How to Mix Burnt Sienna

Burnt sienna is one of those colors every painter eventually needs. It shows up in tree bark, terracotta pots, rusted metal, autumn leaves, rich soil, and the shadow side of warm skin tones. The tube version is a roasted iron oxide pigment (PBr7) with a deep, reddish-brown character — but you don't actually need the tube.

Find a recipeBy Trycolors Team · Updated Apr 2026

Burnt Sienna Color Theory

Burnt sienna is a darkened, red-leaning orange. Pure orange pulled slightly toward red on the outer ring, then dragged inward toward black.

The outer ring shows pure, saturated colors. Moving toward the center adds black, so colors get darker and more muted. The very center is pure black.

Burnt sienna sits in the red-orange zone, pulled deep toward the dark center. On the outer edge this same hue is a fiery vermilion. Drag it halfway toward black and it becomes burnt sienna.

The highlighted zone shows the burnt sienna family. Move along the ring toward red for mahogany and chestnut shades, or toward orange for rust and terracotta. Move inward for deeper, shadow-tone variants.

Practice

Three Golden Heavy Body paints cover every recipe on this page.

PR108opaque

Cadmium Red Light

PY35opaque

Cadmium Yellow Medium

PB29semi-transparent

Ultramarine Blue

All recipes use Golden Heavy Body paints. Pay attention to opacity. Both Cadmium Red Light and Cadmium Yellow Medium are opaque, which keeps the mix solid and warm. If you swap in transparent versions, the Ultramarine Blue will overpower them and you'll end up with a dull grayish brown instead of warm burnt sienna. When using different brands, match the opacity first, then adjust ratios.

Why primaries?

Every recipe on this page uses primaries only — a red, a yellow, and a blue. Mixing burnt sienna from primaries teaches you how the color actually works: the red carries, the yellow softens, and the blue is what tips orange into earth. You could squeeze out a premixed Burnt Sienna from the tube instead, but you'd miss the understanding of why the color looks the way it does.

The general approach

Burnt sienna is a red-dominant mix. Start with red and add the other two paints to it. If you start from yellow or blue and try to mix up to red, you'll use a lot of paint and still not get there.

The yellow-to-red ratio controls the warmth. More yellow pushes toward rust and cinnamon. Less yellow keeps it in the red-brown zone. Either way, yellow should be the smallest of the three primaries by a noticeable margin.

Blue is the lever for darkness. A small amount of Ultramarine turns red-orange into burnt sienna. Too much and you've made brown or gray. Add it last, in small increments, and stop the moment the mix stops feeling warm.

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Three Shades of Burnt Sienna

Same three paints, different ratios. Shifting the red, yellow, and blue balance moves you across the burnt sienna spectrum — from bright cinnamon rust to deep mahogany.

Cinnamon Sienna

Heavy on red and yellow, barely any blue. A warm, fiery burnt sienna that leans toward cinnamon and rust.

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Classic Burnt Sienna

The reference shade. Three parts red to one part yellow, with one part blue to pull it into earth-tone territory.

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Deep Sienna

Five parts red to two parts blue keeps the warmth while the extra blue deepens the value. A darker, shadow-tone burnt sienna that holds onto its red character.

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Color Mixing Chart

See what every pair of colors makes — explore all combinations in one interactive grid.

Test Your Burnt Sienna Mixing Skills

Match the target burnt sienna shade by adjusting the paint ratios.

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Tips by Medium

Different paint types require different approaches.

Acrylic Tips

1Acrylic burnt sienna dries about 10% darker. Mix slightly lighter than your target to compensate.
2Start with red and add yellow to it — never the other way around. Yellow is hard to see against white and you'll overshoot on volume.
3Use a palette knife rather than a brush. Burnt sienna needs thorough mixing, and brushes trap pigment in the bristles.
4If the mix feels flat or lifeless, you've added too much blue. Bring it back with a touch of red and yellow in equal parts.

Common Mistakes When Mixing Burnt Sienna

If your burnt sienna looks off, here's what probably went wrong.

Most burnt sienna problems come from overusing blue. Blue is the strongest pigment in this mix, and even a small excess pushes the result out of burnt sienna territory and into plain brown or gray.

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Problem

Too much blue — looks dull brown, not burnt sienna

Solution

Add more red and a touch of yellow to bring the warmth back. Remember: the red should dominate. Blue is a seasoning, not a main ingredient.

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Problem

Too little blue — looks like bright orange or vermilion

Solution

Add a tiny bit more blue. You're close; burnt sienna is one small step from red-orange into earth territory.

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Problem

Too much yellow — looks like raw sienna or caramel

Solution

Add more red to push the mix back toward the red side. Yellow should support the red, not match it.

Watch: Mixing Burnt Sienna

See the mixing process in action before trying it yourself.

Skip the Mixing — Find Burnt Sienna Ready-Made

These pre-mixed paints are the closest match. No mixing required.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Orange and blue. Orange is already red plus yellow, so adding a small amount of blue (its complement) darkens and mutes it into burnt sienna. For more control over warmth, start from three primaries: red, yellow, and blue.

Mix red, yellow, and blue at roughly a 3:1:1 ratio. Red dominates, yellow warms the mix, blue darkens it. The exact ratio depends on your red — a warm, orange-leaning red like Cadmium Red Light pairs well with a medium yellow and a little Ultramarine Blue to land in burnt sienna territory.

Burnt sienna is a reddish-brown; burnt umber is a neutral-to-cool brown. The difference is temperature. Burnt sienna has more red and less blue in the mix. If you keep adding blue to burnt sienna, you eventually land on burnt umber.

Warm. Burnt sienna sits firmly on the warm side of the color wheel, between red and orange. The red carries the mix. If your burnt sienna feels cool or neutral, you've added too much blue.

Not really. Red and black produce a dark, muted red — more like maroon or oxblood than burnt sienna. Burnt sienna needs yellow in it to shift toward the orange-brown zone. Black just darkens; it doesn't move the hue toward earth tones.

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How to Mix Burnt Sienna

Why primaries?

The general approach

Cinnamon Sienna

Classic Burnt Sienna

Deep Sienna

Color Mixing Chart

Red Oxide

Transparent Red Iron Oxide

Red Oxide

Genuine Vermilion (Cinnabar) Red Medium Tone

Red Ochre

Ochre Red

English Red

Venitian Red

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