Burnt umber oil paint
Burnt Umber was created during the Renaissance in Italy, and by the time of Leonardo da Vinci, it had been standardised to the hue we see today. It’s worth mentioning that Cennini’s book on studio activities, published in 1437, only references red and yellow earths and makes no mention of Burnt Umber or Burnt Sienna in his section on colours, despite the fact that, fifty years later, both colours were common colours on nearly any palette and deemed too significant to be ignored.
Since raw umber is a natural pigment in many parts of the world, the burnt version might have been created almost anywhere, but it happened in Italy, most likely as a result of the production of Burnt Sienna. Raw Sienna is a less common mineral than Raw Umber, and the main Raw Sienna deposits have been near Sienna in Italy for decades.
Pigment makers found that by heating Raw Sienna in kilns, they could make the very appealing Burnt Sienna pigment that we still use today. It was only natural to experiment with other pigments, and it wasn’t long before it was discovered that roasted Raw Umber produced a more useful dark brown than natural Raw Umber.
Since Raw Umber is a cold colour, artists quickly discovered that Burnt Umber, a slightly warmer chocolate brown colour, worked much easier for creating shadows in portraits and figures. It complements the human body’s inherent warmth. As a result, the colour rapidly gained attention, and even now, with too many shades to choose from, there are few artists who do not use Burnt Umber as one of their primary colours.
For years, it was mostly only available in a few colours. The standard colour used by artists was considered just right for house painting and other uses, but with the advent of the automobile, there was a demand for more variety, and now there are many shades available, ranging from quite warm to quite cool, which is why the Burnt Umbers offered by different artists paint manufacturers are so varied. Matisse’s Burnt Umber is an especially deep, dense, warm chocolate colour.
Burnt Umber is used to darken other colours in mixtures, to create very black earthy greens in mixtures of Phthalo Green or Chromium Green Oxide, and to make deep Burgundy shades of colours in mixtures with reds. When using translucent cool reds like Primary Red or Matisse Rose Madder, this works particularly well. These reds warm up the Burnt Umber and produce shades that are perfect for forming shadows in the skin while removing too much brown. When you mix Ultramarine Blue with these dark Burgundies, you get rich earthy shadow colours in landscapes and the darkest shadows in red and purple drapery folds.
Burnt Umber is almost often used for colouring human fur. Even blonde hair has deep Burnt Umber-like shadows, but dark hair also requires the addition of Ultramarine Blue to make the Burnt Umber dark enough to render blackish shadows. When paired with Phthalo Green, Burnt Umber produces intriguing blacks.
There is no need for a black paint tube if the artist has a tube of Burnt Umber and Phthalo Green. Matisse Burnt Umber from the Structure collection is a lovely dark Burnt Umber that is particularly useful for making blacks.
Metallic oil paints
You can make completely metallic oil colours with Schmincke Oil Bronze Powders and Bronze Medium.
Paint the oil painting with liquid gold, silver, and copper paints!
Genuine metal pigments in the colours Rich Gold, Rich Pale Gold, Pale Gold, Copper, and Silver were used to create this piece.
Schmincke Oil Bronzes are small, dry powders that must be blended with Bronze Medium to produce an iridescent metal impact paint. With a painting knife or a palette, blend 3 parts Oil-Bronze powder and 2 parts Bronze Medium right before applying. If you blend the powder and medium right before application, the metal would be shinier. You can thin with solvent if desired.
Like standard oil paint, the metal paint dries wash- and water-resistant. If you use more bronze medium, it adheres much better. After drying, the colour layers are soluble in solvents, much as standard oil paint. Paint directly on oil paintings or other objects that have been pre-primed, such as wood, brass, or gypsum. When using a solvent-thinned bronze medium on absorbent materials, a second layer of solvent-thinned bronze medium is suggested.
Neon oil paints
Neon shades can’t be made by blending simple colours because they’re made from special neon pigments. Oil paints are only used in a few simple colours. Oil paints, unlike acrylic, do not use fluorescent or neon shades. Even so, oil painters can achieve the results of neon, such as brilliance and sparkle, using a variety of approaches and techniques.
Transparent Colors From the Tube
Where appropriate, use translucent colours straight from the tube. Oil paints have the highest saturation and brilliance when squeezed straight from the tube, which is needed for neon effects. Using paints straight from the bottle as far as possible, as skimping would thin the paint and reduce the brilliance.
Color Blending
Blend colours as little as possible to preserve brilliance; the more a hue is mixed, the duller it becomes. Since a transparent colour mixed with an opaque colour produces an opaque colour, mixing translucent colours with opaque colours, such as white, should be avoided. Dip the brush in turpentine before applying transparent paints to the canvas to remove any leftover paint, particularly browns and other opaque colours.
Lightening
To lighten the hue, blend pure zinc white, which is more transparent than titanium white, the most often used substance to lighten colours from the tube. Using just a small dab of pure white zinc to prevent messing with the tube dye’s brilliance.
Mixing Methods and Tools
Instead of using a brush to mix colours, use a palette knife. Your brush has pigment residue on it, which may contaminate the paint mixture. Instead of using a palette, blend colours on the canvas, as this provides a more shiny and stunning effect.
Emphasis
Contrast neon effects on the canvas with mixed opaque shades to emphasise them. If you’re painting a neon sign, for example, fill it with dirty and opaque shades, whether light or dark. This would make the neon colours stand out even more.
