12 New Opus Essential Oil Colours: Expand Your Palette, Expand Your Possibilities

A richer, deeper take on a studio classic. Alizarin Crimson Deep delivers a cool, dark red-crimson with a slightly blue-leaning bias—perfect for shadows, rich glazing layers, deep floral tones, and portrait darks. Unlike traditional alizarin formulas that can be fugitive, this version carries a Lightfastness I rating, so your work is built to last. Its full transparency makes it ideal for building velvety, luminous depth over other colours.

Great for: shadows, portrait darks, deep florals, transparent glazing

PIGMENT CODE: PV19 / PR149 / PB29

SERIES: 3

TRANSPARENCY: Transparent

LIGHTFASTNESS: I (Excellent)

A clear, vibrant blue-green that sits beautifully between cyan and turquoise. Built on a combination of phthalo blue (green shade) and phthalo green, Aquamarine is intense and fully transparent—ideal for water, skies, glass effects, and contemporary colour palettes. Use it straight from the tube for tropical waters, or as a glazing colour to add a cool brilliance to other hues. It also mixes beautifully with yellows for fresh, luminous greens.

Great for: oceans, skies, reflections, modern colour work, glazing

PIGMENT CODE: PB15:4 / PG7

SERIES: 3

TRANSPARENCY: Transparent

LIGHTFASTNESS: I (Excellent)

A true cadmium yellow with a cool, lemon bias—bright, clean, and unapologetically vivid. Cadmium Yellow Lemon is a cornerstone colour for painters who want a pure, high-chroma yellow without a warm or orange undertone. Its opacity means it holds its own in mixes and stands up beautifully in the lightest passages of a painting. Ideal for sunlit highlights, botanical work, and anywhere you need yellow at its most luminous and precise.

Great for: sunlight, botanicals, cool highlights, clean colour mixing

PIGMENT CODE: PY35

SERIES: 4

TRANSPARENCY: Opaque

LIGHTFASTNESS: I (Excellent)

An earthy, mid-toned green with warmth and complexity. Cinnabar Green Medium has a naturalness to it that pure phthalo greens simply can't replicate, making it ideal for foliage, landscapes, and anywhere you want a green that reads as organic rather than synthetic. Its semi-transparent formula layers beautifully, and it mixes with ochres and earth tones to create nuanced, grounded naturalistic palettes.

Great for: foliage, landscapes, grasses, natural environments, earthy mixes

PIGMENT CODE: PY73 / PBr7 / PG7

SERIES: 3

TRANSPARENCY: Semi-Transparent

LIGHTFASTNESS: I (Excellent)

One of the most distinctive additions to the range. Magnetite Genuine is made from natural iron oxide (magnetite) mineral pigment, giving it a beautifully granular, textured quality unlike any synthetic black or grey. Transparent and rich, it produces warm, complex darks with real character—perfect for tonal work, glazing, and palette mixing where you want depth without the flatness of a standard black. A unique colour that rewards experimentation.

Great for: granulating effects, tonal work, complex darks, glazing, mixed media

PIGMENT CODE: PBk11

SERIES: 4

TRANSPARENCY: Transparent

LIGHTFASTNESS: I (Excellent)

A warm, richly glowing mixing colour, Mixing Gold draws its character from a combination of red iron oxide and a diarylide yellow. It offers the kind of complex, amber warmth that makes glazes sing and neutrals glow—think late afternoon light, aged wood, and golden earth tones. Semi-transparent and beautifully mixable, it's an invaluable colour for artists who love building luminous, layered colour effects.

Great for: glazing, warm neutrals, complex colour mixing, natural light effects

PIGMENT CODE: PR101 / PY83

SERIES: 3

TRANSPARENCY: Semi-Transparent

LIGHTFASTNESS: I (Excellent)

A deep, rich red with a slightly cool, brownish-red character—Perylene Red is an exceptional glazing colour with outstanding lightfastness. It has the kind of depth and transparency that makes it ideal for layering over warmer reds to create complex darks, or using in portrait shadows and deep botanical tones. A favourite among artists who want a versatile, professional-grade red that goes well beyond the standard cadmium.

Great for: portrait shadows, deep reds, botanical work, layering and glazing

PIGMENT CODE: PR149

SERIES: 3

TRANSPARENCY: Semi-Transparent

LIGHTFASTNESS: I (Excellent)

A vivid, high-chroma red with exceptional brightness and strength. Pyrrole Red sits in a warm-to-neutral red zone, making it an outstanding mixing red for vibrant oranges, deep pinks, and pure hues. Its semi-transparent quality means it layers beautifully while still delivering intense colour. Whether you're painting bold florals, expressive abstracts, or need a powerful warm red for your palette, Pyrrole Red delivers.

Great for: florals, abstracts, bold colour work, warm red mixing

PIGMENT CODE: PR254

SERIES: 3

TRANSPARENCY: Semi-Transparent

LIGHTFASTNESS: II (Very Good)

A soft, delicate cool pink with the transparent, luminous quality of a traditional lake colour—but with lasting permanence. Rose Madder is pure PV19 (quinacridone violet), which gives it a gentle, rosy warmth that's invaluable for portrait flesh tones, soft florals, and sensitive colour transitions. Fully transparent, it glazes beautifully and adds a blushed, glowing quality wherever it's used.

Great for: portraits, soft florals, skin tones, delicate glazing, colour transitions

PIGMENT CODE: PV19

SERIES: 3

TRANSPARENCY: Transparent

LIGHTFASTNESS: I (Excellent)

A deep, rich violet with a warm, reddish character—Thioindigo Violet is a classic artist's pigment prized for its depth and versatility. Semi-transparent and beautifully strong, it creates stunning darks when mixed with blues and greens, adds complexity to shadows, and works wonderfully in floral and figurative work. An excellent violet for artists who want something more sophisticated than a standard dioxazine.

Great for: shadows, deep florals, figurative work, mixing complex darks and purples

PIGMENT CODE: PR88

SERIES: 4

TRANSPARENCY: Semi-Transparent

LIGHTFASTNESS: I (Excellent)

All the qualities of a classic Titanium White—bright, opaque, and exceptionally strong—with a faster drying time that makes it easier to work with in alla prima painting, underpainting, and anywhere you need to build layers without extended waiting. As the most opaque and highest-tinting white available, it's a foundational colour for every oil painter, and the fast-dry formula makes it even more versatile in the studio.

Great for: highlights, mixing, underpainting, opaque passages, alla prima techniques

PIGMENT CODE: PW6

SERIES: 1

TRANSPARENCY: Opaque

LIGHTFASTNESS: I (Excellent)

A warm, golden-amber yellow with exceptional transparency— Yellow Iron Oxide is one of the most useful glazing colours available to oil painters. Made from synthetic iron oxide (PY42), it has superb lightfastness and a rich, honeyed quality that adds warmth and glow to underlayers. Use it to warm up cool passages, build amber glazes over darks, or as a toning colour for luminous underpaintings.

Great for: glazing, toning, warm underpaintings, amber effects, layering over darks

PIGMENT CODE: PY42

SERIES: 3

TRANSPARENCY: Transparent

LIGHTFASTNESS: I (Excellent)