A nanoscale pigment particle composition includes an organic monoazo laked pigment including at least one functional moiety, and a sterically bulky stabilizer compound including at least one functional group, wherein the functional moiety on the pigment associates non-covalently with the functional group of the stabilizer; and the nanoscale pigment particles have an average particle size of from about 10 nm to about 500 nm and have tunable coloristic properties that depend on both particle composition and average particle size.