Colours of painting and art
On the palette: oils, watercolour, fresco, miniature and mural.
#FF0000
Red
A primary colour seen in light, pigment, and tradition worldwideBasic colour · 🇺🇸 United States +5
#000000
Black
The colour seen when no visible light is present or all light is absorbedBasic colour
#00FF00
Green
The colour between cyan and yellow, seen widely in plants and natureBasic colour · 🇮🇪 Ireland +1
#FFFF00
Yellow
A primary colour between green and orange, seen in sunlight, leaves, and pigmentsBasic colour · 🇫🇷 France +5
#0000FF
Blue
A primary colour seen in the sky and sea, used since ancient times in art and dyeBasic colour
#808080
Grey
A neutral colour between black and white, seen in clouds, ash, and undyed woolBasic colour
#00FFFF
Cyan
A blue-green colour found between blue and green on the spectrum and key in printingBasic colour
#FF00FF
Magenta
A purplish-pink colour named after a battle and key to modern printingNamed shade · 🇫🇷 France +4
#FFD700
Gold
A strong yellow named for the precious metal and often linked with wealth and first placeNamed shade
#007FFF
Azure
A clear sky blue, halfway between blue and cyan on the colour wheelNamed shade · 🇮🇹 Italy +2
#DC143C
Crimson
A deep red with a hint of purple, once made from insectsNamed shade · 🇳🇵 Nepal
#800000
Maroon
A deep brownish red named for the French word for chestnutNamed shade · 🇦🇺 Australia +4
#80FF00
Chartreuse
A bright yellow-green named after a French liqueurNamed shade
#008080
Teal
A dark cyan named after the Eurasian teal bird’s blue-green head stripeNamed shade
#FFFFF0
Ivory
A soft off-white shade with a hint of yellow, named after animal tusksNamed shade
#9966CC
Lavender
A pale purple named for the lavender flower, with many subtle variationsNamed shade
#191970
Midnight blue
A deep blue that recalls the sky late at night under moonlightNamed shade
#B0E0E6
Powder blue
A pale blue once made from powdered cobalt glass, now a standard paint and web colourNamed shade
#6495ED
Cornflower blue
A clear, medium-light blue named for the cornflower and prized in sapphiresNamed shade
#D2B48C
Tan
A light brown shade named after oak bark used in leather tanningNamed shade · 🇺🇸 United States +1
#9400D3
Dark violet
The traditional violet found in paints and coloured pencils before the 1970sNamed shade
#002387
Resolution blue
A strong blue shade named for a bay in New ZealandNamed shade · 🇳🇿 New Zealand
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Lavender: User:Fir0002, GFDL 1.2, source
- Azure: Marco Almbauer, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cornflower blue: TeunSpaans, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gold: Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ivory: By Aaron Logan, CC BY 1.0, source
- Magenta: Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Midnight blue: Kippelboy, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tan: Mwanner, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Grey: John Fowler, CC BY 2.0, source
- Black: w:Harlan Kredit, Public domain, source
- Maroon: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Red: Sander van der Wel, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Crimson: F ASTILY, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Green: Myrabella, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Yellow: Mark Robinson, CC BY 2.0, source
- Chartreuse: Jeuwre, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cyan: Claude Monet, Public domain, source
- Teal: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Blue: NOAA-JMA, CC BY 4.0, source