Color Spotlight: Raw Sienna (PBr7 or PY42)

Raw Sienna is one of the traditional earth tones made from PBr7. It’s an earth yellow, more yellow than earth oranges like Burnt Sienna but typically more orange than Yellow Ochre.

Observations of DV Raw Sienna

Hue: Orange-toned earth yellow, mid value

Gradient: Smooth gradient

Granulation: Little to none

Transparency: Transparent

Lightfastness

Four months of light seem to have had no effect on this. Great!

Comparison to Other Brands

Da Vinci – Raw Sienna Deep (PY42)

I wouldn’t say this is “deeper” than DV Raw Sienna; it is lighter in value and less reddish. But I think they were trying to match the naming convention they’d established by calling their PR101 transparent red oxide “Burnt Sienna Deep.”

Made from PY42, synthetic yellow oxide, this is more yellow than the PBr7 Raw Sienna. It is a similar color to DV’s Yellow Ochre (perhaps a bit more brown and less yellow), but is much more transparent and granulating.

I find it a bit on the weak/sticky side (a seemingly high proportion of binder to pigment), and not very pleasant to paint out. I’d hoped it would be DV’s answer to Monte Amiata Natural Sienna, but it’s not as nice.

Daniel Smith – Raw Sienna (PBr7)

DS Raw Sienna is made from the same pigment as the Da Vinci, PBr7, and is a similar hue, but more granulating. I also found it very dispersive. Wet, it looked slightly lower-chroma than DV’s, but they dried to about the same chroma.

DS is unusual in that their RS and Yellow Ochre are quite similar, and both are quite orangey. Monte Amiata Natural Sienna (MANS) and Raw Sienna Light, noted below, are yellower options.

Daniel Smith – Raw Sienna Light (PY42)

DS Raw Sienna Light is much yellower than their Raw Sienna. It is made from PY42 (synthetic yellow oxide), rather than the brown pigment PBr7. I found it somewhat weak, and moderately granulating. It is quite similar to WN’s Raw Sienna, although I found WN slightly higher chroma, though perhaps even weaker.

Daniel Smith – Monte Amiata Natural Sienna (PBr7)

I have a separate page just on Monte Amiata Natural Sienna, but I’d say it’s arguably a Raw Sienna, as it is a transparent earth yellow made from PBr7. It is much yellower than the other PBr7 Raw Siennas, Da Vinci and DS Raw Sienna.

However, compared to PY42 colors (like DS Raw Sienna Light and WN Raw Sienna, below), MANS is not quite as yellow and bit browner. It’s quite granulating.

I really like MANS. Drawbacks are that it’s on the weak side (like all the yellowy Raw Siennas tbh); makes streaky instead of smooth gradients (like many granulating colors); and has a tendency to dry up and crumble out of the palette.

Daniel Smith – Transparent Yellow Oxide (PY42)

A PY42 that is quite transparent, as the name promises. Its hue is more yellow than the typical Raw Sienna and more golden than the typical Yellow Ochre. Still, as you can see from my comparison at the bottom, it is not quite as warm as Quinacridone Gold, Naples Yellow Deep/Chrome Titanate Yellow, or Gold Ochre. Granted, the photo shows it as greener than it looks in person.

Because it is transparent, this paint tends to get darker in masstone than opaque ochres. As with many of these paints, I did find the paint rather weak and hard.

Schmincke Horadam – Raw Sienna (PBr7, PY43)

A brownish, granulating version made with a mix of PBr7 and PY43, but it appears to be primarily PBr7.

Winsor & Newton – Raw Sienna (PY42, PR101)

Many artists, including Ron Ranson and Paul George, favor the WN Raw Sienna for its very yellow hue. It mixes quite bold greens. The reason for that is the WN’s Raw Sienna is made primarily from PY42 (synthetic yellow oxide), which is commonly used to make Yellow Ochre. It’s also mixed with a PR101 in order to make it a bit warmer.

In hue, it is warmer/oranger than most colors marketed as Yellow Ochre (including the relatively warm Holbein), but not as orangey as WN’s other PY42, Gold Ochre, nor as orangey or muted as DV’s Raw Sienna.

I really like the higher-chroma, very yellow hue of the WN Raw Sienna and its transparency. It always looks fresh and is great in skies. The problem is that it is soooo weak. I find it really hard to work up a strong color. It’s best when used as a sort of delicate hint.

Holbein – Raw Sienna (PY42, PBr7)

Like WN, this is one of the yellower Raw Sienna options. It’s made from a mix of synthetic yellow oxide (PY42) and the sienna/umber pigment (PBr7). The hue is similar to Holbein’s Yellow Ochre, but a bit browner, more granulating, and less opaque (I would still call it semi-opaque).

Compared to other paints I have tried, it most resembles Daniel Smith’s Monte Amiata Natural Sienna. But the granulation isn’t as pretty in my opinion. It’s more opaque, with more yellowy “body” beneath the granulation. It’s maybe a bit browner and less luminously yellow.

Both Holbein RS and DS MANS tend to dry hard and crackle out of the pan.

Mission Gold – Raw Sienna (PY42, PY65, PBr25)

Mission Gold’s Raw Sienna is an overly complicated mix, instead of the typical Raw Sienna made from PBr7. It’s a mix of PY42 ochre, PY65 (Hansa Yellow Deep), and PBr25 (Red Brown). Brighter and orangier than a typical Raw Sienna. Not too shiny in masstone, compared to other Mission Gold colors. I find this a bit garish and artificial looking compared to the standard earthy Raw Sienna.

Comparison to Other Colors

As you’ve seen above, the pigment, hue, transparency, and granulation properties of colored named Raw Sienna can vary quite a bit. This makes it difficult to firmly compare with other colors.

Yellow Ochre (PY42 or PY43)

There is no clear dividing line between yellow-type Raw Sienna and Yellow Ochre. Both may be made from PY42. Typically:

• Raw Sienna is transparent and Yellow Ochre opaque.
• Raw Sienna hues to tend be more orange/gold/orange-yellow while Yellow Ochre can have a more green-leaning yellow-brown hue.

But this can vary from brand to brand.

Gold Ochre

Gold Ochre is another color name that can mean various things to different companies, and often makes use of the same pigment, PY42. I typically think of Gold Ochre as being a yellow-orange hue but opaque, so essentially Yellow Ochre with a more orangey hue. This can have a lot of overlap with Raw Sienna.

Burnt Sienna (PBr7)

Burnt Sienna is typically made from PBr7, like some Raw Siennas. As you might expect, the productio process for Burnt Sienna involves darkening it by applying heat, while Raw Sienna does not. Burnt Siennas tend to be darker and more orange than Raw Siennas.

Naples Yellow Deep (PBr24)

Naples Yellow Deep is another earth orange-yellow, with a hue somewhat similar to Yellow Ochre or Raw Sienna. However, it’s quite opaque, which distinguishes it from most transparent Raw Siennas. It is slightly higher chroma than most Raw Siennas, and I find it is higher in tinting strength.

The image below compares Naples Yellow Deep, a higher-chroma opaque earth yellow, with multipel Yellow Ochre/Raw Sienna/Gold Ochre shades.

Color Mixes

These color mixes use Da Vinci’s Raw Sienna.

Burnt Sienna Deep (PR101)

With DV’s answer to Transparent Red Oxide, Burnt Sienna Deep, Raw Sienna can mix a range of earthy yet glowing oranges.

Indian Red

Backing your way into Burnt Sienna hues! The light values make peach colors that might be good for portraits of people with light skin tones.

Pyrrol Red (PR254)

Perylene Violet (PV29)

Color-separated muted warm browns. Not my favorite mix.

Dioxazine Violet

Makes brown, I guess. Not really a fan.

Smalt

Like MANS, Raw Sienna makes pretty neutral grays with WN Smalt (PV15).

Indanthrone Blue (PB60)

The orangey tones of Raw Sienna effectively mute Indanthrone Blue to a Payne’s Gray type color; with more RS, it moves into a tan/gray.

Ultramarine Blue (PB29)

Very nice mixes with Da Vinci’s Ultramarine Blue (PB29), a middle ultramarine; I like how a little bit of RS turns it into a dark muted blue, a moderate amount grays it, and a mostly-RS mix is a very nice Yellow Ochre hue. The second-to-last is pretty ugly. There is some color separation in all these mixes.

Cobalt Blue (PB28)

Similar to the UB mixes, but subtly more greenish all around.

Payne’s Gray

With actual Payne’s Gray the color mix is even more muted. The diluted, mostly RS mix has a dead-grass look to me. But it’s a bit muddy.

Indigo

RS mutes Indigo to gray. Both colors have a yellow cast, so there’s a muddy greenness to these mixes. The diluted mostly-RS mix has a very smooth look that to me resembles kraft paper.

Cerulean (PB35)

Greenish-gray muted colors, which remain color-separated.

Phthalo Turquoise (PB16)

Finally some mixes that go green. You have to start with a pretty greenish mixing color to begin with.

Phthalo Green Blue Shade (PG7)

A nice range of bright yet naturalistic greens similar to those with a yellow-orange (e.g. PY65).

Chromium Oxide Green (PG17)

A classic desert foliage mix, resulting in green-tans.

What Others Say

[Da Vinci] Raw Sienna is the perfect pick for dry grasses, distant winter leaves, parts of a tree branch, and the lightly tinted feathers of a Song Sparrow.

Scratchmade Journal, Comparing & Mixing Earth Tone Yellows

A beautiful neutral orange-yellow. In my explorations, the Daniel Smith version is the most lovely. Many others are more like a yellow ochre. Another option is Quinacridone Gold or Quinacridone Gold Deep. One of the special qualities of Raw Sienna is that it doesn’t really make greens when mixed with a blue so can be gorgeous in a sky as the warm yellow glaze above the horizon, with the blue above and no green!

Jane Blundell, Earth Colours

[WN Raw Sienna] is a warm, mustard yellow, which I think is essential for any artist who paints landscapes. I use it instead of Yellow Ocher, as Raw Sienna is transparent. It makes a pleasant, sage green when mixed with Cobalt Blue.

David Webb, Painting in Watercolor: The Indispensable Guide (2016), p. 35

The color of raw sienna resembles dried meadow grass, pale fresh cut woods such as maple or pine, and weathered plaster. I believe the Winsor & Newton formulation is closest to the historical color, which is slightly lighter valued, less saturated, cooler (more yellow), and much more transparent than yellow ochre; the differences between raw sienna and yellow ochre become less pronounced in tints, though raw sienna usually shifts farther toward a bright yellow.

Bruce MacEvoy, handprint.com (2010)

[WN Raw Sienna is] a strong, rich yellow. This can be used in all areas of a painting, imparting a warm glow to skies or a richness to the landscape. It is ideal for foliage greens when mixed with ultramarine blue.

Richard Bolton, Handbook of Watercolour Landscape Tips & Techniques (2009)

I use a lot of [WN] raw sienna, which looks brown in the palette but dilutes down to a lovely soft, transparent yellow that sympathizes beautifully with other colours in mixes. I prefer it to yellow ochre, which is rather opaque, and cadmium yellow, which is too bright and strident in washes.

Trevor Chamberlain, Trevor Chamberlain: A Personal View (1999), p. 34

[WN Raw Sienna] is my ‘banker.’ It’s very versatile and I use it on every painting, beginning each sky with it. It’s an ‘earth’ colour – one of the oldest colours known. I much prefer it to yellow ochre, as it’s much more transparent.

Ron Ranson, On Skies (1996)

My Overall Review of Raw Sienna

I find it useful to distinguish between two categories of raw sienna; the orangey ones (generally made from PBr7) and the more yellowy ones (generally made from PY42). They’re not exactly interchangeable, but many artists/teachers don’t distinguish – simply calling them “Raw Sienna” – which can be confusing!

Orange Types	Yellow Types
DV Raw Sienna DS Raw Sienna DS Goethite Brown Ochre Mission Gold Raw Sienna SH Raw Sienna	DV Raw Sienna Deep DS Raw Sienna Light DS Monte Amiata Natural Sienna DS Transparent Yellow Oxide WN Raw Sienna

Holbein Raw Sienna is somewhere between the two types.

Orangey Raw Siennas

…are great for the desert! For example, I found DV Raw Sienna useful in the Mojave Desert, where its caramel-orange tones matched the landscape better than the yellower hue.

Many people cite Buff Titanium (PW6:1) as a base for sand, light-colored stone, and the buff tones in birds’ feathers, but I find I prefer diluted/light value Raw Sienna. Less opaque than Buff, it has more luminosity and gives you more options for deepening the color. When I find Raw Sienna too orange, a bit of Cerulean brings it into more of a gray-brown space.

Orangey raw siennas lend themselves well to tan and brown colors, including dry grasses (especially those lacking a yellow tone), because they are very easy to neutralize with blue.

Orangey-type Raw Siennas have some use case overlap with Burnt Sienna, which is a darker, redder earth orange that also neutralizes blues.

Yellow Raw Siennas

Yellower raw siennas are typically made from PY42 or mixes with that pigment. Essentially, they’re synthetic yellow oxides named Raw Sienna.

Compared to orange-type Raw Sienna, yellow-type Raw Siennas are much easier to work into a muted (or not-so-muted!) green. Orange-type RS basically never wants to go green, and yellow-type RS loves to mix green.

Yellow raw siennas, like other earth yellows, make wonderful sky colors. They can be used as an underlayer, to warm the horizon, or to add warm golden tones to clouds.

Choosing between the two raw siennas

I think of the oranger version of Raw Sienna as the “true” Raw Sienna (perhaps because I encountered it first, or because it seems more unique and distinct from other colors.) But I think that most people who love Raw Sienna are talking about yellower version.

As a more primary color, the yellow-type is more versatile. It’s especially handy for foliage mixes. Yellow-type RS can even be used in the sky, e.g. for sunsets and the golden haze behind stormclouds; orange-type RS used in the sky ends up looking like wildfire smoke. It’s also easy enough to get to the orange shade from the yellow, by adding a bit of earth orange.

That said, orange Raw Sienna is a very convenient specialist for certain types of landscapes where brown, buff, or tan rock stone colors are required (e.g. the desert).

Both types of Raw Sienna are wonderful mixers for browns and grays. Orange-type RS easily mixes gray with any blue. I find it more difficult to pinpoint the complement of yellow-type RS, but it’s great when used in a primary triad. It mixes lovely warm dimensional grays, without the acidic undertone that bold yellows can add.

Favorite version: Depends on the desired hue.

• Yellower, granulating: DS Monte Amiata Natural Sienna
• Yellower, smooth: WN Raw Sienna
• Oranger: Da Vinci Raw Sienna

See Also: I have written about various Raw Siennas in these posts:

• Earth Yellow Showdown: Yellow Ochre, Raw Sienna Deep, MANS, and Raw Sienna
• Another Earth Yellow showdown!
• Advent Calendar Day 5: Raw Sienna

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Da Vinci – Raw Sienna, 8ml tube: Da Vinci