Term: Earth Colors

Various pigments consisting mostly of iron oxides and learning toward a brownish hue. Earth colors are made from refined clays and minerals dug from the ground. Typical colors include umber, ochre, and sienna.

These natural pigments are used extensively in landscape painting but are also useful in portraits as skin colors. Some look so much like flesh tones that they can be used without mixing. Earth colors have large particle sizes which makes them more transparent.