Watercolor Dirtbag
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. Experiment Results … Read more
Raw Umber is one of many earth tones made from PBr7 brown. A cool, dark brown with blue undertones.
Burnt Sienna is one of the most classic earth tones, an earth orange that ranges from an orangey brown through to a peachy gold. It is often used to mix up a range of browns and to neutralize blues, which are its opposite.
Burnt Sienna is just one of many earth tones that are traditionally made with PBr7 (Pigment Brown #7); others include Raw Sienna, Raw Umber, and Burnt Umber. So basically all of them. PBr7 colors vary quite a bit in granulation depending on who you get them from. Holbein’s earth tones, like this one, tend to be quite creamy and smooth without granulation.
Jane Blundell’s Ultimate Mixing Palette includes the highly granulating ochre Goethite Brown Oxide (PY43), with Monte Amiata Natural Sienna (PBr7) listed as an alternative. But what’s the difference between these two colors?
Monte Amiata Natural Sienna (initials MANS) from Daniel Smith is my favorite variation on Raw Sienna. Raw Sienna is traditionally a yellow-orange earth tone that’s more orange than Yellow Ochre but less orange than Burnt Sienna. Like Burnt Sienna, it traditionally uses the pigment PBr7. MANS uses PBr7, but looks a bit more like a yellow ochre.