Deep brown, light brown, black brown, chocolate brown, red brown, chestnut, sable, and near black. This is one of the largest single-pigment paint categories in artists' oils. We think of this as brown earth.

Names for paints with PBr7 commonly include Burnt Siennas, Brown Ochres, Burnt Umbers, Raw Umbers, Violet Hematites, Burnt Yellow Ochres (which turn reddish), Raw Siennas, Cassel Earths, Van Dyke Browns, Turkey Umbers, and more. Each paint name has a sort of unofficial cannon of attributes associated with it.

We must briefly caution that burnt umber as well as other umbers may cause problems in oil painting. That goes beyond the scope of this entry so consult conservation experts for more.

Paints made with PBr7 can range from yellow, orange, red, brown, violet, or even greenish.

In terms of working properties the texture and the opacity can vary almost as much as the hues.

The Artist's Guide to Health and Safety has more information about health issues associated with Iron and Manganese, and if there are other impurities the relevant sections need to be consulted. Her updated work can be found through her site.

Finally, there is a disturbing trend wherein paint companies are making blends to emulate earth tones instead of using earth tones. Bear in mind that the blends used to emulate the earths will not have the same stability.