Geranium Lake

Description

Geranium Lake is a handmade lake pigment prepared from a brilliant red dye precipitated onto a mineral substrate. It produces a vivid, floral pink-red from geranium petals, bright and warm. In light washes it reads as a glowing rose or hot pink; in masstone it deepens into a saturated, almost neon scarlet-rose. Compared to mineral reds and earths, Geranium Lake is far more luminous and transparent; compared to modern quinacridones, it feels softer, more “old-fashioned,” and a touch less blue-clean, with a characteristic cosmetic warmth.

In use, Geranium Lake gives a brilliant, transparent to semi-transparent red ideal for florals, textiles, decorative motifs, illustration, sketchbooks, and historical color studies where its vintage character is desired. It has moderate tinting strength and builds beautifully in layers, shifting from delicate pink veils to strong, candy-like reds. It mixes beautifully with yellows for coral and watermelon tones, with earths for elegant rose-browns and skin tints, and with blues and violets for lively mauves and fashion-inspired purples. As a dye-based lake, however, it is not highly lightfast and is best used in work kept out of direct sunlight, stored closed in manuscripts, or digitized for long-term preservation rather than displayed permanently.

This lake is bound to a mineral base , giving it better handling and stability than the raw dye while preserving its characteristic brilliance and translucency. In artist’s colors it offers a distinctly vintage, “perfume counter” pink-red, perfect for romantic, decorative, or fashion-inspired palettes where archival permanence is not the main priority.

History

“Geranium Lake” historically referred to intense bluish-red and pink lakes made from early Eosin Y derived lakes, especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. On the painter’s palette, geranium-type lakes offered a new kind of glowing, lipstick-like red that mineral pigments and traditional insect or plant lakes could not replicate.

However, many of these early reds were fugitive, fading or shifting noticeably under light. Over time, more permanent pigments, particularly quinacridones and modern organic reds, supplanted Geranium Lake in serious archival painting.

Pigment Information

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

Source: Synthetic red dye precipitated onto an inorganic base

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

Lightfastness: Poor

Opacity: Transparent

Other Names: Geranium Lake, Geranium Red Lake, Synthetic Rose Lake

Color Index Code: PR90:1