I originally had this on the page with Yellow Ochre, but I decided it had a different enough hue to merit its own Color Spotlight. This earth yellow is much more orange-toned than a traditional Yellow Ochre. I find this a useful color for autumn.
Pigment Information
WN’s Gold Ochre is made from PY42, which is a synthetic pigment widely used for various types of yellow ochre and raw sienna.
Observations of WN Gold Ochre
Hue: Butternut squash-colored, a muted warm yellow to orange.
Granulation: Little to none.
Opacity: Semi-opaque.
Handling: A bit of cauliflowering/backruns. A little tricky.
Comparison to Other Brands’ Gold Ochre
Da Vinci – Gold Ochre
Da Vinci’s Gold Ochre is a mix of that same synthetic yellow ochre PY42 with Diarylide Yellow (PY83), which is a bright orange yellow.
I like the mix, which reminds me of a warmer (more orange-toned) Quin Gold, particularly in the way it looks more brownish and granulating in masstone and more like a pale and smooth yellow in dilute.The mix with the PY83 makes the color brighter and more chromatic, especially in dilute, where it looks just like a light yellow. For this reason it tends to mix fairly bright greens. My hesitation about this color is that PY83 is not known to be particularly lightfast.
A hue is easily mixed by adding a traditional or synthetic yellow ochre to any orange-toned yellow. In the DV line, I would say the best mix is from Raw Sienna Deep and Hansa Yellow Deep.
Comparison to Other Earth Yellows
Gold Ochre (third row) is much more orange than Yellow Ochre or MANS. It is similar in hue to Raw Sienna, but more opaque, a bit stronger tinting strength, and higher chroma. In dilute it also appears warmer/more yellowish.
Color Mixes
These color mixes use Winsor & Newton’s Gold Ochre.
Hansa Yellow Medium (PY97)
Quinacridone Coral (PR209)
Very vibrant, yet earthy oranges. To me these look like golden hour sunlight on red rocks.
Pyrrol Red (PR254)
This mix is also very foliage-y.
Indanthrone Blue (PB60)
While Yellow Ochre (and MANS) tend to gray out PB60, the more orange Gold Ochre deep swampy browns.
Ultramarine Blue (PB29)
Fairly neutral grays possible here.
Phthalo Turquoise (PB16)
A muted foliage green mix is possible here.
Phthalo Green (PG7)
Greens continue to be vibrant but are darker, warmer, and more naturalistic than you can achieve with PG7 alone. Much higher chroma than the PB16 mix.
My Review of Gold Ochre
I really enjoy this color. It’s an earth color made from a common earth pigment – synthetic yellow oxide – but it’s brighter and more cheerful than a typical yellow ochre or raw sienna. It has a very similar hue to Quinacridone Gold, but it is more opaque and muted, and mixes more like a traditional yellow ochre.
It’s a handy desert color, and (with Pyrrol Orange) formed the basis of sandstone colors for this Monument Valley sketch.
It’s also a lovely color for fall in New England, as it’s the perfect color for the mixed tones of yellow, orange, and red foliage in distant deciduous trees, or for the shadows of yellow foliage.
I also like it for certain bird/animal colors! For example, the belly of a Carolina wren.
The things that Gold Ochre does well, it does really well. The main downside, at least for the WN version which is the only one I’m reviewing here, is that it can be bit finicky and prone to dry in unpredictable ways.
Earth yellow is a high-competition slot, and this is just about my fourth-favorite. It doesn’t create chameleonlike mixes like Quin Gold or earthy textures like MANS, and it’s slightly too orangey for sunset golds (for which I prefer Naples Yellow Deep). Still, it’s a wonderful specialist for specific situations, and I especially love using it in autumn.
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