Artists & Illustrators - April 2016_

THE PERFECT PALETTE

BROWN EARTHS

Many of my dark brown colours involve mixes of Burnt

Sienna and Ultramarine, two colours that offer a wide

variety of possibilities.

The three proprietary colours here however are all based

on iron oxides, but the Stil de Grain has a little Phthalo

Green added. Stil de Grain is named after a traditional

colour originally made from unripe buckthorn berries.

RED EARTHS

Burnt Sienna is incredibly useful in the mix and I probably

use more of it than any other colour. I haven’t discovered

anything in my tests to change this, but I have found other

variations that give subtle variety to my usual mixes.

Don’t be afraid to try other colours with different names

that utilise the same pigments – apart from the M Graham

& Co. Burnt Sienna (PBr7), the other five red earths here

are based on the iron oxide PR101, which comes in quite a

variety of colours and transparencies. Given that PR101 is

the colour used in the manufacture of red bricks, it is great

for painting buildings.

YELLOW EARTHS

I always thought there was no significant difference

between the two yellow earth colours – Raw Sienna and

Yellow Ochre – and I have no reason to change this opinion

after my tests. Both are based on iron oxides (PY42, PY43

and Pbr7) but the composition varies between each

manufacturer. It is a matter of personal preference, but

I would suggest the yellower Raw Sienna from Winsor &

Newton because it will produce better greens.

EARTH COLOURS

The earth colours could, in many ways, be considered

the boring ones. They lack the variety of brighter

hues, but can be a useful restraining hand when

things threaten to get out of control. Colour mixing

is something that benefits from practice, but if you

begin with more natural pigments, they require effort

to produce something unusable.

A very limited palette of Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna

and Ultramarine is basically the equivalent of the

yellow, red and blue primaries, though far less garish.

A range of darks can be produced from Burnt Sienna

and Ultramarine and this gives us a good basic range

of colours for a natural landscape. In fact, I can think

of no better palette for the beginner, but once you

gain experience, other yellows can be far more useful

than Raw Sienna because they offer more options.

On the other hand, Burnt Sienna is still absolutely

essential. Add this to a garish green and it will

transform it to a more natural colour. Mix it with

Ultramarine to produce a range of colours from dark

blue through grey to umber-like dark browns.

Today most of the modern ochres, siennas and

umbers are manufactured from synthetic iron oxides,

but don’t assume that two similarly named colours

from different manufacturers will be the same. Subtle

changes occur and these can be amplified in a mix.

ABOVE Muchelney, Somerset, watercolour

on Milford 140lb NOT paper, 36x26cm

“This painting was made with only Raw

Sienna, Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine.

With just these colours, it is possible to

mix a good range of natural landscape

hues. This is an ideal palette for the

beginner to practice colour mixing as

almost anything goes.”

Winsor & Newton

Yellow Ochre

Daniel Smith

Yellow Ochre

Schmincke

Yellow Ochre

Winsor & Newton

Raw Sienna

M Graham & Co.

Raw Sienna

Schmincke

Raw Sienna

MaimeriBlu

Stil de Grain

MaimeriBlu

Burnt Umber

Winsor & Newton

Burnt Umber

Schmincke

Burnt Sienna

M Graham & Co.

Burnt Sienna

Schmincke

Pozzuoli Earth

Daniel Smith

English Red Ochre

QoR Transparent

Red Oxide

Winsor & Newton

Burnt Sienna

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Artists & Illustrators 59

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