Alternatives to burnt umber?
My go to black is French ultramarine and burnt umber. It's easy to pull it warm or cool, I like it. Current tubes of both are Gamblin. This latest painting has a lot of darks and so everything has that dull umber flatness. It feels horrible. I don't want to oil out all the time, and I don't use retouch varnish for technical reasons. So I have to live with it for now.
Does anyone know a good alternative to burnt umber?
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For a toned/stained surface I use a grey or rust red tinted water based metal primer.‘The rust red is used
here on my combo palette/bridge/mahl stick.
I used to use Rustoleum but the fumes were a knockout (outside with a mask).switched to this no odour water based, tinted metal primer.
I only use aluminium composite material now.
Denis
Red and Phthalo green makes a very "dark", without being an abyss on the canvas. Or Red and Paynes gray.
Industrial materials made to withstand outdoor (and even indoor) conditions were formulated for very different purposes than traditional art materials. There are many choices that paint manufacturers make that affect the outcome of a given product and paints produced on an industrial scale often use additives that are relatively economical and/or are the easiest to incorporate into the paint formulations. These additives can aid in creating a more workable paint and helps the paint film to withstand severe weather conditions and extreme exposure to light; however, these additives (i.e. antifungal agents, wetting agents, rheology modifiers, dispersants, anti-freezing agents, driers, thickeners, de-foamers, small additions of toxic solvents, etc.) can potentially lead to problematic consequences when these paints are used to create fine art that is intended to last for decades and centuries rather than a short time in a very hostile environment (i.e. 7-15 years).
Apologies. I don’t know what question I was answering above but it wasn’t asked.
Here is a better answer…
Last Updated: October 14, 2021 References
Black is a commonly used paint color, but you may not have any on hand or you may want a black that leans slightly toward another color. Black paint can be made with equal parts red, yellow, and blue paint mixed together on a palette. You can also mix complementary colors such as blue and orange, red and green, or yellow and purple. Mixing blue and brown can also result in a rich black.
Denis
Burnt umber is really a dark orange. So red and a small amount of yellow makes sence.
Also if you like to use another black, use (Ivory black).
It is a cool black and you can warm it up with red.
I use that all the time for my portraits.
I have never used burnt umber in my mix though, and as in some of suggestions above the colurs I use depend on if I want a warm or cool black.
The background in my last posted painting of a pair I mixed Ultra Marine Blue and Transparent Red Oxide.
PS. I dont use Geneva, have tried them by they are not for me, particularly as I often work in layer/glazes.
PBk31 (Perylene Black) and PBr25 (Benzimidazolone Brown) - W&N Artist oils have both pigments in their line.
PBk31 is a very dark green (near black on it's own) and PBr25 is like a Burnt Umber that tints with white to a red iron oxide type colour (so more chromatic than Burnt Umber). Mixed together they make a very good black and as both colours are naturally low in chroma it's easy not to overshoot like when using a Phthalo.