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9 - Earth Watercolour Swatches

There are literally hundreds of artist quality watercolours available from many brands. I have tested many of them and created swatches as seen on the right. The square box is painted into a damp wash at the top to show the colour mixed in water, with more pigment added towards the bottom. The rectangle is painted in a juicy wash to show the mass-tone. The small squares at the bottom of the swatch have the pigment number and characteristics - staining, lightfast rating, granulation and transparency. 

For more on earth pigments see the Brown Artis creation pigment database page here. the comprehensive Handprint Earth Pigment page is here, based on lightfast tests competed in 2004.
Picture
The size of my swatches
There are relatively few pigments used for a huge range of earth colours. It makes it difficult to sort them into a useful series of galleries. I'm resigning this page at present, splitting the pigments into 'raw' and 'burnt' and adding all the colour information into the test for convenience. I'm also loading up more swatches and gradually re-scanning any that are not accurate enough. It's an ongoing project :-)

PBr6

These samples all have wonderful granulation and deserve more exploration.
  1. Enviro-Friendly Yellow Iron Oxide* - Daniel Smith; Enviro-Friendly Red Iron Oxide* - Daniel Smith; Enviro-Friendly Brown Iron Oxide* - Daniel Smith; Mars Brown - Schmincke; Mars Brown - White Nights

PBr7 

PBr7 is one of many multi-personality pigments - it changes colour depending on the iron and other components. It is found in Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber and Burnt Umber.
​See also the PR101 watercolours below - some manufacturers use PR101 to create their burnt sienna watercolours.

Raw Siennas and Natural Siennas made with PBr7

See Raw Siennas made with PY43 below - these can look very similar.
  1. Raw Sienna - American Journey; Italian Burnt Sienna - Aquarius; Natural Sienna Mont Amiata - Aquarius; Italian Earth - Blockx; Gold Ochre - Blockx; 
  2. Raw Sienna - Daniel Smith; Mont Amiata Natural Sienna* - Daniel Smith; Raw Sienna - Da Vinci; Raw Sienna - Jackson's; ​Raw Sienna Deep - Old Holland; 
  3. Raw Sienna Light - Old Holland; ​Italian Earth - Old Holland; ​Raw Sienna - Sennelier; Raw Sienna - White Nights 

Burnt Siennas made with PBr7

Burnt Sienna is a neutralised orange and a really useful colour in a watercolour palette. It is often made with PR101, but I prefer the earth PBr7 versions.
  1. Burnt Sienna - A Gallo; Mont Amiata Burnt Sienna* - Aquarius; Italian Burnt Sienna - Aquarius; Blue Ridge Burnt Sienna - Aquarius; Burnt Sienna Brownish - Aquarius. New 2024; 
  2. Burnt Sienna - American Journey;Burnt Sienna Light - Blockx; Burnt Sienna* - Daniel Smith; Italian Burnt Sienna* - Daniel Smith; Burnt Sienna - Da Vinci; 
  3. Burnt Sienna - Derivan; Burnt Sienna - Dirty Blue; Burnt Sienna - Holbein, Burnt Sienna - Jackson's; Burnt Sienna - MaimeriBlu;
  4. Burnt Sienna - M.Graham; Burnt Sienna - Old Holland; Burnt Sienna (Natural) - QoR; Burnt Sienna - Rembrandt, Maroon Brown - Schmincke; 
  5. Burnt Sienna - Sennelier;​ Burnt Sienna - Shin Han; Burnt Sienna - Wichitrong  

Other ochres and umbers made with PBr7 

  1. Hematite Burnt Scarlet - American Journey; Brown Ochre - Aquarius; Natural Umber Reddish - Aquarius. New 2023; Van Dijck Brown - Blockx; Pompeii Red* - Daniel Smith; 
  2. Old Holland Ochre - Old Holland; ​Brown Ochre Light - Old Holland; ​Red Umber - Old Holland; Brown Ochre - Winsor & Newton; 

Burnt Umbers made with PBr7

Burnt Umber is a hue that can easily be mixed if you have Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine in your palette. However like any convenience colour, if you use it a lot, add it in. I love earth pigments but will drop this one if I am reducing to 15 or fewer colours
  1. Burnt Umber, Brownish - A Gallo; Burnt Umber, Dark - A Gallo; Cyprus Burnt Umber* - Aquarius; Cyprus Burnt Umber Light - Aquarius; Cyprus Burnt Umber Deep - Aquarius; 
  2. Burnt Umber - Blockx; Burnt Sienna Deep - Blockx; Burnt Umber - American Journey; ​Burnt Umber - Daler Rowney; ​Burnt Umber* - Daniel Smith; ​
  3. Burnt Umber - Da Vinci; Burnt Umber - Holbein; Burnt Umber - Jackson's; Burnt Umber - MaimeriBlu; Burnt Umber - M. Graham; 
  4. Burnt Umber - Old Holland; ​Burnt Umber - Rembrandt; ​Burnt Umber - Rosa; ​Burnt Umber - Sennelier;  Burnt Umber - White Nights 

Raw Umbers and Green Umbers made with PBr7 

There are two very distinct styles of raw umber - the deep cool brown that is favoured by the American manufacturers and the much lighter more yellow-brown that is more common in England and Europe. I prefer the deep cool brown, as a very useful counterpart to Burnt Umber. A deep cool brown is a useful palette colour as it is difficult to mix.
  1. Raw Umber - American Journey; ​Cyprus Raw Umber - Aquarius; Cyprus Raw Umber Deep - Aquarius; Cyprus Raw Umber Brownish - Aquarius; German Raw Umber Greenish - Aquarius; 
  2. Raw Umber* - Daniel Smith; German Green Raw Umber* - Daniel Smith; Raw Umber - Daler Rowney; ​Raw Umber - Da Vinci; Green Umber - Dirty Blue; 
  3. Umber - Holbein; Raw Umber - Jackson's; ​Raw Umber - M.Graham; Raw Umber - Old Holland; ​Raw Umber - Rembrandt; 
  4. Umber - Rosa; Raw Umber - Schmincke; Green Umber - Schmincke; Raw Umber - Sennelier; ​Raw Umber - Winsor & Newton ​
​

Umbers made with PBr8

Burnt Umber, Cyprus* - A Gallo; Green Umber* - A Gallo; Greenish Umber - Rembrandt 

NBr8

Van Dyck Brown - Aquarius, Van Dyke Brown - Holbein 

PBr11

Aquarius Brown* - Aquarius;  Lunar Earth*- Daniel Smith 

PBk12

Gold Brown - Winsor & Newton 

NY14

Stil de Grain, Light* - A.Gallo

PBr23

​Transparent Brown - Aquarius 

PBr24

This is a lovely option instead of a multi-pigment mix for Naples Yellow.
​2022 update - this pigment has been released by Daniel Smith as Chrome Titanate Yellow (not shown).
  1. Naples Yellow Deep - Aquarius; ​​Chrome Titanate Yellow* - Daniel Smith (New 2022); Titanium Gold Ochre - Schmincke; Naples Yellow Deep Extra - Old Holland; Naples Yellow Deep - Winsor & Newton; 
  2. Yellow Titanate - Winsor & Newton

Browns made with PBr25

PBr25 is an interesting alternative to Indian Red if you want to use an transparent earthy rather than an opaque PR101 Indian Red.
  1. Permanent Brown* - Daniel Smith; Benzimidazole Brown - Aquarius. New 2023: Imidazolone Brown - Holbein; Imidazolone Brown - Old Holland; Royal Brown - Rosa; 
  2. Brown Red - ShinHan PWC;​ Indian Red Deep - Winsor & Newton 

PBr29

Iron Chrome Brown - Aquarius

PBr33

Walnut Brown - Schmincke (Discontinued); Mahogany Brown - Schmincke  

PBr41

Translucent Brown - Schmincke 

​Yellow Earth Single pigment Watercolours PY42 & Py43 

Yellow earth colours may be made with yellow pigments such as Yellow Ochre PY43 and the synthetic PY42, or brown pigments such as PBr7, which is generally used for the slightly more orange Raw Sienna. Note that some Raw Umbers (see above) can be very yellow and look like a yellow ochre. You can see some more transparent neutral yellows such as the Quinacridone Gold hues in the orange and yellow sections.
I'll add the written pigment information to each section shortly. Hover or click on any tile to see the full information.

Mars colours made with PY42

  1. Transparent Mars Brown - Blockx  Mars Yellow* - Daniel Smith; ​Mars Yellow - Old Holland;

Siennas made with PY42.

  1. Raw Sienna Hue Light - Art Spectrum; Raw Sienna Light* - Daniel Smith; Raw Sienna Deep - Da Vinci;  Raw Sienna - Renesans pan 

Transparent Oxides and Ochres made with PY42

  1. Transparent Oxide Yellow - American Journey; Transparent Yellow Oxide - Aquarius; Yellow Ochre - Blockx; Transparent Yellow Oxide* - Daniel Smith; Yellow Ochre - Holbein; 
  2. Yellow Ochre - MaimeriBlu; Transparent Yellow Oxide Lake - Old Holland; Transparent Yellow Oxide - QoR;  Transparent Oxide Yellow - Rembrandt;  Transparent Ochre - Schmincke; 
  3. Yellow Ochre - Schmincke; ​Gold Ochre - Winsor & Newton

Yellow and Gold Ochres made with PY43

  1. Gold Ochre -  A Gallo; Moroccan Ochre* - A Gallo; Jarosite - A Gallo; French Ochre* - Aquarius; Transparent Gold Ochre* - Aquarius;  
  2. Venetian Yellow Earth* - Aquarius;  Gold Ochre* - Aquarius;  Yellow Ochre* - Aquarius;  Veronese Yellow Earth* - Aquarius; Yellow Ochre - American Journey; 
  3. Natural Gold Ochre - American Journey; Yellow Ochre* - Daniel Smith; Verona Gold Ochre* - Daniel Smith; Burgundy Yellow Ochre* - Daniel Smith; French Ochre*- Daniel Smith; 
  4. Yellow Ochre - Da Vinci; Yellow Ochre - Dirty Blue; Yellow Ochre - Jackson's; Yellow Ochre - M.Graham; Gold Ochre - Old Holland;
  5. Yellow Ochre Deep - Old Holland; Yellow Ochre Light - Old Holland; Gold Ochre - Rembrandt; ​Yellow Ochre - Sennelier; Yellow Ochre - Winsor & Newton;
  6. Yellow Ochre Light - Winsor & Newton ​​​

Raw Siennas made with PY43 

See also Raw Siennas made with PBr7 as these can be very similar.
  1. Raw Sienna, Badia - A Gallo; Raw Sienna - A Gallo; Natural Sienna Light - Aquarius; Blue Ridge Raw Sienna - Aquarius; Raw Sienna* - Holbein; 
  2. Raw Sienna - Rembrandt

Goethite, Brown ochres and deep ochres made with PY43

  1. French Ochre, Sahara* - A Gallo; Brown Ochre Goethite - American Journey; Goethite* - Aquarius; Ochre Havana - Aquarius Dark Ochre - Aquarius; 
  2. Goethite* - Daniel Smith; Italian Deep Ochre* - Daniel Smith;​ Burnt Yellow Ochre* - Daniel Smith (discontinued) 

PO48

Quinacridone Burnt Sienna - Aquarius; Quinacridone Rust - M.Graham 

Red earth and yellow earth watercolours made with PR101 and PR102

I think PR101 is the most variable pigment available. It can be anything from rich opaque and granulating violet caput Mortuum reds, to Indian and Venetian Reds to a transparent burnt orange hue to a rich granulating transparent brown. I've put them all together here, but will gradually separate them further this month. PR102 is less common but included here also. Details to come soon.

Orange Earths made with PR101

  1. Transparent Oxide Red - American Journey; Transparent Oxide Red - Aquarius; Transparent Red Oxide* - Daniel Smith; Burnt Sienna Deep - Da Vinci; Transparent Red Oxide - Rembrandt;
  2. Burnt Sienna - Rosa

Orange Earths made with PR102

  1. Mummy Transparent Red* - Aquarius; Veronese Red Earth* - Aquarius; Red Ochre* - Aquarius; Pompeii Red* - Aquarius; Terra Pozzuoli - Aquarius; 
  2. Burgundy Red Ochre* - Daniel Smith; French Roasted Ochre* - Daniel Smith; Yellow Ochre Burnt - Old Holland;

 Venetian Reds made with PR101 ​and PR102

Venetian Red tends to be a Granulating fairly opaque red earth, that leans a little away from the pink undertone towards an orange undertone.
  1. ​Venetian Red - A Gallo PR102; Venetian Red - Aquarius PR102; Venetian Red* - Daniel Smith PR101; Italian Venetian Red* - Daniel Smith PR101; Venetian Red - Jackson's PR101;
  2. Venetian Red - Rembrandt PR101 

English Reds made with PR101 or PR102

English Red Deep* - Aquarius PR102; English Red Light* - Aquarius PR102; English Red* - Rosa PR101; English Red Earth* - Daniel Smith  PR101; English Red Ochre* - Daniel Smith PR101

Light Red made with PR101

Light Red - Holbein 

Mars Reds made with PR101 or PR102

​Mars Red - Aquarius PR101

Indian Reds made with PR101

Indian Red, made with PR101, tends to be an opaque, granulating red earth with a slightly pink undertone​.
  1. Indian Red - American Journey;  Indian Red* - Aquarius; Indian Red* - Daniel Smith; Lunar Red Rock* - Daniel smith; Indian red - Holbein; 
  2. Persian (Indian) Red - Old Holland;​ Indian Red - Rembrandt; Indian Red - Winsor & Newton 

Hematite made with PR101 or PR102

Hematite* - A Gallo PR102; Hematite* - Aquarius PR102; Hematite Brown Shade - Aquarius PR102

Caput Mortuum and deep earth Violets made with PR101 or PR102

Morellone* - A Gallo PR101; Caput Mortuum* - Aquarius PR102; Hematite (Violet Shade) - Aquarius PR102 Caput Mortuum* - Kremer  PR101; ​Caput Mortuum* - Rosa PR101

Transparent Oxide Earths made with PR101 or PR102

  1. Transparent Oxide Brown - American Journey PR101; Transparent Oxide Brown - Aquarius PR101; Transparent Brown Oxide* - Daniel Smith Watercolour PR101; Transparent Brown - Schmincke PR101

Earths and Ochres made with PR102

  1. Sartorio Red* - A Gallo;   Fired Gold Ochre* -  Daniel Smith; Burnt Yellow Ochre* - Daniel Smith; Red Ochre - Jackson's;  Bole Red - Kremer; 
  2. Yellow Ochre Half Burnt - Old Holland;  ​Deep Ochre - Old Holland Watercolour; Brown Ochre Deep -  Old Holland; Red ochre - Old Holland;​ Red Ochre - White Nights   

PY119

Spinal Brown - Schmincke; Manganese Brown - Winsor & Newton  

PY164

Manganese Brown - Aquarius; Dark Brown - Winsor & Newton (limited edition) 

PY175

Deep Scarlet* - Daniel Smith 

Earth watercolours made with PR206

Known by many names, this is a lovely transparent red earth colour. However this pigment is no longer available so these colours, and mixes made from this pigment, will also run out in time.
  1. Quinacridone Chestnut - A Gallo; Quinacridone Burnt Scarlet - American Journey; Quinacridone Maroon* - Aquarius; Quinacridone Burnt Scarlet* - Daniel Smith; Transparent Red Brown - Daler Rowney; 
  2. Madder Brown - Schmincke; ​Permanent Alizarin Crimson Deep - Sennelier; ​Brown Madder - Winsor & Newton 

Earth watercolours (no pigment numbers).

Mummy, American Journey Natural Iron Oxides.

Daniel Smith Primatek earth colours

*All these swatches have been carefully colour-matched to be as close as I can get the the original painted image.
  1. Yavapai Genuine* - Daniel Smith; Bronzite Genuine* - Daniel Smith; Tiger's eye Genuine* - Daniel Smith; Sickerite Genuine* - Daniel Smith; Sedona Genuine* - Daniel Smith; 
  2. Mummy Bauxite* - Daniel Smith; Piemontite Genuine* - Daniel Smith; Burnt Bronzite Genuine* - Daniel Smith; Burnt Tiger's Eye Genuine*, Daniel Smith; Garnet Genuine* - Daniel Smith; 
  3. Red Fuchsite Genuine* - Daniel Smith; Minnesota Pipestone* - Daniel Smith; Red Jasper Genuine* - Daniel Smith; Hematite Burnt Scarlet* - Daniel Smith; Hematite Violet Genuine* - Daniel Smith;
  4. Bloodstone Genuine*- Daniel Smith. Hematite Genuine* - Daniel Smith;

'Van Dyke' Browns

  1. Van Dyck Brown - Aquarius NBr8 (Earth); Van Dijck Brown - Blockx PBr7; Van Dyck Brown* - Daniel Smith PBr7 umbers and siennas blend; Van Dyke Brown - Jackson's PBk7 + PR101; Van Dyck Brown - Maimeri Blu PBr7 + PBk9 (discontinued); 
  2. Van Dyck Brown (Cassel) - Old Holland PY42 + PR101 + PBk9; Vandyke Brown - Rembrandt  PR101 + PBk7; Van Dyck Brown - Sennelier  PBk7+PR101; Van Dyke Brown - Winsor & Newton PBk6 + PR101

'Sepia' Watercolours

Mostly a mix of a black and a brown pigment.
  1. Sepia - A Gallo PBk7 + PBr7; Sepia - American Journey PBk6, PBr7; Sepia - Aquarius PBk9 + PBr7; Sepia - Blockx PBr7 + PBk11; Warm Sepia - Daler Rowney PBr7 + PBk11 + PR101; 
  2. Sepia* - Daniel Smith; Sepia - Da Vinci PBk6 + PBr7; Sepia - Holbein PBr7 + PBk6; Warm Sepia - Jackson's PBr7 + PBk7; Warm Sepia Extra - Old Holland PBr7 + PBk9 + PR177; ​
  3. ​Sepia Extra - Old Holland PBr7 + PBk9; Sepia - Rembrandt PBk7 + PR101; Sepia - Renesans pan PY42 + PBk7; Sepia - Rosa PBr7 + PBk7 + PR177
  4. Sepia Brown - Schmincke PB15:1 + PBr7 + PBk9; ​Sepia Brown Reddish - Schmincke PR242 + PBr7 + PBk9; ​Warm Sepia - Sennelier PBr7+PBk7; ​Sepia - White Nights PBr102 + PR187 + PBk7

Earth watercolours - mixed pigments

I prefer to use single pigment earth colours. Some of these are a mix of PY42 or PBr7 pigments, or a brown pigment with black. I don't think any are essential, though sometimes I do mix my own custom earth colours. 

Mixed Pigment Yellow Ochre, Gold Ochre and Raw Sienna hues.

  1. Gold Ochre - Da Vinci PY42 + PY83; Jane's Golden Earth - DS custom mix. PO49 + PY43 (Goethite); Old Holland Yellow Brown - Old Holland PY119 + PY95 + PY74; Yellow Ochre - Rembrandt PY42 + PY43; Yellow Ochre - Renesans pan watercolour PR83 + PY42; 
  2. ​Yellow Ochre* - Rosa PY43 + PY42; Raw Sienna - Rosa PBr7 + PY42; Raw Sienna - Schmincke PBr7 + PY43; Desert Brown - Schmincke PY159 + PR108 + PBk11​; French Ochre - Sennelier PY3 + PY150 + PBr23 + PBr7; 
  3. Gold Ochre - Sennelier PY119 + PY42 + PY83; ​Yellow Ochre - White Nights PY43 + PY1; ​Raw Sienna - Winsor & Newton PY42 + PR101

Mixed Pigment Burnt Sienna and orange earth hues

  1. Castile Orange - A Gallo PR102 + PY43; Ercolano Red - A Gallo PR102 + PR101; Quinacridone Sienna, American Journey PR206 + PY97; Quinacridone Burnt Orange - American Journey PR206 + PR101; Terre Ercolano - Daniel Smith PBr7 + PR101; ​
  2. Burnt Sienna Light* - Daniel Smith PR101 + PO48; Jane's Sienna - custom mix made with DS PBr 7 + PR101; Transparent Orange Iron Oxide - M.Graham PY42 + PR101; Transparent Orange Iron Oxide - M.Graham  PY42 + PR101; Burnt Sienna - Mission Gold PBr25 + PR112 + PY150; 
  3. Mars Orange Red - Old Holland  PY42 + PR101; ​Italian Brown Pink Lake - Old Holland PY42+PR101; Burnt Sienna - Renesans pan PR101 + PBk11; Gold Brown - Schmincke  PY65 + PBr41; Tundra Orange - Schmincke PY43 + PR233 + PBr7 

Mixed pigment Indian red and red earth hues

  1. Brown Madder Quinacridone - American Journey PV19 + PR101; Brown Madder (Quinacridone) - Da Vinci PV19 + PR101; Flesh Ochre - Old Holland PY42 + PR112 + PR102; Permanent Madder Brownish - Rembrandt PR264+PR101; Permanent Madder Brown - Rembrandt PR264 + PR101; 
  2. Indian Red - Rembrandt PR101 + PR264; Claret (previously Monaco Bordeaux) - Renesans pan PR48:1 + PR101; Madder Brown* - Rosa PR101 + PR264; Pozzuoli Earth - Schmincke PR101+Pr206 (Discontinued); ​Indian Red - Schmincke  PR101 + PR206

Mixed pigment violet earth hues

Raw Umber Violet - American Journey PBr7 + PV19; Raw Umber Violet* - Daniel Smith PBr7 + PV19; Mars Violet - Holbein PR101 + PV23 + PBr7; Caput Mortuum - Renesans pan PR101 + PV23

Mixed pigments Burnt Umber and warm brown earth hues

  1. Burnt Umber - Art Spectrum PBr7 + PY42; Burnt Green Earth - Lukas PY155 + PR176; Stil de Grain Brown - Maimeri Blu PR 101 + PG36 (discontinued); Mars Brown - Old Holland PY42 + PR101 + PBk11; Transparent Oxide Umber - Rembrandt PY42 + PR101 + PBk11; 
  2. Burnt Umber - Renesans pan PBk7 + PY42 + PR101; ​Kassel Earth (previously Raw Kassel) - Renesans pan PR101+ PBr6 + PBk11; ​Stil de Grain - Renesans pan PY42 + PBr6 + PBk7; Glacier Brown - Schmincke PBr6 + PG26; Galaxy Brown - Schmincke PB62 + PBr6; 
  3. Transparent Brown - Sennelier PBk7 + PR101; ​Burnt Umber - Winsor & Newton PBr7 + PR101 + PY42

Mixed pigment Raw Umber and greenish umber cool dark brown hues

  1. Verdaccio - A Gallo PBr7 + PBk11​; Raw Umber, Holbein PBr7 + PY42; Yellow Grey - Holbein PY42 + PBk6 + PW6; Raw Umber - Renesans pan PG7 + PBk7 + PY42; Raw Umber - Schmincke PBr7 + PY43; 
  2. Volcano Brown* - Schmincke PR108 + PBk11; Greenish Umber - Sennelier PB60 + PBk7 + PY83; ​Umber - White Nights PY43, PBr7, PBk7
These swatches are painted and added as a guide. The intention is show the characteristics of each colour when painted. The colour reproduction is not perfect but hopefully will still be helpful used in conjunction with the manufacturer's website.  Thank you to those of you, from Canada, Sweden, Hong Kong, Genrmany, Poland, Australia and the USA, who have helped me with this section by sharing your favourite colours. If you notice errors please let me know so I can correct them. If you have artist quality watercolour that are not shown here and want to help me build up this resource, also please let me know :-)
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This page was last edited October 2023 - updating the galleries in alphabetical order and extra written information is in progress...