The first question that popped into my mind when I first saw Quinacridone Lilac was “Do we really need another Quinacridone sitting between the Quinacridone pinks and magentas?”
The only way to find out was to try it, test it, mix it and compare it.
I already have quite a few Quinacridones in my palette: Quinacridone Red, Pink, Rose, Fuchsia, Magenta and Violet. And that’s only in the pink/magenta range. I love Quinacridones. They are usually lightfast and transparent as well as showing an excellent level of saturation.
The first thing to determine was the similarity of this Lilac to other Quinacridones in my palette. Was it a redundant colour or a legitimate unique addition to my range?
Looking at the swatches, Quinacridone Lilac is definitely different from the Rose on the pink side and the Magenta on the bluer side. I don’t quite get why it’s called lilac (I suppose it sounds better than “Quinacridone Azalea”), but if there is ever an addition to the range the actual colour of lilac, someone’s going to be stuck to name it!
The second test was to mix it with French Ultramarine to check its level of saturation once it is no longer used as a pure pigment.
I found the 2 best results came with Quinacridone Rose and… Quinacridone Lilac. The latter performed even better for the more magenta side of violet.
Finally, I had to try it in a real proper painting. I haven’t finished the painting yet, but here is a photo of the Guinea pig rose half done. The rose’s name is ‘Odyssey’.
I mixed the Quinacridone Lilac with Phthalo Blue Red Shade rather than French Ultramarine, because I wanted to avoid granulation. I absolutely love the mixes I got with these two. They made a subtle violet (quite lilac actually), perfect for this delicate, beautiful rose.
Conclusion: Adopted! I will add Quinacridone Lilac to my palette permanently, I suspect mainly to paint roses and also pale purple subjects. I think it will also work well for shadow colours.
Please click here for an affiliate link to Quinacridone Lilac at Jackson’s Art Supplies.
If you want to see me test the colour live, here is the video:
Please click here for a link to my YouTube channel for more videos.
Happy painting!
Sandrine Maugy 
Thank you Saundrine. Excellent comparison.
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You’re welcome, always a fun thing to do 🙂
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What a beautiful colour. I loved seeing it being mixed to produce those rich purples. – thank you.
I prefer using pans for various reasons , but DS only do this colour in tubes. W&N do Quinacridone Magenta which uses the same pigment (PR122) but I expect it will be different. I might try it though.
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Hi Jenny, one advantage with Daniel Smith colours is that the paints have the same formula in tubes and pans. So you can buy a few empty pans and squeeze some tube paint in them, which is what I do.
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Ah, thank you. I should have thought of that!
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