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…

J.M.W. Turner

Turner spent his career dissolving the boundary between color and atmosphere. His late work — barely legible storms of yellow, white, and blue — anticipated abstraction by a century.

Palette: #C3B499 #94825F #906B38 #AAB2B9 #4B361D #6A5636 #C8A16B #C2903F

  • Going to the Ball (San Martino) (1846): #BEC1CB #C6B5AC #8A7A6E #B78E73 #DABA9D #DCB375
  • Whalers (ca. 1845): #C3B897 #9E9063 #6C5F38 #ACA88E #473B21 #282112
  • The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, 16 October (1835): #887B5E #68634E #936233 #A78553 #393824 #C19550
  • Queen Mab's Cave (after 1846): #979F89 #4E4028 #6C5A38 #867E5D #494F3E #C0BC94
  • Van Tromp, Going About to Please His Masters, Ships a Sea, Getting a Good Wetting (1844): #C2B48A #B4975E #999980 #6C5732 #938154 #777C6B
  • Saltash with the Water Ferry, Cornwall (1811): #44301D #D3C49C #5D3719 #291C11 #865C30 #B7A582
  • The Campo Santo (1842): #C6B4BB #86706E #7265A4 #D8C7BA #9585B0 #735741
  • The Dogana and San Giorgio Maggiore (1834): #98ADBA #BEBFAD #8D8662 #6F6037 #B1A481 #513D1E
  • Bridge of Sighs, Ducal Palace and Custom House, Venice: Canaletto Painting (1833): #498FC0 #655743 #A28566 #B4BABE #64472B #95AEC3
  • Keelmen Heaving in Coals by Moonlight (1835): #99AAA1 #D3CFB5 #4B493A #757B6D #877B55 #ADA57F
  • The Rape of Proserpine (1839): #A38031 #6A501B #CC9E38 #886010 #493118 #5B370A
  • The Dogana and Santa Maria della Salute, Venice (1843): #DCD0B7 #C4B192 #A08A6A #C7A46F #9A7031 #ACA49A
  • The Lake, Petworth, Sunset; Sample Study (1827): #B3B8C0 #948773 #CDB293 #E3D8C5 #815E30 #EFD3A2
  • Goring Mill and Church (1806): #C1B5A1 #927E63 #5B4A3C
  • Sunset on the River (1805): #896F43 #B98E44 #564B34 #68532B #B09161 #8C6428
  • Stormy Sea with Dolphins (1837): #CBC1B8 #D9C7A9 #B19A7E #CBAA74 #A19585 #7E6F5E

The Palette

The Works

How the palette changed

Chromatic Comparison

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