Venetian Red Paint Colour - 37 Paints, 17 Brands

Why Venetian Red isn't one colour

Every brand makes its own Venetian Red, and no two are quite the same. They pick different pigments, grind them differently and mix them to their own recipe — so two tubes with the same word on the label can look noticeably different once they are on the paper.

We measured all 37 of them from 17 brands and compared them the way a lab would, using a number called Delta E. It is just a measure of how far apart two colours look to the human eye. Under 2 and almost nobody can tell them apart; over 10 and most people would call them different colours.

Useful when your usual Venetian Red is out of stock and you need the closest substitute, when you are deciding which brand to buy, or when a mix you got right last time will not come out the same again.

How far is each brand from the average?

Every brand's version measured against the average of all 37 paints. Below 2 is imperceptible to most people; above 10 is obviously a different colour.

Brand	Distance from the average	In practice
Winsor & Newton	Delta E 0.90	Near-identical
Sennelier	Delta E 0.92	Near-identical
Maimeri	Delta E 1.21	Near-identical
Holbein	Delta E 1.22	Near-identical
Old Holland	Delta E 1.32	Near-identical
Williamsburg	Delta E 1.32	Near-identical
Royal Talens	Delta E 1.34	Near-identical
Nevskaya Palitra	Delta E 1.58	Near-identical
Lukas	Delta E 1.79	Near-identical
Matisse	Delta E 1.79	Near-identical
Daniel Smith	Delta E 1.81	Near-identical
M. Graham	Delta E 1.95	Near-identical
Daler-Rowney	Delta E 2.46	Very close
Michael Harding	Delta E 2.55	Very close
Schmincke	Delta E 2.96	Very close
Gamblin	Delta E 3.28	Very close
Golden	Delta E 4.52	Very close

Which brands are interchangeable?

The closest pairs among 136 brand comparisons - swap one for another and most people would not see the difference.

LukasvsMatisseDelta E 0.00Near-identical
Old HollandvsWilliamsburgDelta E 0.00Near-identical
HolbeinvsWinsor & NewtonDelta E 0.32Near-identical
LukasvsOld HollandDelta E 0.72Near-identical
LukasvsWilliamsburgDelta E 0.72Near-identical
MatissevsOld HollandDelta E 0.72Near-identical

Which brands are clearly different?

The furthest apart. Same name on the tube, visibly different paint.

GamblinvsGoldenDelta E 7.76Noticeably different
GoldenvsMichael HardingDelta E 7.06Noticeably different
GoldenvsSchminckeDelta E 6.38Noticeably different
GoldenvsMatisseDelta E 6.24Noticeably different
GoldenvsLukasDelta E 6.24Noticeably different
GoldenvsNevskaya PalitraDelta E 5.95Noticeably different

Pigments used

Brands do not always use the same pigment for the same colour name.

PR101

Daler-Rowney, Daniel Smith, Gamblin, Golden, Holbein, Lukas, M. Graham, Maimeri, Matisse, Michael Harding, Old Holland, Royal Talens, Schmincke, Sennelier, Williamsburg, Winsor & Newton

PR101, PY42, PBr7

Maimeri

PR102, PR187

Nevskaya Palitra

Lightfastness

How well the colour resists fading. ASTM I is the most permanent; V is fugitive.

I

Daler-Rowney, Daniel Smith, Gamblin, Golden, Holbein, Lukas, M. Graham, Maimeri, Matisse, Michael Harding, Nevskaya Palitra, Old Holland, Royal Talens, Schmincke, Sennelier, Williamsburg, Winsor & Newton

Opacity

How much the paint covers what is underneath.

Opaque

Daler-Rowney, Daniel Smith, Gamblin, Golden, Holbein, Lukas, M. Graham, Maimeri, Matisse, Michael Harding, Old Holland, Royal Talens, Schmincke, Sennelier, Williamsburg, Winsor & Newton

Semi-Transparent

Nevskaya Palitra

Brands that make it

Every brand in the database with a Venetian Red. Each links to that brand's full range.

Available in

The kinds of paint this colour is made as.

Closest other colours

If you cannot get this one, these sit nearest to it across the same brands.

Every Venetian Red we have measured

All 37 paints, with the measurements the comparisons above are built from.

Brand	Line	Medium	Hex	Lab*	Pigment	Opacity	Lightfastness
Daler-Rowney	Aquafine	watercolor	`#a54637`	42.2, 38.2, 28.4	PR101	Opaque	I
Daler-Rowney	Artists' Watercolour	watercolor	`#a54637`	42.2, 38.2, 28.4	PR101	Opaque	I
Daler-Rowney	Cryla Artists' Acrylic	acrylic	`#953c28`	37.4, 36.2, 30.8	PR101	Opaque	I
Daler-Rowney	Georgian Oil Colors	oil	`#8e3a34`	36.0, 35.2, 21.6	PR101	Opaque	I
Daler-Rowney	Graduate	acrylic	`#a53c32`	40.4, 42.7, 29.1	PR101	Opaque	I
Daniel Smith	Extra Fine Watercolors	watercolor	`#8e3e37`	36.9, 33.4, 20.9	PR101	Opaque	I
Gamblin	Artist's Oil Colors	oil	`#8a3734`	34.8, 35.2, 19.9	PR101	Opaque	I
Golden	QoR Modern Watercolors	watercolor	`#a54637`	42.2, 38.2, 28.4	PR101	Opaque	I
Holbein	Acryla Gouache	gouache	`#984841`	40.7, 32.8, 20.0	PR101	Opaque	I
Holbein	Artists' Oil Color	oil	`#8e3c37`	36.5, 34.4, 20.4	PR101	Opaque	I
Holbein	Artists' Watercolor	watercolor	`#91413a`	38.0, 33.2, 20.6	PR101	Opaque	I
Holbein	Heavy Body Acrylic	acrylic	`#9b3c32`	38.6, 39.0, 26.6	PR101	Opaque	I
Lukas	Berlin Water-Mixable Oil	oil	`#913732`	36.0, 37.7, 22.9	PR101	Opaque	I
M. Graham	Artists' Oil Colors	oil	`#8c3a37`	35.8, 34.7, 19.4	PR101	Opaque	I
M. Graham	Artists' Watercolor	watercolor	`#94443c`	39.2, 33.0, 20.9	PR101	Opaque	I
Maimeri	Classico	oil	`#9b3c34`	38.6, 39.1, 25.4	PR101, PY42, PBr7	Opaque	I
Maimeri	Puro	oil	`#9b3c34`	38.6, 39.1, 25.4	PR101	Opaque	I
Matisse	Flow Formula	acrylic	`#913732`	36.0, 37.7, 22.9	PR101	Opaque	I
Matisse	Structure Formula	acrylic	`#913732`	36.0, 37.7, 22.9	PR101	Opaque	I
Michael Harding	Artists Oil Colours	oil	`#8c3732`	35.1, 35.8, 21.6	PR101	Opaque	I
Nevskaya Palitra	Master Class	oil	`#913730`	35.9, 37.6, 24.1	PR102, PR187	Semi-Transparent	I
Old Holland	Classic Oil Colors	oil	`#913a34`	36.5, 36.4, 22.4	PR101	Opaque	I
Royal Talens	Rembrandt Oil Colors	oil	`#8e3a34`	36.0, 35.2, 21.6	PR101	Opaque	I
Royal Talens	Van Gogh	watercolor	`#a54637`	42.2, 38.2, 28.4	PR101	Opaque	I
Schmincke	AKADEMIE Acrylic	acrylic	`#913228`	34.9, 39.5, 27.8	PR101	Opaque	I
Sennelier	Abstract Acrylic	acrylic	`#913228`	34.9, 39.5, 27.8	PR101	Opaque	I
Sennelier	Artists' Oil Colors	oil	`#8c3732`	35.1, 35.8, 21.6	PR101	Opaque	I
Sennelier	Extra-Fine Acrylique	acrylic	`#91372d`	35.9, 37.4, 25.9	PR101	Opaque	I
Sennelier	Gouache	gouache	`#963c32`	37.8, 37.1, 25.3	PR101	Opaque	I
Sennelier	Rive Gauche	oil	`#913732`	36.0, 37.7, 22.9	PR101	Opaque	I
Sennelier	l'Aquarelle	watercolor	`#a54637`	42.2, 38.2, 28.4	PR101	Opaque	I
Williamsburg	Handmade Oil Colors	oil	`#913a34`	36.5, 36.4, 22.4	PR101	Opaque	I
Winsor & Newton	Artists' Oil Colour	oil	`#8c3c37`	36.1, 33.6, 19.9	PR101	Opaque	I
Winsor & Newton	Designers Gouache	gouache	`#a24e48`	43.6, 34.2, 19.9	PR101	Opaque	I
Winsor & Newton	Galeria	acrylic	`#873732`	34.2, 33.9, 20.4	PR101	Opaque	I
Winsor & Newton	Professional Acrylic	acrylic	`#9b3728`	37.6, 40.8, 31.3	PR101	Opaque	I
Winsor & Newton	Professional Watercolour	watercolor	`#98443e`	39.9, 34.7, 20.7	PR101	Opaque	I

Venetian Red