umber colors - OneLook

Literary analysis:

The term "umber" weaves its way through literary texts both as a literal descriptor of a natural, earthy pigment and as a metaphorical element that adds depth to characterizations and settings. In technical discussions on materials and techniques, umber appears as a crucial ingredient in mixing paints, highlighted for its neutral and warm qualities ([1], [2], [3]), while in artistic and poetic contexts it conveys a somber, muted tone or an aura of natural decay, as seen when it colors a character's face or an atmospheric scene ([4], [5]). Even in descriptions of nature—ranging from the hue of eggs or animal features to the delicate interplay of light and shadow on surfaces—umber serves to evoke the textures and moods of the natural world ([6], [7], [8]).

Raw umber is a neutral colour, leaning slightly to yellow—that is, it consists of red, blue, and yellow, with a slight excess of the latter.
— from Principles of Decorative Design Fourth Edition by Christopher Dresser
The graining-color—which is mixed in oil—is composed of raw and burnt sienna, and a little burnt umber is added.
— from Practical Graining, with Description of Colors Employed and Tools Used by William E. (William Edmund) Wall
—Tint white lead with French ochre, Indian red and a little lamp black, or with raw Italian sienna and burnt umber.
— from Paint & Colour Mixing A practical handbook for painters, decorators and all who have to mix colours, containing 72 samples of paint of various colours, including the principal graining grounds by Arthur Seymour Jennings
I'll put myself in poor and mean attire, And with a kind of umber smirch my face; The like do you; so shall we pass along, And never stir assailants.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
In the midst of all this the lamp still cast a smoky glow, obscure and brown as umber.
— from Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Their ground-color is pale greenish-white, over which are marks and blotches, more or less confluent, of lilac, purplish-brown, and light umber.
— from A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 1 of 3 by Robert Ridgway
His skin is of that burnt umber shade hardly to be distinguished from the earth.
— from The Story of the Trapper by Agnes C. Laut
Inside were old unpainted desks,—unpainted, but browned with the umber of human contact,—and hacked by innumerable jack-knives.
— from Elsie Venner by Oliver Wendell Holmes

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