I define earth tones as being muted, brownish in hue, and/or granulating. Usually they are made from iron oxides. These ones have a yellow color. Earth yellow can be really useful for landscapes and sometimes for skies and sunsets as well!
Color List
- Yellow Ochre (PY42 or PY43)
- Gold Ochre (PY42)
- Goethite Brown Ochre (PY43)
- Naples Yellow Deep (PBr24) ⭐
- Monte Amiata Natural Sienna (PBr7) ⭐
- Raw Sienna (PBr7)
My thoughts
Necessary slot? Yes, in most cases I do consider this slot necessary. Convincing and lovely muted yellows are difficult to mix well, and they can make great mixers for soft grays, browns, muted/granulating greens, and all sorts of useful landscape colors. They can also be used in the sky to paint sunset/sunrise yellows that don’t easily mix green, as those mixed from middle-yellow, orange-yellow, and gold tend to do. I wouldn’t go so far as to only put an earth yellow on my palette, but some artists do just that.
Favorites: MANS is my all-time favorite; it is very versatile and does everything an earth yellow should do, well. Raw Sienna is also a great one, but note that the hue varies from brand to brand; the more yellow ones are more useful, in my opinion. I like Naples Yellow Deep specifically for that sky use case, but it doesn’t do the other jobs of an earth yellow very well.
See Also
- What’s the deal with earth tones?
- Da Vinci Dot Cards Part 5: Earth Tones & Neutrals
- Earth Yellow Showdown: Yellow Ochre, Raw Sienna Deep, MANS, and Raw Sienna
- What’s the difference between MANS and Yellow Ochre?
Similar Color Slots
- Middle Yellow
- Orange Yellow
- Gold
- Earth Orange
- Brown
- Back to all Color Slots