Color Spotlight: Quinacridone Pyrrolidone (PR N/A)

This quinacridone/pyrrol combo pigment is generally suggested as an alternative to genuine Alizarin Crimson.

I have now tried this pigment individually as WN Permanent Carmine; it is also said to be present in WN Permanent Alizarin Crimson, though it is unlisted. (I believe it: it looks very similar.)

Pigment stats for Quinacridone Pyrrolidone (PR N/A)

So much of my information about this is from handprint, so buckle up for some quotes. He even explains why it doesn’t have a pigment number:

It is not assigned a color index name, according to the Society of Dyers and Colorists, because it is a proprietary, crystallized compound of two separate pigments (based on the dark color, my guess is these are a dark shade of quinacridone PV42 and the diketo-pyrrolo pyrrole PR254).

Bruce MacEvoy, handprint.com

Lightfastness: Bruce MacEvoy rates this LFII, “very good” (about 500 hrs of light exposure before fading.) He notes,

Its lightfastness is at the lower end of the acceptable range, and for really reliable tints you may want to substitute in its place the paint pair of perylene maroon (PR179) for near black or dull warm mixtures, and quinacridone magenta (PR122) for intense red and orange mixtures.

Bruce MacEvoy, handprint.com

So, this seems like a typical so-called “permanent” paint that is more permanent than whatever it’s replacing (e.g. genuine Alizarin Crimson or cochineal carmine), but not top of the lightfastness scale. Still, I’ve probably been tricked into thinking the lightfastness is even lower by the entry in the ArtIsCreation where the lightfastness section is mistakenly copied from fugitive PR9.

Toxicity: Nontoxic.

What Others Say

One more MacEvoy quote! While he cautions against using this pigment because of lightfast concerns, MacEvoy also acknowledges,

This is a very useful pigment in place of cadmium red or quinacridone red, especially for portraits and botanical paintings. It mixes superb neutrals (near black and silvery grays) with phthalocyanine green BS (PG7).

Bruce MacEvoy, handprint.com

My takeaway

I can see why this is proposed as an alternative to Alizarin Crimson; it is a nice, deep, violet-undertoned crimson with a mid-chroma, making it easy to get subtle or moody colors, and easy to get dark. That said, although more lightfast than Alizarin Crimson, it is not so lightfast that it feels super worth it to jump to on that basis alone. If looking for that mid-chroma dark-mixing capability in a reddish color, I would probably go for a Quinacridone Fuchsia (PR202) for a more magenta/violet, or a Pyrrol Crimson (PR264) for a redder variety.