What makes a colour earthy
Earthy tones are the colours of soil, clay, bark and dry grass: ochres, siennas, umbers, terracottas and olives. They sit in the warm half of the wheel, from red-brown through yellow to olive green, but they are never at full brightness. Something has knocked them back. That greyed, slightly dirty quality is exactly what makes them feel natural.
Historically these were the first pigments people painted with, dug straight out of the ground: iron oxides that give yellow ochre, red earth and the siennas and umbers. You can still buy them as tubes, but you can also mix every one of them from a basic set of primaries.
The technique
Earthy tones are bright colours that have been knocked back. Start with the bright version of the hue, then add a little of its complement (the colour opposite it on the wheel). The complement cancels some of the brightness without turning the mix grey or black. Add it in small steps: it is far easier to dull a colour a bit more than to brighten one you've taken too far.
Shortcut tubes
If you mix earth colours a lot, Yellow Ochre and Burnt Sienna are worth owning. Both are cheap, opaque and lightfast, and they save mixing time. Add them to your palette below and every recipe on this page will use them where they help.
When to use them
- Landscapes and still life, where most real-world colour is far less saturated than it looks.
- As a calm base that makes a few bright accents look brighter.
- Skin tones, which are mostly earth colours lightened with white.
- As an underpainting: a thin wash of sienna or ochre gives a warm glow under later layers.