Quinacridone Scarlet

Description

Quinacridone Scarlet (PR207) is a handmade single-pigment quinacridone scarlet red. It produces a brilliant, warm scarlet with a clear orange leaning undertone and a richly saturated masstone. Compared to traditional cadmium and naphthol reds, this pigment is cleaner and more transparent, offering high chroma and glow without the heaviness or opacity of many classic scarlets.

In use, Quinacridone Scarlet gives a luminous, transparent red ideal for florals, sunsets, textiles, warm highlights, and expressive passages in portrait and figure work. It has strong tinting strength with a transparent to semi-transparent character, making it excellent for glazing, layered washes, and optical mixing. It mixes beautifully with yellows for radiant warm oranges and flame colors, with magentas and violets for rich crimson and ruby reds, and with blues and earth pigments to create nuanced warm neutrals and deep, glowing shadow tones that stay clear rather than muddy.

This quinacridone pigment is highly chromatic, chemically stable, and compatible with a wide range of binders and mediums. In artist’s colors it serves as a modern, high-performance alternative to traditional scarlet and vermilion-style reds, functioning both as a primary warm red on contemporary palettes and as a powerful glazing color for rich, layered work.

History

The quinacridone family of pigments was developed in the mid-20th century as advances in organic chemistry produced colorants with exceptional chroma, transparency, and permanence. First adopted in automotive and industrial coatings for their resistance to light, weather, and chemicals, quinacridones soon attracted artists and paintmakers looking for modern substitutes for less lightfast reds and violets.

Quinacridone Scarlet (PR207) occupies a warm, orange leaning position in the quinacridone spectrum, bridging the gap between high chroma magentas and traditional scarlet reds. Its combination of clarity, transparency, and strong tinting power led to its inclusion in professional watercolor, oil, and acrylic ranges as a versatile warm red for both mixing and glazing. Today, PR207 is appreciated by painters who want the reliability of quinacridone chemistry in a color that can move from fiery, modern intensity to subtle, classical warmth depending on how it is handled.

Pigment Information

Pigment Type: Synthetic (Organic) quinacridone pigment

Suitable Mediums: Watercolor, Oil, Tempera, Acrylic, Lime / Fresco, Ceramic and cement applications

Lightfastness: Excellent

Opacity: Transparent to semi-transparent

Other Names: Quinacridone Scarlet, Quinacridone Red Scarlet (PR207), Transparent Scarlet

Color Index Code: PR207