BURNT UMBER – ARTISTIC DENSE ACRYLIC COLOR

Burnt Umber - Artistic Dense Acrylic Color from AK interactive

The burnt umber of the Artistic Dense acrylic range is a dark brown with a cool undertone and one of the most used shades of the whole palette. The binder is acrylic, so the paint thins with water or with the medium of the same range. The dense consistency is deliberate: the range is built for the brush, for mixing your own tones and for working from a small palette from which the modeler derives the rest.

Why black is replaced on a model by a brown like this

Pure black is a trap on something reduced in scale. A real shadow is never without color - it always picks up a reflection of its surroundings and residual light. Black on a model cannot do that; the area goes dead and the detail in it disappears. That is why a shadow is mixed from a dark brown, or from a brown with a little blue, and pure black is kept at most for very small areas. Burnt umber is ideal for that: it is dark enough to carry a shadow, but it has a color of its own, so the area stays readable. The same logic applies going the other way - add a little white or ocher to umber and you get believable dirt with none of the gray deadness.

Where the shade belongs

On the shading of folds in uniforms and of skin on figures, on dark wood, on runs in seams and on the transitions between panels, on muddy deposits in the running gear. Heavily thinned, umber works as a dark glaze that unifies an area that has become too varied. Unthinned in a heavy coat it will, by contrast, fill fine engraving, so the rule of thin coats holds here too.

Use and who it is for

• Stir the paint thoroughly before use.
• Thin it with water for shadows and glazes; on solid areas lay it on thin.
• A base shade for modelers who mix their own palette.
• Suitable for figures, vehicles, wood and diorama elements.

Work in a ventilated space and use a respirator when spraying. Close the bottle carefully after use.