Yellow ochre is a classic oil painting color that has been used by artists for centuries. It has a rich, warm, earthy tone that works well in a variety of painting styles and subjects. Many beginning painters wonder what colors they need to mix to create the perfect yellow ochre hue. Luckily, with a few basic paints on hand, it’s easy to mix up this versatile color.
Understanding Yellow Ochre
So what exactly is yellow ochre? It’s made from a natural clay containing iron oxide, which gives it its distinctive golden yellow color. The shade of yellow can vary depending on the mineral content of the clay. Paint manufacturers will often synthesize the hue by combining synthetic iron oxides with fillers and additional pigments.
Yellow ochre sits right between the brighter lemon yellows and the deeper golds on the color spectrum. It’s much more muted and earthy than primary yellow hues. The color is associated with autumn leaves, harvest, and sunsets. But it also has old world feel, like ancient manuscripts or unearthed artifacts.
In painting, yellow ochre is very versatile. It can be used to paint golden fields, autumn trees, sun-warmed buildings, or neutrally-colored skin tones. The color is transparent, so it works well for glazing over other hues to create depth and luminosity. Yellow ochre is also useful for shading and contrast when mixed with brighter colors.
Mixing Yellow Ochre Oil Paint
Luckily, yellow ochre is one of the easier oil paint colors to mix. You only need three base pigments on hand to create the perfect hue:
- Cadmium yellow or another warm primary yellow
- Burnt sienna
- White
Here is a step-by-step guide to mixing up this versatile color yourself:
Step 1: Start with a warm yellow
Squeeze out a dab of cadmium yellow or another warm, primary yellow shade like cadmium lemon or Indian yellow. This will form the base of the yellow ochre mix.
Step 2: Add burnt sienna
Take a small amount of burnt sienna and mix it into the yellow base color. The burnt sienna has warm reddish-brown tones that will neutralize and mute the brightness of the yellow.
Step 3: Add white
Next, mix in some white oil paint. The white will lighten up the glaze and also make the color more opaque. Add white slowly until you achieve the desired muted, earthy yellow tone.
Step 4: Adjust color as needed
Finally, look at the resulting mix to determine if you’ve hit the perfect yellow ochre hue. If it still looks too bright, keep adjusting by adding more burnt sienna. If it’s gotten too brown, mix in a touch more yellow. The proportions can vary depending on the effect you want. Mixing is an art so don’t be afraid to experiment!
Once you’ve created the ideal yellow ochre color, you can transfer it to your palette for painting. Store any leftover mix in an airtight container so you can use it again later.
Achieving Different Tones of Yellow Ochre
By adjusting the ratio of the three base pigments, you can mix up different shades and tints of yellow ochre:
More muted tone
Add more burnt sienna to create a deeper, more earthy yellow ochre. The higher proportion of burnt sienna gray down the yellow shade.
Lighter, warmer tone
Use more cadmium yellow and white to achieve a lighter, brighter yellow ochre. This gives it a sunnier, more golden tone.
Greenish-gray ochre
Incorporate a small amount of viridian or sap green into the mix to dull it down into a olive-gray ochre tone. Great for muted landscape colors.
Reddish ochre
Stir a little alizarin crimson or cadmium red into the mix to cut the yellow and make it a bit more ruddy and orange. Perfect for autumnal subjects.
Dark, rich ochre
Add extra burnt sienna and just a touch of ultramarine blue to create a deeper, antiqued ochre with a bit of complexity. Wonderful for old master-style painting.
Buying Yellow Ochre vs. Mixing
While it’s fun and educational to mix your own yellow ochre, you may want to purchase a tube of the pre-made color if:
- You need a large quantity of yellow ochre for a painting.
- You want to save time in the painting process.
- You need a very precise, consistent hue.
Look for a high-quality brand of oil paint like Winsor & Newton, Gamblin, or Michael Harding to ensure you get an accurate, pure yellow ochre pigment. Student grade paints can have more filler and vary in hue.
Painting with Yellow Ochre
Once you’ve acquired yellow ochre oil paint, either through mixing or buying, here are some great ways to use it:
Backgrounds and landscapes
Yellow ochre can quickly lay in a sunny, earthy ground for landscape paintings. Try a wash of yellow ochre and white for fields and hills.
Skintones
The muted yellow hue is perfect for painting softly lit skin. Layer yellow ochre into more pinkish and tannish shades to create convincing skintones.
Shading
Add yellow ochre to darker browns and blues to make effective shadow mixes. Its transparency allows colors underneath to show through.
Glazing over other colors
Glaze yellow ochre over top of other paint layers to subtly shift a hue. This can knock back brights or impart a golden glow.
Warming up colors
Mix just a dab of yellow ochre into any color you want to shift warmer. Especially useful for toning down blues and greens.
Conclusion
Whether you prefer to mix it yourself or buy it ready-made, yellow ochre is an essential hue for any painter’s palette. Mastering this versatile, earthy color is a milestone for both beginning and advanced artists. With its rich pigment and warm undertones, yellow ochre can enhance and unify nature scenes, portraits, still lifes, and more. So give this classic color a try on your next artistic adventure!
| Color 1 | Color 2 | Resulting Mix |
|---|---|---|
| Cadmium Yellow | Burnt Sienna | Yellow Ochre |
| More Cadmium Yellow | Less Burnt Sienna | Lighter, Warmer Yellow Ochre |
| Less Cadmium Yellow | More Burnt Sienna | Muted, Earthy Yellow Ochre |
