Description
Scarlet Red Lt is the yellowest of the reds. Napthol reds were amongst the first red colours included in acrylic ranges when they were first introduced around 1960. PR112 has for all that time served duty as a warm red and has remained popular due to its lower cost compared to it’s showier but also more pricy newer competitors. Matisse has improved on the original Napthol Scarlet formulations by the simple but important addition of Pigment Yellow 74 as a blend. Secondly it improves lightfastness to a certain degree but also increases weather resistance opening its use for artworks exposed to high intensity light and undercover outdoor works, especially those not intended for permanent installation. Scarlet is a very useful colour for the artist. As the warmest red it is the best choice to use if making orange by mixing with yellow. It also shares with the traditional vermilion used by the old masters a crucial role in painting the colours found in lighter coloured skins. Pinks made with a cooler red have a limited role in getting good flesh colours, but the salmony colours produced by mixing a light red, or scarlet with white are incredibly useful. That is not to say that mixing up a salmon pink and painting that all over the flesh areas is the best way to go, but rather, (allowing for the fact that skin exhibits a wide range of tones depending on the individual and the lighting conditions), that salmony pinks form one of the more important colours among a gamut that includes ochres, mauves, and other colours.
