The different variants of yellow have been slowly increasing in their popularity in recent months as yellow becomes more and more popular in different types of arts and crafts. This has resulted in a number of different questions about the various yellows as well as requests for different color comparisons.
One of the main comparisons that we have seen requested time and time again is a naples yellow vs yellow ochre comparison. With so many people reaching out and both Naples yellow and yellow ochre having so many options for various types of painting as well as arts and crafts, we have decided to publish this article to try and help as many of of our readers as possible.
We know that we have a large number of beginners who read out content as well as people who are on tight budgets so you may not always have the ability to just add multiple tubes of paint to your collection. We hope that this article will be able to help you choose if you want to add Naples yellow or yellow ochre to your collection to ensure that you are making the correct choice for your needs.
Naples Yellow Vs Yellow Ochre Comparison!
The main difference between Naples yellow and yellow ochre is that Naples yellow is more of a dark yellow or gold where as yellow ochre is a regular yellow. There are different hues of Naples yellow with some being darker than others though but they all tend to be darker than yellow ochre.
Regular naples yellow is actually a very unique yelllow due to the pigments used in it with very few other yellows being able to match it. The various darker and lighter hues of Naples yellow paint that are on the market do a decent job opening up this unique look of the color too.
When it comes to yellow ochre, it is essentially just a regular yellow that is not particularly dark or particularly light. This can work in your favour as a regular yellow tends to offer you excellent versatility in your paint collection due to it mixing so well with the majority of other colors out there.
The Naples Yellow Color!
Although the price of naples yellow paint does tend to fluctuate depending on the prices of its base pigments, it has remained low for the last few years keeping its price inline with the majority of other paint tubes. This has opened the color up to a wide range of artists including beginners and people on a budget allowing them to experiment with this great color.
Some brands will only offer the normal naples yellow color in their collection to their customers but many brands do now offer the darker and lighter hues of naples yellow. Although they will come down to personal preference, some people do tend to prefer them over regular naples yellow.
Due to naples yellow already being dark for a yellow, the darker hue is not as popular as the regular naples yellow color or its lighter hues due to the darker hue only having some very niche use cases. On top of this, you can usually darken up regular naples yellow with a little brown paint to get very close to the dark hue too further reducing its potential customer base.
The Yellow Ochre Color!
Yellow ochre is one of the core earthy colors that has managed to stand the test of time maintaining its popularity amongst artists for decades. Although there was a spike in the price of yellow ochre about five years back due to issues with the supply of its base pigments, things have normalised and the paint is back to its regular price now.
That said, we do have an article going over how you can make your own yellow ochre paint if that is something that you would be interested in. The process does tend to be quicker and easier than most people think but it does usually tend to workout to cost around the same as a tube of yellow ochre in the end so most people just buy a pre-made tube.
The main advantages of yellow ochre over naples yellow is that it is a more consistent color due to not having hues while also offering additional versatility due to its lighter shade. LIghter shades tend to mix better with most other colors than the darker ones like naples yellow that can usually overwhelm lighter colors.
What Is The Difference Between Naples Yellow And Yellow Ochre?
When put head to head, both colors have their use cases in painting and general arts and crafts with both also having a sizeable user base. The differences in the use cases of the two paint colors give them different use cases with naples yellow usually being for darker work or needing a hint of gold in your work where as yellow ochre can be used in a wide range of situations.
Although this may lead people to think that yellow ochre is more popular than naples yellow, they are actually just about as popular as each other. This is due to there being plenty of regular yellow paint options that compete with yellow ochre where as there are no real competitors for naples yellow.
This means that the majority of people who do want a darker yellow will opt for something like naples yellow but people who want a regular yellow have a number of options. Although we do personally feel that yellow ochre is one of the better regular yellows, it is in a group of about five with the other four having large user bases too.
Should You Use Naples Yellow Or Yellow Ochre?
When it comes to if you should use one color over the other, it will depend more on what you are wanting to do for your particular piece of artwork. Each color has a relatively unique use case with little overlap between the two even though they are both shades of yellow.
The unique dark look of naples yellow does score it points and make it a very popular option for anyone who will be painting dark yellow or gold on a regular basis. There are very few colors that are as clear and unique as naples yellow with it pretty much dominating the dark yellow paint options.
On the flip side of this though, if you are a beginner or you are on a budget then yellow ochre really is an excellent option. It is a great yellow but it also mixes well with a wide range of different colors allowing you to make a ton of different colors with your yellow ochre when mixed with other paints in your collection. If you add a little brown or black to yellow ochre you can get it close to naples yellow too helping you get that dark yellow although it tends not to be as good as actual naples yellow.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over our naples yellow vs yellow ochre comparison to a close. We feel that both colors do rightfully have a large user base with both colors also having plenty of use cases. The correct option for you is going to depend on a number of things but we feel most of our readers would do well to have yellow ochre in their paint collection due to the versatility that it offers you.
