Daniel Smith Perinone Orange Review (PO43): Is This Brilliant Orange Worth Buying?
Daniel Smith Perinone Orange (PO43) is a transparent, highly staining red-orange watercolor pigment known for glowing washes, strong color impact, and excellent blossoming effects. It works especially well for sunsets, autumn landscapes, warm florals, glowing architectural light, and mixing rich dark neutrals with Ultramarine Blue or Cobalt Blue.
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Daniel Smith Perinone Orange Review
Oranges were the bane of my existence for a long time.
I went through several years of buying ugly oranges, usually because they looked beautiful in the tube and I apparently learned nothing from dating, advertising, or watercolor marketing.
Just because a color looks pretty in the tube does not mean it behaves well on paper.
Yes, I am superficial.
Like a painter.
For years I struggled with oranges that looked chalky, artificial, too red, too yellow, too weak, too muddy, or just generally offensive. Some of the problem was the paint. Some of the problem was me trying to mix oranges from reds and yellows without paying enough attention to pigment bias.
If you mix a blue-leaning red with a blue-leaning yellow and expect a glowing orange, watercolor will punish you quietly and without remorse.
Then I discovered MaimeriBlu Orange Lake.
That color became my palette orange. For a long time, it was the only orange I used regularly.
But Ryan, aren’t we talking about Daniel Smith Perinone Orange?
Technically, yes.
This is where the color nerdiness shows up and ruins everyone’s social life.
MaimeriBlu Orange Lake and Daniel Smith Perinone Orange are both made with PO43, also known as Perinone Orange. So while the brand names are different, the pigment itself is essentially the same family. Same pigment number. Same general personality. Different tube.
Unfortunately, Jerry’s Artarama no longer carries MaimeriBlu, and I am not great at maintaining deep inventory in the studio. When I run out of something, I need it immediately. I am not emotionally equipped for “backordered.”
So I switched to Daniel Smith Perinone Orange.
And honestly?
It works.
Daniel Smith Perinone Orange is a slightly red-leaning orange. It is not quite as “true orange” as Winsor & Newton Transparent Orange, but it is close. It has more warmth, depth, and punch than many oranges, and it avoids that weird chalky look that makes some orange paints feel like craft-store pumpkin decorations.
Straight from the tube, it is intense. Diluted, it creates beautiful glowing transparent washes that work beautifully for skies, autumn trees, florals, warm reflections, and sunlit architecture.
Staining?
Yes.
Very yes.
This is a highly staining color. Once it settles into the paper, it is not especially interested in leaving. In darker passages, lifting can be difficult, so plan accordingly unless you enjoy learning consequences in real time.
Blossoming abilities?
Excellent.
This is one of the reasons I like it so much. Drop clean water into a damp wash of Perinone Orange and the pigment moves beautifully, creating strong intentional blooms and backruns. It has enough strength to create drama, but it still feels controllable if you catch the timing correctly.
Timing, of course, is the part watercolor likes to weaponize.
One of my favorite uses for Perinone Orange is mixing it with Ultramarine Blue or Cobalt Blue. The mixture creates a beautiful dark neutral — not quite a perfect black, but close. On a darkness scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the darkest dark, I would put the mixture around an 8.
That makes this color more useful than just “paint the pumpkin and move on.”
It can glow in sunsets, warm up shadows, create strong autumn color, and mix into surprisingly rich darks.
That is a good orange.
And after years of bad oranges, I do not say that lightly.
Best Uses for Daniel Smith Perinone Orange
Daniel Smith Perinone Orange works especially well for:
- Sunset skies and glowing orange light
- Autumn landscapes and fall foliage
- Warm architectural highlights
- Florals and botanical painting
- Reflections in water and city scenes
- Intentional watercolor blossoms and backruns
- Mixing rich dark neutrals with Ultramarine Blue or Cobalt Blue
- Travel paintings with warm atmospheric light
- Glazing strong transparent orange passages
Who Should Buy Daniel Smith Perinone Orange?
You should probably consider this paint if:
- You want a strong transparent orange that actually behaves well
- You paint sunsets, autumn scenes, florals, landscapes, or travel subjects
- You like highly staining pigments with strong color impact
- You enjoy intentional watercolor blossoms
- You want an orange that mixes useful darks with blue
- You previously used MaimeriBlu Orange Lake and need a PO43 replacement
You may want to skip it if:
- You dislike staining colors
- You need an orange that lifts easily
- You want a perfectly neutral “true orange”
- You already use Winsor & Newton Transparent Orange and prefer its cleaner orange bias
- You hate strong pigments that refuse to apologize
How Does Daniel Smith Perinone Orange Compare?
Curious how Perinone Orange compares to other watercolor paints? Compare it to:
- Winsor & Newton Transparent Orange – cleaner true orange, less red-leaning, moderately staining
- Daniel Smith Quinacridone Burnt Orange – earthier, moodier orange-brown with dramatic blossoms
- Holbein Vermillion – stronger warm red-orange with bold opaque/staining behavior
- Winsor & Newton Scarlet Lake – warmer red option for orange mixes and dramatic color passages
- Daniel Smith Rose of Ultramarine – useful for complementary mixtures and expressive warm/cool contrasts
- Winsor & Newton Quinacridone Violet – strong complementary mixing possibilities and glowing neutral effects
- Daniel Smith Moonglow – atmospheric shadow color that can deepen warm-orange compositions
- Winsor & Newton Payne’s Gray – useful for muting orange and creating dramatic contrast
For years I thought orange was the problem.
Turns out, bad oranges were the problem.
Daniel Smith Perinone Orange is one of the good ones.
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Ryan Fox AWS, NWS, TWSA
Ryan Fox Painting
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