While I think that Da Vinci Burnt Umber has quite a nice color – for a brown – I have trouble motivating myself to find space on my palette for many earth tones, when there are so many brights to choose from that are more compelling to me! So here are my attempts to find a lookalike mix from my palette.
brown
Color Spotlight: Van Dyck Brown (PBr7)
Van Dyck Brown is a very dark, almost black brown that is rather like a blacker/grayer version of Raw Umber. Most companies make it using a combination of PBr7 (the traditional earth tone pigment that Raw and Burnt Umber are made from) plus a black. Daniel Smith’s version is made from only PBr7.
Color Spotlight: Raw Umber (PBr7)
Raw Umber is one of many earth tones made from PBr7 brown. A cool, dark brown with blue undertones.
Color Spotlight: Burnt Umber (PBr7)
The classic brown! This is an earthy, granulating brown that looks to me like clay-rich soil.
Color Spotlight: Transparent Brown (PBr41)
This brown jumped off the page to me when I was doing the Schmincke dot cards; it is bright, clear, and vivid while still being undeniably brown.
Color Spotlight: Transparent Brown Oxide (PR101)
Made from PR101, Transparent Brown Oxide is a transparent, lightly granulating brown right down the middle, neither especially red, orange, or gray. A real brown’s brown. Tree bark and other landscape features spring to mind. This is the more brown cousin of Transparent Red Oxide, a burnt sienna/orange shade made from the same pigment.