The Colorist
Archive

A living archive of how artists work with color across time. Each artist profile scans publicly available works to trace dominant colors, a chromatic fingerprint, and the arc of a palette across a lifetime.A living archive of how artists work with color across time, tracing palettes, fingerprints, and lifetime arcs from public works.

Begin with an artist, carry a palette into the drawing system, or read the wider project.Begin with an artist, carry a palette into the drawing system, or read the wider project.

Scanning works…

George Catlin

George Catlin was an American lawyer, painter, author, and traveler, who specialized in portraits of Native Americans in the American frontier. Traveling to the American West five times during the 1830s, Catlin wrote about and painted portraits that depicted the life of the Plains Indians.

Palette: #AEAB91 #8F693F #D9BF72 #643211 #C0924C #7B4B23 #8E6D17 #130E0A

  • The Cutting Scene, Mandan-O-Kee-Pa Ceremony (1832): #694733 #4B392F #6E5A53 #472519 #906A49 #672D1D
  • Ball-Play of the Women, Prairie du Chien Saam-1985.66.430 1 (1985): #BDB6A6 #7D7543 #6B462F #96A1A4 #5A6151 #655431
  • Ball Players (Unkn): #E4BF99 #B99775 #836650 #A36643 #533425 #77452B
  • Mandan: #A48B6D #BFC2AF #8A743B #825125 #6C6A48 #909661
  • Choctaw Stickball Player, Painted By (1834): #BDBC81 #C1CCB2 #A0B08E #824F24 #94955B #8C3A18
  • George Catlin's Watercolour on Paper Painting of Red Jacket (1827): #F9CF88 #0C0608 #A86B45 #967C5E #2A2225 #8D9C9A
  • Ball-Play of the Choctaw--Ball Up: #4D8197 #9F8824 #8F5717 #4492B9 #797831 #826815
  • Stu-Mick-O-Súcks, Buffalo Bull's Back Fat, Head Chief, Blood Tribe (1832): #989069 #101111 #4E3219 #695D41 #764C2A #3B1E14
  • Distant View of the Mandan Village (1832): #B9C2AA #93B0AC #A79876 #697F56 #7F8316 #929E7C
  • Kee-Mo-Rá-Nia, No English, a Dandy (1830): #7E8469 #9B8966 #132D39 #14181A #804829 #7A6340
  • Máh-To-Tóh-Pa, Four Bears, Second Chief in Mourning (1832): #66300F #6A6F3B #11100C #4C2711 #332011 #22180E
  • Sha-Có-Pay, the Six, Chief of the Plains Ojibwa (1832): #60552F #7E5928 #1B1714 #603718 #352417 #99865F
  • The Cutting Scene, Mandan O-Kee-Pa Ceremony (1832): #4C3228 #2D1E1D #7E5A44 #6B362B #A9755E #994C3E
  • The Last Race, Mandan O-Kee-Pa Ceremony (1832): #B3AB8F #59311D #A47644 #7F4F2C #80381F #8D805F
  • The White Cloud, Head Chief of the Iowas: #C2B376 #894417 #889774 #C09049 #A03011 #672A16
  • Wah-Ro-Née-Sah, the Surrounder, Chief of the Otoe Tribe (1832): #281F1C #989382 #753425 #4A392E #87745E #45261F
  • Le Cascate di Sant'antonio (1871): #683B19 #AAB7B0 #3B3A23 #9C6935 #483819 #5C6249
  • La Réception du Musée Indien De (1845): #7E6D45 #A5966B #5E4E32 #251B1B #DDD2A0 #422E22
  • Paint Me: #F3CCA4 #984115 #763C1D #BD6B35 #4A1A08 #CEA479
  • Painting the Lengua Chief: #EFCE81 #C88F37 #8C5A0F #CDAC54 #84682B #65441F
  • Painting the Tobos Chief: #55490B #796510 #BEBA8C #C0AE68 #E7AB56 #98842A
  • The Catlin Collection of Indian Paintings: #C0CC6B #FAFAF6 #A2AA5C #D7D9CC #A6A6A4
  • Three Young Chinook Men: #EDBD6B #D4B975 #794915 #8B3809 #A5641B #692C08
  • Watercolor Painting of Col. Henry Dodge By (1834): #B1844D #624D34 #382C24 #89653B #4C3722 #76522C
  • William Clark Painting: #644025 #160D03 #956A36 #40230C #372D28 #704015
  • George Catlin (1849): #1C130C #5F3D19 #3C2211 #675433 #896637 #11110D
  • Nóm-Ba-Mon-Nee, Double Walker, a Brave (1832): #887A53 #844C2E #4C3122 #9A9571 #664A2D #90947B

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