Tuesday 13 September 2011

Quinacridone Violet - Pigment Violet 19 (PV19)

As all the PV19's are closely connected I decided to post this short piece on the violet form to immediately follow up that on the rose and red shades. This will be much shorter because there are far fewer paints made from the violet, less than ten by my estimate. What does that tell us?

Quinacridone Violet (gamma quinacridone) is a darker valued deep red to violet red, really mostly a magenta shade, that leans towards blue.It is very different from the other shades. Compare the Rowney Permanent Magenta in the previous post. It is very lightfast, more so apparently than the rose and red shades.  As for knowing which shade it is manufacturers names vary from Permanent Magenta to Quinacridone Violet. While it is almost impossible to differentiate the rose and red shades, at least amongst us lesser mortals, the violet one is a different colour and reference to manufacturers colour charts is the best way to determine this. Most of the leading makers, but not all, offer at least two shades with a rose or red and the other a more magenta/violet colour.

Which to use? I suppose in a large palette one could have both, providing they are visibly different. The rose and red forms are brighter and the violet duller. In a limited palette obviously the rose or red forms would be the preferred choice for most artists. Quinacridone Magenta PR122 is a possible alternative.

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