How do you identify ochre?
ochre, a native earth coloured with hydrated iron oxide. It varies in colour from pale yellow to deep red, brown, and violet. There are two kinds: one has a clayey basis, while the other is a chalky earth. The former variety is in general the richer and purer in colour of the two.
Where is ochre found?
Where is ochre found? Ochre occurs naturally in rocks and soil — essentially in any environment where iron minerals have pooled and formed, Pettitt said. "It can be found in valley edges, eroding out of cliffs [or even] in caves eroding out of the bedrock," Pettitt told Live Science.
Which is ochre color?
Ochre is a series of brown, yellow and red colors that are produced by clay pigments that contain ferric oxide, also known as rust.
Is ochre red or yellow?
Ochre is thought generally to be red, but in fact is a naturally-occurring yellow mineral pigment, consisting of clay, siliceous materials and the hydrated form of iron oxide known as limonite.
What does the color ocher look like?
It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced by this pigment, especially a light brownish-yellow. A variant of ochre containing a large amount of hematite, or dehydrated iron oxide, has a reddish tint known as "red ochre" (or, in some dialects, ruddle).
What is the difference between ocher and ochre?
Ocher and ochre are different spellings of the same word, referring to (1) any of several earthy mineral oxides of iron occurring in brown, yellow, or red and used as pigments, and (2) a moderate orange yellow. The only difference is that ocher is the American spelling while ochre is preferred outside the U.S.
Does ochre go with orange?
Orange with earthy tones and terracotta blue For further variations of the earthy palette, replace orange with reddish or yellowish colors, including ochre, or burnt or raw sienna. As for the walls, try to stick to creamy or beige, misty blue or soft terracotta.
What colours go with yellow Ochre?
Ocher varies in both tone and hue. It can be pale or dark, golden or almost brown. It looks great next to teal, burgundy red and cool grays and purples. Its richness makes it a lovely candidate for heavy fabrics such as velvet and brocade.
Is ochre a gold?
Gold Ochre is a distinctive, reddish, golden yellow from the ochre family. The name 'ochre' originates from the Greek meaning 'pale yellow', but there is nothing pale about this colour which can range from a light yellow, to a red, brown, and even a purple ochre.
Does ochre go with GREY?
Grey is one of the most popular choices to pair with ochre – light grey will really bring out the vibrancy, while darker greys will offer a subdued and sophisticated finish. If you're wanting something a little more dramatic, there's no shade of blue that ochre doesn't complement.
What does ochre color symbolize?
Some archaeologists think that ochre is a symbol of life and fertility. In some cultures, red ochre is used during rituals. Others suggest that red ochre is used for hunting success, with the red symbolizing the spilled blood of the prey after a hunt.
Is ochre still used today?
It is still used as a sunscreen today, for example, by the Ovahimba in Namibia. Ochre pigments were, and still are, widely used in paint and artwork. Many of the red and yellow pigments in rock art panels around the world are made with ochre-based paints.
How is ochre made?
He invented a process to make the pigment on a large scale. First the clay was extracted from open pits or mines . The raw clay contained about 10 to 20 percent ochre. Then he washed the clay to separate the grains of sand from the particles of ochre. The remaining mixture was then decanted in large basins, to further separate the ochre from the sand. The water was then drained, and the ochre was dried, cut into bricks, crushed, sifted, and then classified by colour and quality. The best quality was reserved for artists' pigments.
What is the name of the pigment that is used in ochre?
Modern ochre pigments often are made using synthetic iron oxide. Pigments which use natural ochre pigments indicate it with the name PY-43 (Pigment yellow 43) on the label, following the Colour Index International system. Limonite, a mineraloid containing iron hydroxide, is the main ingredient of all the ochre pigments.
What is ocher pigment?
Ochre ( / ˈoʊkər / OH-kər; from Ancient Greek: ὤχρα, from ὠχρός, ōkhrós, pale), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment which is a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown.
What pigments make Sienna dark brown?
Sienna contains both limonite and a small amount of manganese oxide (less than 5%), which makes it darker than ochre. Umber pigments contain a larger proportion of manganese (5-20%), which makes them a dark brown.
What is the name of the pigment that gives ochre its yellow color?
The major ingredient of all the ochres is iron (III) oxide-hydroxide, known as limonite, which gives them a yellow colour. 2O, is a hydrated iron hydroxide (limonite) also called gold ochre.
How much ochre is in clay?
First the clay was extracted from open pits or mines. The raw clay contained about 10 to 20 percent ochre. Then he washed the clay to separate the grains of sand from the particles of ochre. The remaining mixture was then decanted in large basins, to further separate the ochre from the sand.
What is the difference between yellow and purple ochre?
Red ochre, Fe. 2O. 3, takes its reddish colour from the mineral hematite, which is an anhydrous iron oxide. Purple ochre is identical to red ochre chemically but of a different hue caused by different light diffraction properties associated ...
Upholstery
If you want to use ochre to make a bold impact in a room, then the best way to achieve this is with a statement piece of upholstered furniture.
Accent wall
An ochre accent wall can be a really distinctive feature in a room that is otherwise quite neutral. A charcoal-painted room will look modern and stylish with an ochre accent wall, and the color will help to prevent the space from feeling too dark or gloomy.
Accessories
Since ochre is a heavily pigmented color, you might find it is too intense to use as the main color in a room. However, the intensity of this shade is what makes it such a great accent color because it stands out and makes a bold impact when used correctly.
Soft furnishings
Ochre is a deep color that looks stunning in a wide range of fabrics which can be used to achieve a variety of styles when used for soft furnishings. For a vintage or retro look, choose ochre corduroy and pair it with other warm colors like brown and orange.
Cream
Cream is a good choice of background color to use with ochre accents. It has a warm temperature, like ochre, and so these colors, when used together, can make a room feel cozy and inviting while still being bright and spacious.
Rust red
Rust red is a shade of red that has brown-orange tones. It is a warm color that feels more casual compared to most other reds. Use this as an accent shade in an ochre room, for example, rust-colored cushions in a room with ochre and cream wallpaper.
Terracotta
Terracotta is a more orange version of rust red. It sits somewhere between red and burnt orange, and it is another warm shade that creates harmony alongside ochre.
Historical Use of Ochre Color
In ancient times, a variety of cultures around the globe employed yellow and red ochre colors.
How to Use Ochre in Designing Your Home
According to some sources, ochre may have been the first hue ever used in painting.
Ochre in Fashion
Colors like ochre are unique in that they appear in nature, but have blended into human fashion trends.
Prehistoric and Historic Uses
Natural Earth Pigments
- Before the 18th and 19th century, most pigments used by artists were of natural origin, made up of mixtures of organic dyes, resins, waxes, and minerals. Natural earth pigments like ochres consist of three parts: the principle color-producing component (hydrous or anhydrous iron oxide), the secondary or modifying color component (manganese oxides within umbers or carbonaceou…
How Old Is Ochre use?
- Ochre is very common on archaeological sites worldwide. Certainly, Upper Paleolithic cave art in Europe and Australia contain the generous use of the mineral: but ochre use is much older. The earliest possible use of ochre discovered so far is from a Homo erectussite about 285,000 years old. At the site called GnJh-03 in the Kapthurin formation of Kenya, a total of five kilograms (11 …
Ochre and Human Evolution
- Ochre was part of the first art of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) phase in Africa called Howiesons Poort. The early modern human assemblages of 100,000-year-old MSA sites including Blombos Caveand Klein Kliphuis in South Africa have been found to include examples of engraved ochre, slabs of ochre with carved patterns deliberately cut into the surface. Spanish paleontologist Carl…
Identifying The Sources
- The yellow-red-brown ochre pigments used in paintings and dyes are often a mixture of mineral elements, both in their natural state and as a result of deliberate mixing by the artist. Much of recent research on ochre and its natural earth relatives has been focused on identifying the specific elements of a pigment used in a particular paint or dye. Determining what a pigment is …
Sources
- Bu K, Cizdziel JV, and Russ J. 2013. The Source of Iron-Oxide Pigments Used in Pecos River Style Rock Paints. Archaeometry55(6):1088-1100.
- Buti D, Domenici D, Miliani C, García Sáiz C, Gómez Espinoza T, Jímenez Villalba F, Verde Casanova A, Sabía de la Mata A, Romani A, Presciutti F et al. 2014. Non-invasive investigation of a pre-His...
- Bu K, Cizdziel JV, and Russ J. 2013. The Source of Iron-Oxide Pigments Used in Pecos River Style Rock Paints. Archaeometry55(6):1088-1100.
- Buti D, Domenici D, Miliani C, García Sáiz C, Gómez Espinoza T, Jímenez Villalba F, Verde Casanova A, Sabía de la Mata A, Romani A, Presciutti F et al. 2014. Non-invasive investigation of a pre-His...
- Cloutis E, MacKay A, Norman L, and Goltz D. 2016. Identification of historic artists' pigments using spectral reflectance and X-ray diffraction properties I. Iron oxide and oxy-hydroxide-rich pigme...
- Dayet L, Le Bourdonnec FX, Daniel F, Porraz G, and Texier PJ. 2015. Ochre Provenance and Procurement Strategies During The Middle Stone Age at Diepkloof Rock Shelter, South Africa…
Overview
Ochre , or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced by this pigment, especially a light brownish-yellow. A variant of ochre containing a large amount of hematite, or dehydrated iron oxide, has a reddish tint known a…
Earth pigments
Ochre is a family of earth pigments, which includes yellow ochre, red ochre, purple ochre, sienna, and umber. The major ingredient of all the ochres is iron(III) oxide-hydroxide, known as limonite, which gives them a yellow colour.
• Yellow ochre, FeO(OH)·nH 2O, is a hydrated iron hydroxide (limonite) also called gold ochre.
Historical use in art and culture
Yellow and red ochre pigment was used in prehistoric and ancient times by many different civilizations on different continents. Evidence of the processing of ochre to a lesser extent, in Africa and Europe has been dated by archaeologists to 300,000 years ago, evidence of use in Australia is dated to 50,000 years ago, and new research has uncovered evidence in Asia that is dat…
Modern history
The industrial process for making ochre pigment was developed by the French scientist Jean-Étienne Astier in the 1780s. He was from Roussillon in the Vaucluse department of Provence, and he was fascinated by the cliffs of red and yellow clay in the region. He invented a process to make the pigment on a large scale. First the clay was extracted from open pits or mines. The raw clay contained about 10 to 20 percent ochre. Then he washed the clay to separate the grains of san…
See also
• Falu red
• Female cosmetic coalitions
• Iron(III) oxide
• List of colors
• List of inorganic pigments
External links
• Pigments through the ages
• A recipe for red ochre paint.
• Aboriginal Art Online Use of ochres in traditional Aboriginal art.
• National Museum of Australia Collection of ochre samples.