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Literary notes about raw umber (AI summary)

In the art and design literature, raw umber is celebrated as a versatile, earthy pigment that lends natural depth and a slightly yellowish neutrality to various color mixtures and textures. Writers and practitioners alike describe it not only by its inherent hue—as a dependable, natural brown that stands alongside other classic tones like burnt sienna and yellow ochre—but also for its functional role in achieving subtle shifts in tone and atmospheric effects. For instance, texts note how raw umber, when mixed with white, can be used to model half tones in drawing [1] and, when paired with chrome yellows or raw sienna, contributes to complex, lifelike wood grains and stone colors [2], [3]. Its permanence and balance are underscored by comparisons that distinguish it from its 'burnt' counterpart, emphasizing its lighter, more neutral properties [4] and its utility in producing fine gradations in monochrome studies [5].
  1. Taking raw umber and white (oil paint), mix up a tone that you think equal to the half tones of the cast before you.
    — from The Practice and Science of Drawing by Harold Speed
  2. Whitewood.—Ground same as for light ash; graining color, yellow ocher, adding raw umber and black for dark streaks.
    — from Henley's Twentieth Century Formulas, Recipes and Processes
  3. Salmon is made by combining White, Yellow, Raw Umber, Red. Straw is made by combining White, Chrome Yellow.
    — from Ladies' manual of art; or, profit and pastime. A self teacher in all branches of decorative art, embracing every variety of painting and drawing on china, glass, velvet, canvas, paper and wood the secret of all glass transparencies, sketching from nature. pastel and crayon drawing, taxidermy, etc. by Anonymous
  4. BURNT UMBER is what its name denotes, and has a deeper shade with a more russet hue than the raw umber.
    — from Field's Chromatographyor Treatise on Colours and Pigments as Used by Artists by George Field
  5. Raw umber.
    — from Photographic Reproduction Processes by Peter C. Duchochois

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