Cadmium Yellow Deep Oil Paint Color Comparisons

What's the point of all this Light, Medium, and Deep? And is it actually orange? And which one is right for you? All this and more.

Cadmium Yellow Deep- Bright Tangerine Yellow-Oranges Stretching Into California-Poppy Yellows

Secret Powerhouses of the Palette

Cadmium Yellow Deep is known for being lightfast, opaque, and gloriously high chroma. This range of saturated floral shades canvas hues of yellow that lean orange— true yellow oranges that don’t classify exclusively as orange or yellow.

As Michel Gondry once said, “Orange is an underrated color, it’s the second most underrated color after yellow,” and these colors are inescapably both while being definitely underrated. There was even one hue which we would have ordinarily passed over as something we could mix which so impressed us that we’ll be adding this paint to our palettes.

This color is secretly a powerhouse for mixing-- its role in greens should not be overlooked, and it offers some high-chroma notes in the yellow oranges in masstone.

Comparison of Artist Oil Paints in Cadmium Yellow Deep and Related Cadmium Yellow Orange hues. Swatches of oil paint on a panel show the differences between brands

Cadmium Yellow Deep- between yellow and orange

The Cadmium Yellow Deep and Extra Deep Colors Featured in this Review

There are a lot of different cadmium yellow deeps in the world, and here we're featuring a handful of them. Brands vary in how they name their colors, so these were grouped by hue

Helpful to Have A Broad Range of High-Chroma Hues

Naming Differences among Cadmium Yellow Hue Groups

In the world of cadmiums, the most canary yellow tend to be named something like Cadmium Yellow Lemon or Cadmium Yellow Light, the next warmer group is called Cadmium Yellow Medium, and the Cadmium Yellow Deeps tend to be yellow-oranges, while the Extra Deeps push a little more toward Orange. The naming schemes are unfortunately a little bit inconsistent from brand to brand.

There are a thousand ways or more to arrange a palette, and if yours includes the need for opaque permanent yellows, it can be helpful to have a broad range of cadmiums. When we say opaque, the pigment tends to be opaque but in different dilutions or spread thinly it can be semi-opaque depending on the brand. The Cadmium Yellow Deeps sort themselves into several groups— some which are oranger and some which are yellower. In this hue grouping the gradation was fairly gentle. There are also a few Cadmium Yellow Deeps and Cadmium Yellow Mediums which are strangely lower chroma (not shown here). Also, be aware of pigment blends and adulterations here— some brands will slip in an organic yellow which may not have longterm lightfastness and has different properties.

From here we find the hue turning toward a primary or psychological yellow, meaning it would be unlikely at this point for any of these hues to be thought of as a yellow-orange-- here we are in solid yellow territory (and as always for those who love specifics, we have some Munsell notation at the end of the article). Here in the yellows we find Michael Harding Cadmium Yellow, Old Holland Cadmium Yellow Medium, and the surprisingly named Vasari Cadmium Yellow Light. These are included here for comparison and to give the Cadmium Yellow Deeps and not so deeps some context.

Three panels show the differences between Cadmium Yellow Deep and Cadmium Yellow Medium. Swatches of oil paint show the differences in color between different paint brands

Three distinct interpretations of Cadmium Yellow with different naming patterns: the naming for cadmiums can be here and there, however the colors themselves have different nuances. Here are some Cadmium Yellow Deeps and Mediums.

Premium Brands of Cadmium Yellow Deep

High Tinting Strength and High Chroma

All of the brands shown here are premium brands with high tinting strength and beautiful coloration. All of these are strong tinters, power-packed chromatic pigments. We show them in tints with Williamsburg Titanium White to show how white affects their color in tints and to show what notes they can reach. In the semi-circle swatch we've mixed the paint 1:1 with Titanium White to show its tinting strength. Among premium brands the tinting strengths are all admirable.

As an aside, these colors are notoriously hard to capture with digital photography, depending on the algorithms built into the camera. If you would like detailed Munsell data, we've included some Munsell landmarks to help clarify what color these actually are.

A closeup of a panel showing swatches of yellow-orange paint mixed with Titanium White

Cadmium Yellow Deeps in premium brands - All of these are strong tinters

Cadmium Yellow Deeps in Context

Middle Yellows Edging Toward Cadmium Yellow Medium

In this area of the rainbow it's especially helpful to have visual guides, so we have multiple panels to aid in comparison. There are definitely distinct categories of yellow orange, a sort of middle yellow and a (more yellow?) yellow pushing more into Cadmium Yellow Medium territory, though brand naming schemas are always a little squirly.

Swatches of artist paint displaying the color differences between brands of oil paint in Cadmium Yellow Deep PY35 and related pigments

The featured panel is the one most prominently displayed. The adjacent panels show both oranger and yellower hues in related paints. These panels show mostly yellower paints, however for oranger ones see below.

Almost Cadmium Orange?

Navigating an Array of Cadmium Yellows

The Old Holland Cadmium Yellow Extra Deep shown here is a cadmium orange that is on the yellow side—a unique hue. Though it is named “Yellow Extra Deep” it is oranger than RGH Cadmium Orange (not shown here), which is a standout color. This color makes a nice bridge between the oranges and the yellows.

The Other Cadmium Yellow Deeps

This section starts with a unique hue that is pure fire: Williamsburg Cadmium Yellow Extra Deep. Williamsburg surprised us pleasantly several times in the Cadmium Yellows, and this color was a revelation. The gradation of this sub-group of Cadmium Yellow Deep hues stretch all the way to Vasari Cadmium Yellow (a regular or medium), which is included with the Deeps in other brands despite the lack of “Deep” in its name. As an aside, the naming of Vasari cadmiums is a little different than where most other brands place their colors.

Our featured panel of Cadmium Yellow Deeps includes Williamsburg Cadmium Yellow Extra Deep, Vasari Cadmium Yellow Deep, Michael Harding Cadmium Yellow Deep, Schmincke Norma Cadmium Yellow Deep, and the slightly yellower Old Holland Cadmium Yellow Deep.

Two panels of cadmium yellows covered in paint swatches to show their hues. These two panels show a variety of Cadmium Yellow Deeps in aritst oil paints. The paints are from various brands and have been swatched to show the similarities and differences between similarly named colors

Our featured panel is on the left. The panel to the right shows the progression of Cadmium Yellow Deeps toward the Cadmium Yellow Mediums. The color balance is a bit yellower than the rest of our photos, so bear that in mind, however the context shows that the Extra Deeps are somewhat rarer colors which help to bridge between larger hue patterns.

Featured (Oranger) Cadmium Yellow Deeps and Extra Deeps

These were a little warmer or oranger than some of the others

Yellow Cadmium Yellow Deeps (and related paints with slightly different names)

These colors are from the more yellow panel

Differences in Hue and Consistency

Hue and Handling Both Matter

Among these high chroma marigold colors, the Old Holland colors were predictably stiffer. The Williamsburg tends to be a soft impasto.

The paints with more gliding consistency would be the Vasari and the Schmincke Norma. Unfortunately we don't know which binding oils the Schmincke uses, and it is likely a blend.

The Michael Harding would be somewhere in between the two groups, being in general a little softer of a consistency than the Williamsburg while not being as oily/flowing/gliding as the Vasari.

A closeup of the panel with painted swatches.

A variety of hues and consistencies

Stiffer Cadmium Yellow Deeps Among the Featured Paints

These colors tend to have a more impasto consistency. Old Holland is stiffer and Williamsburg is less stiff

Cadmium Yellow Deeps with a gliding consistency

Of the colors featured here, these had a looser more gliding feel

Featured Cadmium Yellow Deeps

Powerful, Chromatic Yellow Oranges

Cadmium Yellow Extra Deep vs. Cadmium Yellow Deep, from orange to golden yellow. It's great when brands have a broad range of cadmiums and one of the ways this gets expressed is by adding colors like Cadmium Yellow Extra Deep. It can be kind of tricky to get a really satisfying progression of colors from yellow to orange.

Closeup of the panel of swatched paints. This shows six colors of yellow-orange mixed with white to form tints.

Some of these colors are hard to find in other brands.

Munsell Notes

More Specific Descriptors of Color Groupings

The Old Holland Cadmium Yellow Extra Deep is about 2.5YR

The in-bewteen Williamsburg Cadmium Yellow Extra Deep is about 5 YR

The Vasari Cadmium Yellow Deep is around 6.25 YR and that series of hues in the Cadmium Yellow Deep range stretches to about 7.5YR.

The brighter (yellower) Cadmium Yellow Deeps and or Mediums near Williamsburg Cadmium Yellow Deep have a high chroma point around 10YR. The Michael Harding and Vasari might be a bit closer to 8.75 YR. It's a bit hard to say as these tend to exceed the Munsell Color Atlas gamut.

The brighter true yellows start at around 2.5Y.