raw umber

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Raw umber

Used throughout history, it has different earth tones depending on the amount of iron and manganese compounds.

Manufacturer / product code: Kremer / 40610
Chemical description: natural mixture of iron and manganese oxides and hydroxides. Brown earth, from Cyprus. Kremer PDF
Color: brown
Color Index: PBr8
More info: Pigments Through The Ages Colourlex

The pigment known as raw umber is one of the oldest and most versatile earth colors, prized by artists for its deep, neutral, and stable brown hue. Chemically, it is a clay composed mainly of iron oxide, but critically differentiated from ochres and siennas by its significant manganese dioxide content, which lends it a distinct, often slightly greenish or cooler undertone. The name “umber” may derive either from the central Italian region of Umbria, where it was first commercially mined, or from the Latin word umbra, meaning “shadow,” a fitting descriptor for its primary artistic purpose.

Raw umber’s history stretches back to prehistory, with evidence of its use in Paleolithic cave paintings, but its prominence in the artist’s palette truly solidified during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Its key technical advantage is its high manganese content, which acts as a powerful dryer, making it one of the fastest-drying oil pigments available. This property made it indispensable for underpainting, the foundational monochromatic layer used to establish light, shadow, and form before color was applied.

Baroque masters like Caravaggio, Rembrandt, and Vermeer championed raw umber for its ability to create dramatic shadows without resorting to harsh black. In the technique known as chiaroscuro (light-dark contrast), artists utilized raw umber to paint warm, transparent shadows, lending their works an intense psychological depth and rich, earthy tonality. Even after a brief dip in popularity during the Impressionist movement—which favored brighter, synthetic colors for shadows—raw umber remains an essential, permanent color for contemporary painters in every medium, valued for its fast-drying nature and its unique ability to neutralize and darken other hues.

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