pigments, casts & tones
Palette
Browse by Pigment & Tone
The colour analysis goes deeper than hue. Browse by the historic pigments themselves, by warm and cool cast, and by tonal character — luminous to deep, vivid to muted.
on the companion /colors hub
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Named pigments
The historic pigments themselves — earths, ochres, and the costly blues and greens.
Ochre Yellow earth — the oldest pigment in art, from cave walls to Naples yellow. 41,321 artworks Umber Deep, shadow-dark brown — the gloom of Baroque interiors. 25,710 artworks Sienna Warm earth brown, raw or burnt — the backbone of countless underpaintings. 14,139 artworks Viridian A transparent blue-green — the cool foliage of late-19th-century painting. 432 artworks Prussian Blue The first modern synthetic pigment — cold, deep, and faintly green. 347 artworks Ultramarine Once worth more than gold — the sacred blue of Renaissance robes. 265 artworks
Accents & colour cast
Metallic highlights and the overall warm or cool temperature of a palette.
Silver Cool metallic highlights — pewter, steel, and moonlit sheen. 54,195 artworks Warm Yellow Sunlit, golden-hour palettes built on warm yellows. 10,021 artworks Gold Gilded grounds and glints of metal leaf. 7,930 artworks Warm Red Palettes that lean to warm reds — cloaks, flesh, and firelight. 6,059 artworks Cool Blue Cool-cast palettes — sky, water, and distance. 2,080 artworks Cool Green Verdant, cool-green palettes — landscape and shade. 480 artworks
Tone & value
Light against dark, vivid against muted — the tonal character of the whole image.
Light & Bright High-key palettes — pale grounds, snow, linen, and daylight. 36,411 artworks Muted Soft, desaturated palettes — greys, dusk, and restraint. 36,298 artworks Deep & Dark Low-key palettes — night scenes, deep shadow, and tenebrism. 15,723 artworks Vivid Saturated, high-chroma palettes that ring with pure colour. 1,734 artworks