How to Make Sienna
Earth red-brown - the iron-oxide pigment named for Siena, Italy, used since prehistoric cave painting.
Recipe: Iron oxide pigment (PBr7) - or Red + Yellow + Blue (5:3:1)
The canonical recipe is to use the pigment directly. Buy a tube labelled Raw Sienna for the natural pigment, or Burnt Sienna for the warmer roasted version. Both are CI PBr7. To mix sienna from primaries: red + yellow + blue at 5:3:1 produces a raw-sienna-adjacent colour. For burnt sienna, shift to 5:2 red:yellow and add a touch of ivory black or burnt umber to deepen. Earth-pigment shortcut: Daniel Smith Italian Burnt Sienna, Winsor & Newton Burnt Sienna, or Old Holland Burnt Sienna are all the canonical roasted earth pigment, each behaving slightly differently in mixing.
What Is Sienna?
Sienna is one of the oldest named pigments in art history. It is a natural earth pigment - iron oxide with small amounts of manganese - extracted historically from the hills around Siena in central Italy. Prehistoric cave paintings used it. The Italian Renaissance used it. Every Old Master from Giotto onward used it. The pigment exists in two forms: raw sienna (the unburnt, slightly cooler form, around #A0522D for the warm version or #B57F2D for the cooler form) and burnt sienna (the roasted form, around #8A3324, redder and warmer). CSS lists sienna at #A0522D, which is the value the site uses for the canonical sienna page. The burnt sienna page at /shades/burnt-umber/ covers the dedicated burnt earth pigment separately. In paint applications, sienna is the foundational earth pigment for landscape, portraiture, and architectural illustration. The colour also names the trademark Tuscan-stucco wall colour seen across central Italy.
Variations of Sienna
Raw Sienna
#B57F2D
PBr7 unburnt pigment, or Yellow + Red + small Blue
Burnt Sienna
#8A3324
PBr7 burnt pigment, warmer and redder
Light Sienna
#C28B5C
Sienna + Yellow Ochre + White (3:1:1)
Making Sienna in Different Media
Acrylic Paint
Full guide →Golden Heavy Body Raw Sienna or Burnt Sienna are the cleanest acrylic options. Liquitex and Winsor & Newton Galeria both offer raw and burnt sienna at competitive quality. Mix on a palette knife - sienna pigments interlock with other earth pigments without muddying.
Oil Paint
Full guide →Old Holland Raw Sienna and Burnt Sienna are the premium oil options. Michael Harding Italian Burnt Sienna is closer to the original Tuscan-earth colour. In oil, sienna glazes beautifully over a warm yellow ochre underpainting - this is the classic Italian Renaissance underpainting recipe.
Watercolour
Full guide →Daniel Smith Italian Burnt Sienna is the gold standard - high pigment load, slightly granulating, transparent at dilution. Daniel Smith Raw Sienna is its slightly cooler counterpart. Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolour Burnt Sienna is the most economical entry-level option.
Food Colouring
Full guide →Burnt sienna translates directly to a popular gingerbread-house frosting colour. For sienna buttercream: 3 drops red + 2 drops yellow gel + a teaspoon of natural-colour cocoa powder per cup of frosting. AmeriColor Copper plus a drop of Burgundy is the closest gel-only single-bottle approximation.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- 1Confusing raw sienna and burnt sienna - raw is cooler and yellower; burnt is warmer and redder. They are visibly different and behave differently in mixing.
- 2Substituting yellow ochre for raw sienna - yellow ochre is more saturated yellow and less brown; the substitution shifts the mix toward muted yellow rather than sienna.
- 3Using cadmium red for the mixing recipe - cadmium red is opaque and bright; for sienna, a more earthy red oxide or transparent quinacridone gives a closer match.
- 4Treating sienna as a yellow-brown - it is specifically a red-brown earth pigment. The warm undertone is the defining character.
Try It in the Mixer
Caramel
RGB(213, 115, 109)
Paint mode uses an approximate RYB subtractive model. Results are a close approximation - actual pigment mixing varies by brand and opacity.
Pre-loaded with the Sienna recipe. Adjust the sliders to fine-tune.
Related Shades
Colour recipes are approximations. Real pigment mixing varies by brand, opacity, and surface. Always test on a sample first.