Last week in Tolerable Discussions, I asked what color people most associate with the month of November, and among the many responses, one stood out: you guessed it, burnt umber.
The greatest thing about burnt umber is how visceral the name is. “Umber” is a wonderful word to say simply for the hum of it, and then it gets burnt. My friends, this is beyond simple carmelization. What a rich, aromatic, earthy set of imagery in a single two-part phrase. I’m getting carried away. It’s just a color.
Where does the name come from? There are two theories:
It is often thought that Raw Umber is named after Umbria, the mountainous region in central Italy where it was first extracted in the 15th century, however, another theory is that the name Umber bears a connection to this colour’s use in the painting of shadows. Much like the word umbrella, it shares the Latin root for shadows; ‘umbra’.
As the other part of the name suggests, burnt umber is umber that has been heated enough to darken its color. Raw umber has greenish qualities that are reduced once it’s burnt.1 I won’t drag this out, but suffice it to say, umber is a fascinating color. Its use goes back to prehistoric cave painting, and the “Criticism” section of the Wikipedia entry is quite amusing. People have strong feelings about this.
Have a colorful day, and if you enjoy Steely Dan, listen to “The Caves of Altamira” 🦬🦬🦬