Art Spectrum Studio Blend Oil
Yellow Ochre 40ml
The most essential earth yellow: warm, opaque, and indispensable for landscape and skin.

Art Spectrum Studio Blend Oil Yellow Ochre 40ml is one of the most fundamental and historically important colours in oil painting: a warm, earthy, golden-brown yellow based on PY43 (natural iron oxide Yellow Ochre). Present in cave paintings and used by every major Western painter from the Renaissance forward, Yellow Ochre is the essential warm earth yellow for landscape, portraiture, and still life. It is darker and more muted than a primary yellow, earthier and more opaque than Raw Sienna, and warmer than Naples Yellow. In Australian landscape, Yellow Ochre is the literal colour of the earth: the ochre soil, sandstone country, and red-ochre rock that characterises vast areas of the Australian interior.

Pigment
PY43 (Yellow Ochre, natural iron oxide)
Opacity
Semi-opaque
Lightfastness
ASTM I
Drying
Medium-Fast
Natural earth pigments contain iron-based driers
★ Art Shed Staff Tip
Yellow Ochre is one of the most used colours in Australian landscape painting. It covers the warm ochre earth, pale sandstone, dry grass, and the warm ground colour visible through sparse inland vegetation. On its own it gives the colour of ochre soil and clay; mixed with French Ultramarine it gives the classic muted neutral greens of dry Australian bush; mixed with Burnt Sienna it gives warm, deep red-ochre earth. In portraiture, Yellow Ochre is a key component of warm skin mid-tones: mixed with Titanium White, Burnt Sienna, and a touch of Cadmium Red Hue it gives the warm, natural quality of medium skin tones under warm light.
Perfect For
Australian landscape: ochre earth, sandstone, dry grassPortrait: warm skin mid-tones and earth baseMixing naturalistic muted greens with blueWarm architectural colour: old stone, plaster, terracottaStill life: natural, warm earthy objectsFast-drying lean underpainting wash

What Makes This Colour Essential

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Earth Quality
The Classic Warm Earth Yellow
Yellow Ochre is the foundational warm earth yellow: muted, warm, and naturalistic. From the tube it reads as the colour of ochre clay and warm stone. No other colour gives the same earthy, natural warm yellow quality.
●
Opacity
Semi-Opaque
Semi-opaque, Yellow Ochre covers well in direct painting while remaining workable enough for blending. It can also be thinned for transparent washes, giving a warm amber-gold glaze similar to but more muted than Raw Sienna.
●
Drying Speed
Medium-Fast
As a natural earth pigment containing iron oxides, Yellow Ochre dries faster than most synthetic organic pigments. This is an advantage in landscape painting where multiple sessions may be needed and fast drying keeps work movable.
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Origin
Australian-Made Since 1966
Art Spectrum has manufactured artists' materials at their Epping, Victoria facility for over six decades. Studio Blend Oil is triple-milled in refined linseed oil with ASTM I rated pigments throughout the 26-colour range.

Mixing With Yellow Ochre

Yellow Ochre is one of the most versatile mixing colours in the Studio Blend range. Mixed with French Ultramarine in varying proportions it gives the full range of muted, natural neutral greens characteristic of Australian dry bush and inland vegetation. Mixed with Burnt Sienna it gives warm, deep red-ochre earth tones. Mixed with Titanium White it gives the warm creamy tones of pale sandstone and aged plaster. A touch of Yellow Ochre in any dark mix adds a subtle warm, earthy quality that prevents shadow colours from going flat or chalky.

In portrait painting, Yellow Ochre is the warm base of most skin tones. A basic fair-to-medium skin mix of Titanium White, Naples Yellow or Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, and a small amount of Cadmium Red Hue covers an enormous range of skin tones in warm light. For warm, outdoor-light portraiture, Yellow Ochre is often more convincing than Naples Yellow because its more earthy, less creamy character reads as natural skin colour under Australian summer light.

About Art Spectrum Studio Blend Oil: Melbourne Made Since 1966

Art Spectrum Studio Blend Oil is the rebrand of the former Art Prism range, with fresh new packaging and artwork. The formula is unchanged: same pigments, same linseed oil base, same manufacturing standards. Made in Epping, Victoria since 1966. The 26-colour range is fully compatible with all Art Spectrum oil mediums and varnishes, and is also available in 150ml tubes.

What makes Yellow Ochre so important in oil painting?

Yellow Ochre is the most fundamental warm earth yellow in oil painting history. It is versatile across every genre, lightfast, semi-opaque, and gives the natural warmth of earth, stone, and skin that no synthetic primary yellow can match. In Australian landscape, it is often the most heavily used colour after white.

What is the difference between Yellow Ochre and Raw Sienna?

Yellow Ochre is more opaque, darker, and more muted than Raw Sienna. Raw Sienna is brighter, more golden, and more transparent, sitting closer to a warm amber. Yellow Ochre reads as more distinctly earthy and is better for direct painting of ochre earth, stone, and warm skin mid-tones. Raw Sienna is better for transparent glazing and the warm golden-amber register.

Is Yellow Ochre good for Australian landscape?

Yes: it is arguably the single most important earth colour for Australian landscape. The ochre soil, red-ochre rock, pale sandstone, and dry grass of the Australian interior are all directly covered by Yellow Ochre and its mixes with Burnt Sienna and French Ultramarine. It is the earth colour of Australia.

Is Art Spectrum Studio Blend Oil the same as Art Prism?

Yes. Art Spectrum Studio Blend Oil is the direct successor to the Art Prism range with new packaging and artwork only. The formula, pigments, and linseed oil base are unchanged.

Is Yellow Ochre lightfast?

Yes. Art Spectrum Studio Blend Yellow Ochre carries an ASTM I lightfastness rating. PY43 (natural Yellow Ochre iron oxide) is one of the most permanent pigments known, with demonstrated stability over thousands of years in cave paintings.

Art Shed Online is an authorised Australian stockist of Art Spectrum products. All Art Spectrum Studio Blend Oil products are sourced through official distribution channels. We ship Australia-wide.

Available at Art Shed Online, Australia's specialist art supply store. Questions? Contact us at customerservice@artshedonline.com.au.

(APYO4)

SKU APYO4
Barcode # 93446204
Brand Art Spectrum
Shipping Weight 0.0500kg
Shipping Width 0.030m
Shipping Height 0.030m
Shipping Length 0.130m
Shipping Cubic 0.000117000m3

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