palette of a type commonly available. Centre is the Zoltan Szabo palette (C). The three remaining palettes in the top left hand position are top a cheap aluminium version (F) commonly available and underneath the smallest palette, a Windsor and Newton plastic one (G) with an empty metal palette (H) of the sort commonly available but in this instance filled with empty full pans. I have labelled each palette with a letter A to H, but you may need to click on the photo and enlarge it to see the letters clearly.

What you need and what you should obtain depends on how you paint and whether you use tubes or half/full pans. The other criteria is how large you paint because in my experience most amateurs paint fairly small. These are only a selection of palettes that come in four basic materials, plastic, metal, ceramic and porcelain. There are other sorts but not usually used for watercolours. The John Pike palette is American  and all the information you need is here http://www.johnpikeartproducts.com/. The Robert Wade palette is obtainable in the UK from www.apvfilms.com/ . The JP palette is very popular with professionals like Mel Stabin www.melstabin.com/ and in his book `Watercolor, Simple, Fast and Focussed'  is illustrated more than once as he uses it for everything including his plein air painting! I'm not sure about the Zoltan Szabo palette as he is deceased (as is John Pike) but it is probably still available if you Google it. Added Note: Yes it is. Try www.ZoltanSzabo.com/ Wade and Szabo palettes are vacuum formed whereas the Pike palette, those from Herrings and several others are made from much stronger materials.

What is readily available? In the UK we have Ken Bromley, Jacksons, Lawrence, Herrings and several others possible suppliers. Great Art are German but have a UK telephone ordering number. Great Art have palettes from 85p up to a `professional' box with 48 large wells (!) costing £133.40p. Try Great Art http://www.greatart.co.uk/ . The enormous catalogue stretches to nearly 400 pages. Jacksons, who tend to be the most popular supplier amongst my artists group http://www.jacksonsart.co.uk/  list a large number and have recently added the superior and more expensive Holbein metal palettes. They are not yet in the catalogue but are on the website. Bromley http://www.artsupplies.co.uk/ also list a good number including the plastic Maxwell palette `designed by artists'. Herrings are interesting because the Herring brothers (and family) are enthusiastic artists and have introduced a range of artists products `designed by artists for artists'. These include several palettes plus other items like easels. Herrings also sell two `professional' metal empty boxes. Herrings have a website http://www.frankherringandsons.com/ but it is still under construction and art materials are not yet on it. Most of the above also sell various empty, lightweight, metal boxes, cheaper and not to be compared with the more expensive heavy duty `professional' sorts.   

Here are three typical metal boxes, purchased empty and filled with a mixture of half and full pans. I suggest half pans for the least popular colours and full pans for the colours you use most often. You can purchase empty full and half pans at both Jacksons and Bromley and some of the others and fill them from tubes or  half and full pans from manufacturers like Windsor and Newton. Not every paint manufacturer offers both half and full pans.  One of my local art shops in Bath (Minerva) also sells them in packets of ten. You may note two of the boxes above have the Scminke Logo. Some of these boxes, very similar whatever the source, have logos like Scminke, Rembrandt and Lukas. others nothing. They are basically cheap enamelled metal so don't compare them with the more expensive heavy duty palettes I shall cover in Part Two. They do the job if price is an issue but won't last more than two or three years with heavy usage.

Value or Tone

Value describes how light or dark a colour is. This is relatively easy on a grey scale, basically starting with white and finishing with black. Between six and ten steps seems to be the norm. I have used six. However how and  what value do you ascribe to different colours? The following is a value chart I made up using as guidance the `artist's value wheel' from the  Handprint site http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/color11.html#wheel .

Apart from black the darkest value is Indanthrone Blue (PB60). Windsor & Newton, Daler Rowney and Rembrandt call this `Indanthrene Blue', Maimeri `Faience Blue, Scminke have two paints using PB60. `Delft Blue' and `Dark Blue Indigo', Holbein `Royal Blue' and Graham `Anthraquinone Blue'! Neither `White Knights nor Shin Han list this pigment, which is at the expensive end. Confusing isn't it which is one reason why manufacturers names have to be taken with a pinch of salt. Most manufacturers now put pigment information on tube paint, not usually pans, but often so small as to need a magnifying glass to read it.  I have taken  Bruce MacEvoys spelling as the correct one but will investigate further. On my chart while you can't read the letters (try clicking and enlarging ) indicating what each paint is the colours are clear enough. I wouldn't claim it to be 100% accurate but I think reasonably so.

Amongst the very darkest values is Diozazine Violet ( PV23) called  Windsor Violet and Rowney Permanent Mauve and so on. Check the pigment information on the tube or hunt it down from the various manufacturers websites. One excellent commercial source is DIck Blick Art Supplies http://www.dickblick.com/  Dick Blick has a huge number of watercolour paints and if you click on the individual paints it will lead to pigment information. This has to be done with every single paint separately and needs a little patience.

Other very dark colours are Prussian (PB27) and Ultramarine blue (PB29), Burnt Umber (PBr7) and Quinacridone Violet (PV19). There are others so if you wish to pursue this any further, and I can understand many not wanting to do so, then get the Handprint value wheel. It can be downloaded and printed.

At the other end of the scale, apart from white, Cadmium Lemon (PY35) is the lightest value with all yellow and yellow shades coming into the lighter half of the chart and the reds, blues and greens in the darker one. This is a generalisation as there are variations so get the chart for specific details.