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…

Thomas Gainsborough

Gainsborough's feathery brushwork dissolves solid form into shimmering passages of blue, silver, and green. His landscapes are painted with a fluency that makes every color seem spontaneous.

Palette: #18140E #42321C #8F7951 #2A2012 #9E9D83 #534421 #63543E #6C5220

  • Cottage Children (the Wood Gatherers) (1787): #2C2A21 #1A1612 #2E1F13 #4D4B31 #422918 #59391E
  • Queen Charlotte: #41331D #957956 #2C2211 #6C5336 #1E1911 #110F0B
  • A Boy with a Cat-Morning (1787): #1C1917 #33271C #533926 #6F5939 #958259
  • Portrait of George Pitt, First Baron Rivers (1769): #4A3D2C #917F61 #302811 #2A1709 #6B533B #533D1C
  • Portrait of Mary Wise (ca. 1774): #36332C #A9A293 #726D61 #23201D #DAD1C0 #5E5343
  • Portrait of Anne, Countess of Chesterfield (1777-78): #7D6C4E #120D02 #5B4520 #484022 #302205 #452C04
  • Crossing the Ford (1750): #8F9781 #C6CDBA #514923 #252416 #373119 #6A6E4E
  • William Pitt the Younger (1759): #150E06 #2B200F #7F653C #423016 #5C4320 #A18A5F

The Palette

The Works

How the palette changed

Chromatic Comparison

0 artists selected
Copied!