BURNT SIENNA: Colour of the month #10

The earth colour pigments known as Raw and Burnt Sienna are traditional colours, which consist mostly of iron oxides, hematite and goethite. One pigment is yellowish-brown and the other is reddish-brown, which differentiate in the thermal processing of the raw material.

Terra Verte: Colour of the Month #8

Historically, terra verte, green earth or argilla verde was the pigment for flesh undertones. It was used as the first layer, which neutralised the effect of pink and reds of flesh colours used by artists during Medieval and Renaissance times. 

M U M M Y BROWN: Colour of the month #7

Photo: Studio Laura Daza

While studying Egyptian history and historical pigments I found an incredible and scary story behind one of these pigments.  Mummy brown, Egyptian mummy or caput mortuum, which means dead head in latin, was a pigment favoured by Pre-Raphaelite painters.