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Let’s talk umbers – specifically raw and burnt umber. Umber is an ochre, which means it’s an earth pigment. In umber’s case, it’s iron with manganese oxide. Essentially, a rock which is ground up to be a paint pigment. It’s a brown shade, and can be quite cool and dark, depending on which version. While it originates as a natural pigment, some paint manufacturers use synthetic versions to mimic the pigment.
It’s one of the oldest known pigments used by artists. It’s been found in Spain, used on the cave wall paintings in Altamira. For artists today, it’s a very inexpensive tube of paint, as most ochres are.
Raw umber
The word “raw” in raw umber’s name means that the pigment is unheated, or in it’s raw form. It’s a yellow-leaning brown.
I’m testing Holbein’s raw umber. It’s made with multiple pigments, including PY 42 (yellow iron oxide), PR101 (synthetic iron oxide red), and PBk11 (mars black). It’s very opaque and has an excellent permanence.
Burnt umber
Burnt umber is called burnt, because it’s roasted until its colour changes from the pigment’s raw state. It’s a redder hue than raw umber.
I’m using Golden Artist Colour’s burnt umber, which has a single pigment: PBr7, which is brown iron oxide.
What does umber mean?
The source of the name umber is a bit unclear. Some say it’s because the earth originally used for the pigment came from the umbria region in Italy. Others say it’s more likely to have come from the latin word for shadow, which is ombra. Either way, it’s a well-loved colour on many artist’s palette.
But should you add it to yours? I do some colour mixing tests to see what you can do with the two colours.
Watch me show the results of my colour mixing on my YouTube channel.
Results
I mixed up a swatch sheet using both raw umber and burnt umber, mixed with the following colours:
- Hansa yellow lemon
- Cadmium-free yellow medium
- Cadmium-free red medium
- Quinacridone magenta
- Ultramarine blue
- Phthalo blue (green)
- Dioxazine purple
- Sap green hue
- Cadmium orange
Both versions of umber do a fantastic job neutralizing other colours. This isn’t surprising, as adding brown to a colour will cause it to be less vibrant. I think this is a great thing, as many artists prefer to neutralize their colours, at least a little, in their paintings.
They also both produce a wide range of wonderful dark colours, making it fantastic for creating shadows. The range of browns one can mix is also incredible. If you’re painting landscapes in the American southwest, a tube of umber will be an absolute asset.
I did a test comparison of two different paintings of rocks, to show how they compare when actually painting.
Do you need an umber on your palette? Not necessarily. You can create your own browns using a mix of three colours that are equidistant around the colour wheel. But either of these umbers are a great shortcut and can also ensure a bit of predictability when mixing.
I definitely prefer the colours mixed using burnt umber. They’re a bit more vibrant and stronger, and I can control whether I want a lot of vibrancy or a little compared to the raw umber. The raw umber was a bit chalky. I don’t know how the difference between the natural pigment compared to the mix of synthetic pigments affects this though, as I only had these two tubes to compare. Now, will I keep using burnt umber? I still need to do my tests on other ochres before I give any of them a permanent spot on my palette.
Learn more
Get your own
Pick up your favourite umber at your local art supply store or on Amazon:
US
Canada
