Ochre
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Ochre or Ocher is a golden-yellow or light yellowish brown colour. The word is from the Greek ochros, meaning "yellow". Ochre is natural earth pigment containing hydrated iron oxide.
Meaning of ochre
The use of ochre is particularly intensive: it is not unusual to find a layer of the cave floor impregnated with a purplish red to a depth of eight inches. The size of these ochre deposits raises a problem not yet solved. The colouring is so intense that practically all the loose ground seems to consist of ochre. One can imagine that the Aurignacians regularly painted their bodies red, dyed their animal skins, coated their weapons, and sprinkled the ground of their dwellings, and that a paste of ochre was used for decorative purposes in every phase of their domestic life. We must assume no less, if we are to account for the veritable mines of ochre on which some of them lived.
Tones of ochre colour comparison chart
- Banana Yellow (Yellow Ochre) (Human Feces) (Hex: #CCCC33) (RGB: 204, 204, 51)
- Ochre (Hex: #CC7722) (RGB: 204, 119, 34)
Ochre Media
Hellocker- Pigment
Yellow ochre (Goldochre) pigment
Himba woman covered with a traditional ochre pigment
Ochre paintings in the Tomb of Nakht in Ancient Egypt (15th century BC).
Yellow ochre was often used for wall paintings in Ancient Roman villas and towns.
Multicoloured ochre rocks used in Aboriginal ceremony and artwork. Ochre Pits, Namatjira Drive, Northern Territory
Limonite, a mineraloid containing iron hydroxide, is the main ingredient of all the ochre pigments.
Hematite is a more reddish variety of iron oxide, and is the main ingredient of red ochre.
- Manganesedioxidesample
Burnt and raw sienna. When limonite is roasted, it turns partially to the more reddish hematite and becomes red ochre or burnt sienna.
