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…

Norman Lewis

Norman Wilfred Lewis was an American painter, scholar, and teacher. Lewis, who was African-American and of Bermudian descent, was associated with abstract expressionism, and used representational strategies to focus on black urban life and his community's struggles.

Palette: #917F60 #60533A #312A1A #AEA591 #A27540 #C3A075 #683E1F #755D2A

  • Edfu, Upper Egypt (1860): #CAA478 #C4C4C2 #8DABB4 #A47B4D #C58D48 #9B8C77
  • Study for ‘the Courtyard of the Coptic Patriarch’s House in Cairo (c.1864): #655839 #714829 #4E3119 #3C311E #3E4122 #9A8761
  • Spanish Couple Riding a Mule (c.1832-4): #86775A #695A43 #593F2D #332A21 #494132
  • Chapel of the Burning Bush, Mount Sinai (1843): #8F7D60 #685D46 #494436 #B4A994
  • The Siesta (1876): #2B432D #28271D #524D39 #7B6D58 #402F20 #A2957E
  • Buck-Shooting in Windsor Great Park (1825): #0B0D07 #8F9B8D #6F5F13 #22200C #353211 #4A4110
  • Study of Rocks in the Val D’Aosta (date not known): #BAA370 #957C40 #6F5F32 #4F4120 #8C7F58 #2F2310
  • Head of a Lion (1824): #A78E6A #9E8144 #7B5F30 #807660 #635339 #5B401D
  • The Escorial (?1833): #BCAE94 #867A5C #8D9396 #585039 #AC9468 #76756C
  • An Interior (?c.1834): #58351F #C4945F #2F2E1D #9D653D #371A0E #957A67
  • The Bazaar of the Ghûriyah from the Steps of the Mosque of El-Ghûri, Cairo (1841-51): #D3C5AF #B0A18C #897B6A #5E5145 #423831
  • A Wooded Stream (date not known): #A19E95 #59532F #776F6F #4A4246 #80774C #38341D
  • Hillside and Sunset Sky (date not known): #C4B29A #5C4B2D #AB947A #837252 #312B1C #ACA79F
  • Interior of a Hut in Italy (date not known): #C6A27E #91663C #4F2E1C #6E4529 #B18452 #342117

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