I set this aside as a separate category from other yellows because these heavy-metal-based muted yellows can span the warm-to-cool spectrum, and fall in-between bright and muted yellows in chroma. They also have unusually transparent, wide-ranging, luminous, seemingly glowing properties that sometimes make them worth putting on a palette even if the unmixed hue is uninspiring or reduplicative with another color.
Color List
There are currently two single pigment colors in this category:
You might find some sources referring to these discontinued pigments:
- Quinacridone Gold (PO49) – discontinued
- Nickel Dioxine Yellow (PY153) – discontinued
It is quite common to make mixes based on PY150, notably:
My Thoughts
Necessary slot? No, this is down to personal preference. There are many palettes that don’t have any of these colors. I do tend to have at least one, if not more than one, because I think they are really fun and mix great greens.
Favorites: I love them all. I really struggle to decide between them, even though I know I really only need one. Nickel Azo Yellow is the most versatile, being the closest to a primary yellow, but I really like Rich Green Gold for adding both a glow and a bit of muting to foliage greens.