Urbane Bronze Question

4 years ago

How heavily does Urbane Bronze lean brown and under what lighting?
I don’t love brown, but several people have recommended I use urbane bronze on my main house exterior. I just can’t make a decision. Trying to decide between iron ore or urbane bronze (lots of white trim and black accents). Roof shingles are driftwood and feel like a gray/brown, not a brown/brown.
I’m leaning toward iron ore because that is a color I would use inside my house. Help please! Thank you!

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Lori A. Sawaya

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

Two very different colors.

Urbane Bronze is a dark Yellow. Where it 'lives' on the color wheel is over near the Yellow-Red hue family - this is where the perception of brown/brownish will come from - that is if it actually shows up as brownish.

"Brown" is commonly a classification of dark orange.

If it sat squarely in the Yellow-Red (orange) hue family there'd be no question you were gonna get brown.

However, Urbane Bronze can also show up as greenish - because it is factually a dark Yellow, not dark orange.

As we decrease the Chroma (colorfulness) in a Yellow hue family color, it gets cooler in temperature and that's where the green can come from.

It all depends on the light and context as far as how it will actually show up. Which is why it's always best to test.

Overtones and hue family are just as relevant to dark, low Chroma colors as they are to lighter and neutral colors.

So, this is a great question.

Iron Ore belongs to the Green-Yellow hue family. Light, mid tone and darker colors from the GY hue family are often perceived as being the most neutral. Meaning no discernible hue bias.

Iron Ore will - likely - show up for most people as an off-black or very dark grayed charcoal.

Nothing brownish about it.

And despite technically belonging to a hue family that carries "green" in its name, Iron Ore is less likely to show moments of green than Urbane Bronze. Because of its hue family - AND - because it has a chunk less Chroma (colorfulness)

Which also means Iron Ore is the more neutral in this comparison.

We know all this because we have the factual numeric hue, value, chroma notations as a framework and can apply it for predicting how colors can actually show up in different light sources, in different contexts for different sets of eyeballs.

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Comments (15)

Julie Moss
Original Author
4 years ago
Lori- thank you for all the details. Very interesting!
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Julie Moss
Original Author
4 years ago
So would urbane bronze present more as brown or green. I’m not a huge fan of brown, so o think that is why I’m resistant.
Would iron ore look good with certainteed driftwood shingles? Truly appreciate the help!
Stacey
4 years ago
Why don’t you get sample cans and put them on your exterior? That way you can look at them during hours in the day/night.
PRO
Lori A. Sawaya
4 years ago
So would urbane bronze present more as brown or green.

Could go either way, could end up both green-brownish (ish). Should be looking for both when testing.

Would iron ore look good with certainteed driftwood shingles?

Probably. Wouldn't want to say for sure without know the style, grade and tier of shingle. They have different levels
Julie Moss
Original Author
4 years ago
@Stacey - I tried that! The best I could do was get the peel and stick samples. SW said they no longer do samples, due to the paint shortage. Lowes was out of the base sample I needed…
Really appreciate the help ladies!
PRO
Lori A. Sawaya
4 years ago
Since you have a better understanding of each color, maybe try revisiting with the Samplize samples. Sounds to me that you like Iron Ore better - the idea of it and the color. Maybe another look with additional info will help.
Julie Moss
Original Author
4 years ago
I definitely do like Iron Ore better, I just fear it will clash with the room. But seeing it’s more neutral, maybe not. I’m going to need to pull the trigger and make a decision soon. AHHHH! Again, thank you Lori for all your help! You clearly know your stuff!
Trish Walter
4 years ago
I think with white and black Iron Ore would be better. Urbane Bronze is bronze which imo leans brown...I love it and have it in my house. We are building a barn and are planning to do the exterior Urbane Bronze. [Our house is Shoji White with Bronze Windows so we are going opposite for the barn].
Stacey
4 years ago
Julie, isn’t iron ore almost a soft black?
Stacey
4 years ago
Driftwood shingles to me look brown/gray?
PRO
Jeffrey R. Grenz, General Contractor
4 years ago
Ask for addresses of this color installed. The real deal vs the sample always surprises clients. They match but the scale of a real roof in daylight 5000-6500k vs background is different that expected.
Suzi Marman Hanks
4 years ago
Urbane Bronze is gorgeous with my Zeus green exterior and prairie grass trim.
It’s dense and dark and did skew green..
Dana Graham
4 years ago
Trish, do you have a photo of your house? I just had bronze windows installed and am trying to decide on the exterior color for our new construction. Shoji white was one of my top choices. I just can't decide!
Trish Walter
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
@Dana Graham sure....digging...