If you find my website and blog useful, please consider making a one-off donation or perhaps a regular payment to help me keep my content free and up to date :-)

3 - Orange Watercolour Swatches

There are literally hundreds of artist quality watercolours available from many brands. I have tested many of them and created swatches as seen on the right. The square box is painted into a damp wash at the top to show the colour mixed in water, with more pigment added towards the bottom. The rectangle is painted in a juicy wash to show the mass-tone. The small squares at the bottom of the swatch have the pigment number and characteristics - staining, lightfast rating, granulation and transparency. 

For more on orange pigments see the Artiscreation orange database page here. See the Handprint orange pigment information here (but note that is it based on tests completed in 2004).
Picture
The size of my swatches
Oranges - whether yellow oranges, mid oranges or red-oranges - are difficult to capture accurately so these swatches are very much only a guide to how the paints behave and what pigments are in them. I'll work on more accurate colour gradually over December and January.
​
There are not very many orange pigments used in watercolours. 

Click on any swatch for the full information.

Note - I am gradually checking the details of each swatch (during 2023) and adjusting the colour if necessary. Those with an * have been checked and are as accurate as I can achieve.

PO20 Orange Watercolours

PO20 is also available in Cadmium Red Light by Lukas; Cadmium Orange in Renesans Intense range, Turner, M.Graham; Cadmium Orange Deep in Wallage Seymour; and in both Cadmium Yellow and Cadmium Red Light in the PWC range. I'll add these, and update the swatches. *represents a more accurate colour.
​
It varies in hue from a warm yellow to a warm red.
  1. Cadmium Orange - American Journey; Cadmium Orange* - Aquarius; Cadmium Yellow Orange - Blockx; Cadmium Orange - Da Vinci; Cadmium Orange - MaimeriBlu (pre 2018 range)
  2. ​Cadmium Red Orange - QoR; Cadmium Orange - Rembrandt; Cadmium Orange - Renesans Pan; Cadmium Red Orange - ​Schmincke; Cadmium Orange Light - Schmincke; 
  3. Cadmium Orange Deep - Schmincke;

PO36 Orange Watercolours

Known as Benzimidazolone Orange or Azo Orange Deep, this gorgeous orange pigment.
  1. Vermilion Permanent  - Art Spectrum; Benzimidazole Orange* - Aquarius; Benzimida Orange Deep - Da Vinci; Permanent Orange - Stephen Quiller; Titan Red - White Nights

PO43

These swatches don't show the true brightness of this colour , though the hue of the DS version is very close.
​Perinone Orange* - Daniel Smith; Orange Lake - MaimeriBlu

PO 48 and PO49 Quinacridone Gold and Burnt Orange watercolours including hues

See also Mixed Pigment Oranges for DS Quinacridone Sienna.
  1. Quinacridone Red Gold, A. Gallo PO48; Quinacridone Burnt Orange* - Daniel Smith PO48; ​Quinacridone Gold - Daniel Smith PO49 (Discontinued 2015); Quinacridone Gold* - Daniel Smith PO48 + PY150; Quinacridone Gold Deep*, Daniel Smith PO49 (discontinued version); 
  2. Quinacridone Deep Gold* - Daniel Smith PO48 + PY150; Quinacridone Burnt Orange - Da Vinci PO48; ​Quinacridone Rust - M.Graham PO48,  Quinacridone Orange - Rembrandt PO48; Quinacridone Gold - Winsor & Newton PO49 (discontinued); 
  3. ​Quinacriodone Gold - Winsor & Newton PY150 + PR206 + PV19; 

PO59

Permanent Orange - Aquarius 

PO62 Oranges

This pigment is also available as Permanent Yellow Deep by Lukas, Benzimida Orange by Da Vinci, Permanent Yellow Orange by MaimeriBlu (new range) and Permanent Orange in MaimeriBlu pre 2018 range and Art Spectrum. 
Shown here are:
  1. Halloween Orange - American Journey; Golden Orange* - Aquarius;  Permanent Orange - Blockx;​ Permanent Orange* - Daniel Smith; Azo Orange - M.Graham; 
  2. Chrome Orange - Schmincke; Winsor Orange - Winsor & Newton 

PO64 Oranges

Deep Orange* - Aquarius; Brilliant Orange - Rembrandt (and also Saturn Red by Schmincke.)

PO65

Golden Barack Red - Old Holland

PO67

Brilliant Orange* - Aquarius 

PO71 Oranges

PO71 is also found in Permanent Orange - Lukas and Orange Pyrrolo - MaimeriBlu (new range) Shown here are:
  1. Transparent Pyrrol Orange* - Aquarius; Transparent Pyrrol Orange* - Daniel Smith; Transparent Pyrrol Orange* - Daniel Smith (2019 version); Transparent Pyrrol Orange - QoR; Pyrrol Orange - Rembrandt;
  2. ​​Transparent Orange (was Translucent Orange) - Schmincke;  

PO72 Oranges

PO73 Oranges

It is also used in Warm Orange by Daler Rowney; Red Orange by Mission Gold; Pyrrol Orange Red Shade by Turner and Pyrrole Orange by Isaro.

Shown here:
  1. Pyrrol Orange* - Aquarius; Pyrrolo Vermilion - Blockx; Pyrrol Orange* - Daniel Smith; Da Vinci Orange - Da Vinci; Pyrrolo  Scarlet Pyrrol - M.Graham; 
  2. Flame Red - Rosa; Sennelier Orange - Senneilier; Vermilion - Stephen Quiller;  Winsor Orange Red Shade - Winsor & Newton 

PO82

Chrome Orange (Hue) - Aquarius 

PO107

Transparent Orange - Winsor & Newton 

PR108

Cadmium Yellow Orange* - Holbein​; Cadmium Red Orange* - Holbein ​

Single Pigment Orange Watercolours

Single pigment orange watercolours will generally be made from a 'Pigment Orange' denoted as PO followed by a number. Note some of the colours are not true to life - orange is a difficult colour to scan accurately. * indicates as close a match as I can get.
As well as the pigment shown above, orange pigments in use are: variations of PO N/A such as
  1. Aquarius Orange* - Aquarius PO N/A​; Mayan Orange* - Daniel Smith PO N/A; Vermilion - Derivan PO6; (Brilliant Orange by Shin Han PWC PO16 not shown)

PR206

Avignon Orange - MaimeriBlu 

PY216

PR290

Ginger Red - Aquarius

Mixed Pigment Orange Watercolours

I am not so interested in mixed pigment oranges as they can be mixed in the palette. There are many variations. Shown are
  1. ​Arancione - A.Gallo; Halloween Orange - American Journey; Australian Red Gold - Art Spectrum; Cadmium Orange Hue - Daler Rowney; Cadmium Orange Hue by Daniel Smith;
  2. Aussie Red Gold - Daniel Smith;  ​Quinacridone Sienna* - Daniel Smith PO49 + PR209 (discontinued); ​Quinacridone Sienna* - Daniel Smith PO48 + PR209 + PY150​; Alizarin Gold by Da Vinci; Permanent Yellow Orange (old) - Holbein PY53 + PY55; 
  3. Permanent Yellow Orange - Holbein PY74 + PY83 + PO73; Red Orange - Jackson's; ​Cadmium Orange - Rosa PO20 + PY35; Permanent Red Orange - Schmincke; Tundra Orange - Schmincke PY43 + PR233 + PBr7; 
  4. Chinese Orange - Sennelier; Golden - White Nights; ​​Cadmium Orange - Winsor & Newton. 
These swatches are painted and added as a guide. The intention is show the characteristics of each colour when painted. The colour reproduction is not perfect but hopefully will still be helpful used in conjunction with the manufacturer's website.  Thank you to those of you, from all over the globe, who have helped me with this section by sharing your favourite colours. If you notice errors please let me know so I can correct them. If you have artist quality watercolour that are not shown here and want to help me build up this resource, also please let me know :-)
Contact me
This pages was last updated November 2022. I am gradually separating the various pigments into new galleries with all the pigment information in the blurb - hope this makes it easier to find the swatches you are looking for.