DaVinci Burnt Umber is such a beautiful warm brown with a really pleasant granulation texture. I find it's my go-to brown on my main palette and makes really strong black mixtures with ultramarine blue that can dramatically color separate in wet washes for fun effects. White Nights also makes a really strong Burnt Umber and Mars Brown too. Sennelier Burnt Umber frustrates me with its weaker and streaky nature. There's such a wide variation in the warm to cool leaning hues here, very nice to see the comparison!
Oh, cool! It surprises me so much that that's your experience with White Nights Burnt Umber and Mars Brown. Perhaps I got dud ones, or an old formula or something. May I ask if you use their pans or tubes? 🙂 I'm also very curious about how you like the Sennelier one in color mixes? Because the mixes look stunning in the next video, and I have to admit I'm a bit smitten. 😍
@@hannahthufvesson I have had a couple pan sets from White Nights I think my pans are from 2016 and 2018. My newer tube set didn't include Burnt Umber or Mars Brown so I'm not sure if tubes are better or worse. I love Sennelier's paints for their smooth blending, but I found their earth browns and reds (other than Caput Mortum) to be fairly pale or weaker and less granulating than other brands. I go for Sennelier when I want delicate layering and smooth gradients, but I don't count on them for deep rich or granulating earths. To be fair every brand has some variances in powder supplies over the years. I have bought replacement tubes for certain colors from Sennelier and Daniel Smith especially that were nothing like the first tube I tried. It's quite possible that I got a good batch and you got a bad batch from White Nights. I'm curious though so next time I'm ordering more I'll check to see if the new stock is not as nice as my old pans.
@@KimberlyCrick Thank you for taking the time to answer so thoroughly! That is so interesting, it's hard to comprehend just how big of a difference there can be between batches of pigments. It's funny you mention having had that experience with Sennelier - I just got a tube of their Red Violet (PV16) since I wanted the version I have in a full pan for a smaller palette, and they are so different I had to pull put the label to make sure I wasn't mistaken about my pan. The new one is like a lighter, brighter and warmer version of Roman Szmal's Mineral Violet. It granulates some (less than before), and colour separates (pink and blue) in mid to light washes. My old one was just a warmer (like a mix between a standard PV16 and a pink PV14) granulating pink/purple. So that was a bust! 🤦 But good to know about their Caput Mortuum! It's a colour I'm very interested in exploring, but I just feel a bit overwhelmed by the many brands. I guess I could use a CCS for that one! ☺️ May I ask if you have a favourite? Well shoot, now I'm curious to see how those paints hold up, haha! I thought I had dismissed them for good 😂 In other words I'd be very interested to hear what you find! The White Nights paints are so hit-or-miss for me. I have a list of paints I love from them (thank you for the tip about their Chromium Green Oxide, it's beautiful!), and others that I am less than interested in, but seeing as they have updated some of their pigment mixes I have also been updating my opinion on them. Now I adore the Indigo, Payne's Grey and Perylene Violet because they are so textural and just, juicy, for lack of a better term. 😂
@@hannahthufvesson Both Winsor & Newton and Sennelier make a lovely Caput Mortum. Both were more granulating and had minor color separation in them compared to the more tame versions from WNights, DSmith and DVinci. The only version I would absolutely avoid is Schmincke's only because they decided to be weird and make it a multi-pigment mixture with PR206 Madder Brown so it's not really a good example of CMort. anymore!
I just love this series. It's always great to see the swatches side by side and I'm again amazed how big the differences really are. My favourite is the Schmincke one, the others are a bit too reddish for my taste and I use burnt Sienna to cover that spot. :)
Omgoodness. I just realized that I don't have a burnt umber on my daily working pallet. I have some somewhere on pallet or two. Lol. And I do landscapes and animals. Ha! I just add burnt sienna to raw umber. Thanks Oto.💜
Such a useful colour. I prefer the single pigment but I also use multi pigments paints I just like to be aware. Right now I only have Turner Artists for art grade but am hoping to get another nice one someday I find it’s works well but it is my only option right now aside from mixing my own from other paints. I think I like the m.graham from what I see as I don’t mind opacity and use a gouache mixed media with watercolour approach often, and where I live they are more available and affordable! Useful video thanks.
I definitely think of a colour like RS or MB have for burnt umber, I'd rather not have it red, and have sienna for that. As for pigments, I don't understand why you wouldn't do a single pigment. It's not a crazy interesting mix that it's worth it in my opinion, with all the good single pigment ones out there. If I want a mixed brown, that's easy enough to do myself.
i don't use burnt umber very often as a colour (i do a lot of illustration stuff, and tend to like to mix my own dark browns) but i do like it, and i really love this comparison! if i needed to replace the white nights burnt umber i've been using and enjoying, i would probably shoot for one of the cooler options like roman szmal or schmincke, just because i usually have a burnt sienna as my warmer/more orangey earth :>
I have two burnt umbers, one from Schmincke, and another one 'transparent umber' from the same brand as well. I am pretty happy with them, but I am not too picky about browns. Unlike blues, where I fuss about tiniest details of tones and textuers. However, I would not want any nickel azo yellow in my earths!
Of the brands I have, I prefer the da vinci. It is a nice in-between burnt umber and burnt sienna, so I only need the one on the palette. I have tried several other brands and I just don't love brown shades overall, but I do like to make grey by mixing burnt umber/sienna and ultramarine. I have a feeling you will see the biggest difference in the mixing portion, between the single pigment paints and the multi pigment. I have a feeling that py150 is gonna take over when mixing. Can't wait to see :) Thanks for the video! Happy painting :)
You read my mind! DaVinci just makes such a perfect general use brown, it's often the only one I reach for in my collection. It makes amazing grey to near-black mixtures with ultramarine that can have really interesting color separating properties in wet washes. I think it's a really nice convenient starting point for skin tones too. I've ended up with so many Burnt Umbers and Siennas from buying pre made pan sets, none really come close to being "the one" brown I need like DV's.
Hi Dr. Oto. I have been watching your videos to learn what are the best choices regarding paint purchase. I have a chance to buy a new set and I love vibrant colours. I am looking at both the Kremer and Daniel Smith 24 set. I have to have them shipped. They are a birthday present so I can splurge a bit. thank you
Rewatching this video and I'm so torn between Holbein and Da Vinci. D.V is so pigmented but Holbein is so smooth! Did you ever end up finding a perfect Burnt Umber?
W+N is THE colour I think of burnt umber, but frankly when I got to know other paint manufacturers, I realised just how awfully gummy it feels. So I guess I'm lookingfor that colour, but with consistency of QoR/da Vinci? ETA: in case of sennelier- it's not chalk, it's brightner. If you ever wondered why sennelier always seem so ... bright. They add something to mix, but it's not chalk.
very surprising, the color variations. i thought burnt umber was supposed to be a desaturated brown like the roman szmal. yet so many are reddish like a burnt sienna almost!
Did you find Sennelier Burnt Umber to be week? It seems to be an issue for several people on the internet, and I didn't notice you talking about it. If you could let me know - I would greatly appreciate it. I like the texture it has and the vibrant mixes, so I might go for it even if it is weaker.
Bubbles and all the stripes are because of the paper ( which is very bad ). Do I use my Porsche to cross a wood path with 290 kmh. On the German highway its okay and every car will go better. PAPER is the way to a good aquarelle painting. Waterford, Milford, Hahnemuehleand Arches make 70 percent of colour impression. Cotton is a must ans sizing outside and inside !!!!
Even though I mix my own browns, I would pick Burnt Umber over Burnt Sienna when it comes comes to mixing it with Ultramarine any day. I like Holbein's, Daniel Smith's, and Qor's version. Very chocolatey!
The Holbein one looks kind of chalky and not so vibrant. I have M graham version as I read somewhere it’s one of the best - but it smells horrid. Metallic like blood. Ugh.
