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Orange is a secondary colour on the colour wheel because it can be mixed using red and yellow paint. In this post, I’ll take a closer look at two hues of orange acrylic paint – cadmium orange and vat orange. I’ll compare how the two mix with other hues of paint around the colour wheel.
Interestingly, English didn’t have a word for orange until the 16th century. Before then, people would describe it as yellow-red, which is exactly how you can mix it yourself, using red and yellow pigments. Orange does exist as single pigments, so it may take some testing to find the right mixed version of orange that you’re aiming for.
Having an orange on your palette isn’t a necessity, but it can be handy if you’re interested in expanding your palette. Some artists choose a very warm yellow rather than a traditional orange. It’s up to you as an artist.
Cadmium orange
Cadmium orange is a very typical orange colour, very bright and warm. If a child wants to paint a pumpkin, they’ll reach for a shade of orange just like this. It’s quite intense straight out of the tube. If you’re struggling with mixing a clean, strong, typical orange, you might want to pick up a tube of cadmium orange.
The Winsor & Newton cadmium orange I’m mixing with today uses a single pigment – PO20. Some manufacturers will use two different pigments, using both cadmium red and cadmium yellow to produce their orange.
Keep in mind that some artists prefer to avoid any of the cadmium pigments, as there are some toxicity concerns. Cadmium is well-loved by other artists, despite these concerns, because of its intensity and opacity.
Vat orange
Vat orange is a redder and darker orange than cadmium orange, at least with the Golden version I’m testing. It can also be labeled as perinone orange. The name vat orange seems to come from the pigment’s common use in dying textiles.
Golden’s version of vat orange uses a single pigment – PO43. Check the labels if you’re interested in other manufacturers’ versions of vat orange as there are different versions available.
The version I’m using today is a fluid acrylic version. It’s a much thinner paint than the typical heavy body paints, but still has a high level of pigment in it. The different consistency won’t affect the colour mixing results, but it’ll be less thick.
Testing some orange colour mixes
For today’s test, I’m using the following paint colours:
- Hansa yellow lemon
- Cadmium-free yellow medium
- Cadmium-free red medium
- Quinacridone magenta
- Ultramarine blue
- Phthalo blue (green)
- Dioxazine purple
- Sap green
Watch me test out cadmium orange and vat orange on my YouTube channel.
Thoughts about orange acrylic paint
After testing both colours of orange, it turns out that I think I’ll begin using vat orange once I finish up the tube of cadmium orange. Vat orange leans towards red, which allows me to create corals and warmer pale orange and pinks more easily when painting florals. I look forward to trying it out in future paintings to really test out the range of colours I can get out of vat orange.
Learn more
Check out a listing of all my colour mixing blog posts and videos on my colour mixing roundup article.
Get your own
Pick up a tube of your favourite orange acrylic paint at your local art supply store or on Amazon:
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