A set - Ancient Earth Color Set

A Set of New Earth Colors - A great addition to any painter's palette, this set offers eight colors imported from France, Italy and Cyprus, in a range of cool and warm tones. These new earth colors separate themselves from our traditional colors with their delicate versatility. 

Mined from old world quarries, the Ancient Earth Color Set lends itself to portrait painting as well as landscape painting. Containing primarily transparent and semi-transparent natural pigments, with their characteristic nuance, this set provides subtle shifts in tone that one may be looking for but cannot achieve with your typical earth colors that are synthetic or more opaque.

In the third image, an oil on canvas painting by Frans Hals, in 1626-28, Young Man holding a Skull (Vanitas) is an example of neutral earths and values of gray painted alla prima without a formal underpainting. National Gallery, London

Ancient Earth Color Set - Presented in a slim, cardboard box with foam lining for safe and easy transport. Eight 40ml size tubes: 

• French Golden Ochre - Richly warm and colorful transparent Natural Yellow Earth, producing gleaming radiant tints with white. Imparts subtle warmth to mixtures without adding shadow.
• French Ochre Havane - Burnt Natural Yellow Earth that's coppery gold yet subtle in mixing. Warm, transparent and slightly pink for soft color and delicate tints.
• Rosso Ercolano - Fiery Natural Red Earth from Italy, richly warm and yellow in tone and tint. Semi-transparent orange red for nuanced mixtures or colorful passages of warmth.
• Terre Verde Ancienne - Transparent and very subtle, genuine Italian Natural Green Earth that varies in true Bohemian style from a delicate yet deep earthy olive to more neutral cool tints.
• Terre Verde Brentonico - Transparent genuine Italian Natural Green Earth. Subtle in mixing with radiant blue tints, it sets off and plays against touches of copper, red, rose or pink in skin or hair.
• French Indian Red - Deep Natural Red Earth that's a warm reddish brown right out of the tube with cool maroon undertone and tints. Rich yet nuanced in mixing and semi-opaque.
• Cyprus Umber Red - Medium deep, warm Natural Brown Earth, semi-transparent and subtle in mixing. Offers great control in deepening mixtures while adding a touch of both warmth and color.
• Cyprus Umber Green - Delicate and warm raw Natural Brown Earth, that's wonderful for adding nuance to mixtures where you want the slightest more warmth and shadow. Elusive gray tints.

The first image is the Mines of Bruoux located in Gargas, France where the pigments are excavated...fourth and fifth images are Société des Ocres de France, the factory where the pigments are processed.

Visit our blog post Exploring Ancient Earths featuring each of the colors in this set paired with examples of Old Master paintings from museums around the world that show the use of these unique earth colors.