AKA “Cool Yellow”. Bright, crisp, green-toned yellows that mix very bright greens (and maybe more lackluster oranges).
Color List
Single pigment colors, roughly in opaque-to-transparent order:
Not tried:
- Bismuth Vanadate Yellow (PY184)
- Cadmium Yellow Lemon (PY35)
Note: Yellow is a spectrum; some similar colors are in the Middle Yellow section, including Azo Yellow (PY151) and Aureolin (PY40).
My Thoughts
Lemon just looks so fun and bold in masstone, crisp and delicate in dilute. Lemon is the yellow you want when mixing up a glowing green Northern Lights color.
Early in my learning, I favored it as a sunrise color. However, I’ve since come to feel that warmer yellows look nicer in the sky.
Necessary slot? I think it’s useful to have either Lemon or Middle Yellow. Many artists have both, and many have only one, and some have neither (they only have more orangey or earthy yellows, or a Heavy Metal Complex Gold).
Considerations:
- I find Lemon more difficult to mix – it’s more of a primary – while middle yellow can be mixed from Lemon + a bit of a redder color (e.g. warm yellow, orange).
- Lemon mixes brighter greens, while middle yellow or warm yellows mix slightly more muted greens. The brighter greens may be more useful for spring or rainforest settings, while the more muted greens read as more “natural” to many people.
- I classify Nickel Azo Yellow (PY150) as a gold, but some people see it as a lemon yellow because it is cool and light in dilute.
Favorites: I enjoy Imidazolone Lemon (PY175), especially for spring, because it is very lightfast and mixes bright greens without sacrificing the niceness of oranges as much as something like Hansa Yellow Light (PY3).
See Also
Similar Color Slots
- Middle Yellow
- Heavy Metal Complex Gold
- Back to all Color Slots