The summer sun poured through the eastern windows onto the old brass tray that I used for a paintbox and illuminated all the red tubes of paint like a string of rubies. Deep cherry red, cheerful middle red, warm reds leaning into the oranges. Large portraits in progress filled the studio, and on one of the faces, I needed to add a bit of warmth to the peaches-and-cream pinks of the cheek where it met the light. The only challenge was, my go-to cadmium reds and oranges were naturally more muted than I would have liked.

With the daubs of red paint arranged on a palette from cool to warm, I began to tint each one with bits of icy titanium white. Some reds cascaded unexpectedly cooler like the pastel mints that grandmothers in the 1980s once kept in crystal dishes, others turned pink like the bubblegum from my childhood which came in wax-paper wrappers, while others turned unexpectedly duller like the baked terra cotta bricks of the desert southwest. That morning in the studio I determined to tint out every red-orange in my paintbox. Cool pinks? Yes. But what about the region where red turns toward orange? That's when I discovered the value of Pyrrole Scarlet-- a racing red-orange which has much more to it than first meets the eye.

Pyrrole Scarlet may be an attractive choice depending on what a person desires from a paint. Setting aside its unique hue and tints, here are some notes on other pigments shown here. This is a selection from L. Cornelissen & Son's pigment offerings which have been bound in casein.

-It has higher chroma tints than many Cadmium Reds, PR108. -It's far less toxic than Red Lead, PR105. -It's an Oranger-leaning red than PR209. -It's more lightfast than the pigments used in their Vermilion Imitation, namely PR4 and PY1.

Is Pyrrole Scarlet a superfluous pigment? What if you found out it was secretly the star of the show?

There isn't just one power pigment that will transform your palette... but if you could only choose one, this might actually be it. In a super-limited palette, PR255 might actually be a top choice-- at least it could possibly have played a leading role for one of the most accomplished modern landscape painters out there, none other than Scott Christensen. Now we must mention that we have no idea what he really uses and would love to take one of his workshops sometime. But we can speak to our own experiences in the studio, and this pigment has star power.

Astounding Lead Role in a Limited Palette This gets into painters legends, since we have not verified it ourselves, but we've heard it rumored that Scott Christensen himself once chose a PR255 for his limited landscape palette. Now of course all of this is just hearsay, but as fans of PR255 we could believe it.

Armed with just a PR255 for the warm red, a high quality Ultramarine, and a very lemony Cadmium yellow, Scott Christensen has worked something that looks at times like a miracle, and you can check out his paintings to see how successfully he puts it to use. The old painters' rumor was that there were also a couple of grey blends thrown in, too, and an occasional bit of something else, but even so-- that is what we'd call an extremely abbreviated palette.

Secretly Steel on Wheels for Landscape Grays

If you haven't heard about the Scott Christensen grays, you can check out our Vasari video, where we take a look at the set. We're guessing that just a handful of colors (PR255 or their PR254 for red, PB29 for blue, and PY35 Cadmium Lemon, a white, and a cobalt PB28 or other blue of choice) make up the core Scott Christensen grays. When we set out to recreate them in the studio we couldn't quite hit the blue not in the one called Bice without the help of an additional blue pigment, so we chose PB28 as it's a friendly mixer with other landscape colors. We like to add a bit of PV14 in too, but it's not clear how much that's truly necessary. All in all, that's a very limited palette, and PR255 can adequately carry the starring role as the red.

A Clandestine Hidden Twin

And while we're on the topic of Vasari, we happened to come across an interesting insight. PR255 seems to have a hidden twin. Vasari's Permanent Bright Red, which is labeled PR254, looks an awful lot like PR255. After using it, we were so curious that we had to ask if it was PR255, but no, Permanent Bright Red is indeed PR254-- just an oranger version than we've ever seen before. Normally PR254 is a cherry red, but this one is a lot more like Pyrrole Scarlet.

We don't know for sure, but in the hallowed pages of Industrial Organic Chemistry, we found that PR254 has a beta version which is warmer in color. Is Vasari's Permanent Bright Red PR254 possibly the warmer beta version? Only Vasari knows for sure.

So in addition to creating stellar coral tints, PR255 is also a palette champion in its own right. From ultra-high chroma to an integral role in landscape grays, this color is worth checking out.

Pyrrole Scarlet, PR255 has noteworthy lightfastness in general, and (so far) it is also considered lightfast even in tints, which is an excelsior trait in a red-orange paint. With its pedigree from the automotive world, Pyrrole Scarlet is considered great for high lightfastness, however there may be some areas of future research for oil painters specifically. For context, it has tested ASTM I- Excellent, but cadmiums and PR254 may be more lightfast in long-term lightfastness tests.

Possibly Better than Alternatives?

With the caveat that more testing is needed on PR255 specifically, emerging research suggests that some of the high chroma alternatives (Namely Pyrrole Orange, PO73 and Napthol Red, PR112) may have some reactivity issues. Emerging research suggest that PO73 can display poor results in tints when safflower oil is used, and PR112 can display some shocking reactivity in Lead White. PR255 may be an interesting alternative, and we hope there will be further research on this pigment.

Need for Future Testing on Binding Oils

A question mark arose in our minds as Industrial Organic Pigments also highlighted PR255's similarity to Pyrrole Orange (PO73). We love Pyrrole Orange, but it was tested in Golden's lightfastness rounds, and it seems to be less lightfast in tints when safflower oil is used. Golden's recent study of oil paints when mixed with white has the details. Since PR255 does not seem to have been mentioned, we can only wonder if PR255 would perform more similarly to PR254 Pyrrole Red, which has great results, or PO73, Pyrrole Orange, which is questionable. Until then, we'll be searching out versions that aren't bound in safflower oil just to be on the safer side.

Slightly Less Lightfast than PR254

It's not a surprise that the Pyrroles are related, and that small differences in the molecules help account for the color variations, and they also have differences in lightfastness. The authors of Industrial Organic Pigments mention that PR255 is not quite as lightfast as PR254, Pyrrole Red.

Encouraging Results in Long-Term Testing

In terms of longer-term more intense lightfastness testing that goes beyond the ASTM, PR255 may hold up surprisingly well. In Virgil Elliott’s extra intense lightfastness testing, after about six years in the sun, the version he tested showed some fading but at least it was still intact. While the results are bracketed by some color loss, extended battery by the sun over multiple years is a demanding test. While not the highest lightfastness, PR255 still showed high performance for a saturated red pigment.

There aren't very many offerings of PR255 in oils, and only about nine paintmakers offer this color. For that reason the choice of binding oils, as well as preferences in consistency will probably play a bigger role.

-In general, if you'd like higher chroma warm red tints than cadmiums can give you, you may want to try PR255. Most of the versions on the market are likely to yield high chroma tints.

-If you're concerned about lightfastness of PR255 in regards to the safflower oil sensitivity in related pigments such as PO73, you could try a version of PR255 bound in linseed oil until testing is done. It may be a good idea to double check with the manufacturer whether only linseed oil is used, since some companies can be a bit vague when it comes to the types of binding oil in a given tube of paint.

If you'd like to use a PR254 instead -- one which is almost as warm as PR255, check out Vasari's Permanent Bright Red. However, we have not seen their variety formally tested, so we're not sure if it shares all of the same specs as the cooler versions of PR254.