Annatto Intense Lake

Description

Annatto Intense Lake is a handmade natural lake pigment prepared from annatto, the richly colored seed coating of Bixa orellana, precipitated onto a mineral substrate in its deepest, most saturated form. It produces a vivid, warm red with a strong orange scarlet undertone. In light washes it appears as a glowing coral or warm rose-orange; in masstone it deepens into an intense, almost lacquer-like red with a distinctly botanical, resinous character. Compared to mineral reds, Annatto Intense Lake is more translucent and luminous; compared to synthetic oranges and reds, it feels softer, more organic, and distinctly plant-derived.

In use, Annatto Intense Lake gives a brilliant, transparent to semi-transparent warm red ideal for florals, textiles, illuminated manuscript effects, botanical illustration, and experimental or eco-focused work. It has low to moderate tinting strength with a smooth, dye-like flow, building from delicate peach and coral veils to strong, fiery glazes without becoming chalky. It mixes beautifully with yellows for radiant saffron, mango, and sunset tones, with pinks and reds for juicy coral and lipstick hues, and with blues and blue-greens for soft, warm neutrals and terracotta-like browns that retain a subtle inner glow. As a natural lake based on an organic dye, it is not highly lightfast and is best reserved for work kept out of direct sunlight or digitized for long-term preservation.

This plant-based lake is bound to a mineral base, giving it better handling and stability than the raw dye while preserving its characteristic translucency and luminous, food-adjacent warmth. In artist’s colors it offers a uniquely culinary, seed-derived warm red that pairs beautifully with other botanical lakes and mineral earths on historically minded or eco-conscious palettes.

History

Annatto has been used for centuries across Central and South America as a dye, body paint, and food color. The vivid orange-red coating around the seeds of *Bixa orellana* was traditionally used to color skin, textiles, ritual objects, and foods, and later became a widely traded natural colorant for cheeses, butter, oils, and cosmetics. Its principal color compounds, bixin and norbixin, are carotenoid dyes that readily impart golden-orange to red tones to fats and water-based systems.

With renewed interest in natural dyes and low-impact color, annatto found its way into handmade inks, paints, and experimental art materials. By converting the soluble dye into a lake pigment, precipitating it with a mineral substrate, makers created Annatto Lakes that can be used in watercolor, gouache, and other water-based media with greater control than the raw dyebath. Annatto Intense Lake (Red) represents a deliberately saturated, deep version of this color, emphasizing its richest warm red–orange range. While it does not rival mineral pigments for permanence, it offers a direct connection to culinary, ritual, and botanical traditions that many artists find compelling.

Pigment Information

Pigment Type: Natural (Organic) plant-based lake pigment on mineral substrate

Source: Annatto seed coating from Bixa orellana (bixin / norbixin carotenoid dyes)

Suitable Mediums: Oil, Watercolor, Gouache, Ink, Egg Tempera, Casein, Violin

Lightfastness: Poor

Opacity: Transparent

Other Names: Annatto Intense Lake (Red), Annatto Lake, Bixa Lake, Achiote Lake

Color Index Code: NO4