Introducing Burnt Sienna & Raw Sienna - Inspired by the land itself

For years, the perfect red was a ghost we couldn't quite catch. But we knew we needed a Burnt Sienna and Raw Sienna for our color chart. 

In the studio, the pursuit was driven by a purist’s philosophy: we were determined to find a single, solitary pigment that captured the specific warmth and depth we envisioned. We tested sample after sample, sourcing earth and oxides from around the world. Each one was close, yet missing a vital resonance. They were either too orange, too muddy, or simply flat. The obsession was to find that "one true source." We had a few that were close, but as soon as we took them to the mill the undertones would leave us disappointed.

But color, as we eventually learned, rarely exists in isolation.

The breakthrough didn't happen in the studio; it happened on a short vacation where we rented a campervan to the visit places we'd never been in Arizona and Utah. Surrounded by the silence of the canyons and rock formations, we took some time away to immerse ourselves in the geology of these ancient, iron-rich formations.

(Photo: Wandering the canyons of the Valley of Fire in Arizona.)

As Pablo walked the trails, navigating the gravel and the towering red monoliths, the answer presented itself. He stopped to look—really look—at the stones. He realized that the vibrating, intense heat of the canyon walls wasn't the result of a single element. It was a complex interplay of light, shadow, and varying mineral compositions layered over millennia.

The landscape wasn't singing one note; it was a chord.

Standing there, amidst the dust and the rock, Pablo understood that to recreate this specific feeling, we had to abandon our rigid "single pigment" rule. The color we were chasing required the complexity of a blend.

We returned to the studio with a new direction. We stopped looking for the perfect ingredient and started focusing on the perfect harmony of iron oxides in different proportions (PR 101 & PY 43). The result is a color that doesn't just sit on the canvas; it breathes with the same depth as the earth that inspired it. It was a long road to get here, but looking at the final tube, we know it was the only way.

(Photo: Pablo taking color notes directly from the source.)