Is Burnt Sienna PBr 7 or PR 101?

This post came from a question someone had asked me recently. The person wanted a recommendation for a colour that's similar to Winsor & Newton's Burnt Sienna (PR 101) but has to be from Daniel Smith. He or she just prefer Winsor and Newton's hue over Daniel Smith's version.

These are the various Burnt Sienna and Burnt Sienna-like colours that I have from different companies. Schmincke Transparent Sienna is PR 101 instead of PBr 7, and Schmincke Burnt Sienna is PR101 and PBk9.

I started out using WN Burnt Sienna. Back then I wasn't really into pigment code. I just used whatever that was in my palette. When I switched over to DS Burnt Sienna, I was quite shocked that the colour was so different from WN's version. I didn't really think anything about it and continued using the DS version over the last few years.

Burnt Sienna is usually made with either PBr 7 or PR 101. Depending on how the pigment is treated, similar pigments can produce different colours, as you can see from the swatches above. Both DS Transparent Red Oxide and DS Transparent Brown Oxide use PR 101 but the former is more reddish.

Then there's DS English Red Ochre which uses PR 101 and looks like a more intense version of DS Burnt Sienna which uses PBr 7.

There are subtitles in all these Burnt Sienna-like colours.

Click for a larger view

Above are colour mixes created from Burnt Sienna with various blues, namely DS French Ultramarine, DS Phthalo Blue (Green Shade) and DS Cerulean Blue Chromium

Here's a more washed out version of DS and WN Burnt Sienna with French Ultramarine. On the side are Quinacridone Burnt Orange (PO 48) and Burnt Umber (PBr 7).

I'm actually not sure which Burnt Sienna I like more. I sort of prefer the WN Burnt Sienna with French Ultramarine, and the DS Burnt Sienna with Cerulean Blue Chromium. I'm not sure if my preference is due to the early days of me using only WN Burnt Sienna though.

Transparent Red Oxide is quite surprising to me. The mixes look pretty exciting with the granulation and colour separation. If you don't want too much excitement and want something more restraint then stick to the versions from DS and WN.