Hi friends! There’s been a lot of discussion and confusion about Quinacridone Gold, and I’m here to clear it up. This is one of the colors I use in my palette, and you'll hear me talk about it a lot during my lessons and videos.
Unfortunately, the QoR version of this paint has been discontinued.
The good news is that we have a lot to talk about when it comes to the story of Quinacridone Gold, discontinued paints, and paint names. Let's jump in! If you're new to watercolor, this may be a bit overwhelming with all the talk of pigment colors and paint properties. If so, no worries. These things take time to learn, and I do in-depth supply walkthroughs in my botanical watercolor membership, The Garden Studio.
Quinacridone Gold: A Quick History
This beautiful color was first introduced by Daniel Smith and originally used the single pigment PO49. Production of PO49 stopped in the early 2000s, which meant paint makers had to find ways to recreate the color using different pigments. That’s fairly typical in the paint world, but it’s always sad when we lose an original pigment.
Occasionally, you’ll spot an old tube of Daniel Smith’s genuine PO49 Quinacridone Gold on eBay for a couple hundred dollars. If you’re lucky enough to own one, enjoy it!
Manufacturers switched to using a mixture of different pigments to recreate the same hue. Manufacturers use proprietary blends of different pigments, so while some brands used a mixture of PO48 and PY150 (QoR and Daniel Smith both use(d) that blend), other manufacturers found different ways to try and recreate the original look of PO49. For example, Winsor & Newton use PR179, PV19, and PY150. Schminke uses PR101 and PY150.
PO48 is a pigment that is no longer being manufactured, which means that manufacturers will use up the stock they have and then will have to find different formulations of their paints that relied on that specific pigment. QoR's Quinacridone Gold has been a standard in my palette for years. They used PO48 and PY150. (If you’ve been around here for a while, you’re familiar with that number - it’s our beloved Nickel Azo Yellow!) Now that PO48 is no longer in production, QoR's Quinacridone Gold and Quinacridone Gold Deep have both been discontinued.
So, what now?
That leaves us without a direct single-pigment replacement, but there are a few good workarounds:
QoR recommends the following mix: “a blend of Transparent Red Iron Oxide (PR101) and Nickel Azo Yellow (PY150)...should get you into a similar range in the masstone with a glowing orange undertone.”
I’ve found that Nickel Azo Yellow (PY150) mixed with Transparent Pyrolle Orange (PO71) with a touch of any brown paint achieves a similar look, as well.
You can try Quinacridone Gold mixes from other brands. They may not be exactly the same, but provide a good alternative. This is a great reminder that the name of a paint does not always correspond to the actual color. It's always important to look at the pigment info on manufacturer websites.
Lots of kits sold by both Daniel Smith and QoR still have tubes of Quinacridone Gold in them, as well. So buy this beautiful version of this popular color and enjoy it while you can!
The main takeaway...
Watercolor is all about adaptation. Whether it's controlling our water while we're painting or adjusting to things outside of our control, like discontinued pigments.
The key is to remain flexible and curious. If your favorite color gets discontinued, experiment with ways to mix colors to make it yourself. If a painting doesn't turn out the way you expected it to, ask yourself what you can learn from the experience and try again!
Part of the beauty of an art practice is that it's constantly growing and evolving. And as a result, you get to grow and evolve along with it as an artist! Pretty neat, huh? 😊
Happy painting,
Alex
Loved this post!