← All palettes  /  Autumn 1997

Seasonal

🍂 Autumn Color Palette 1997

Deep oranges, warm reds, golden yellows, rich browns, and the occasional surprise of crimson — the most painterly season.

1996 1997 1998

Autumn is the most painterly season. As chlorophyll retreats from the leaves, the pigments that were always there — carotenoids and anthocyanins — are revealed in a last, extravagant display that lasts only weeks before the frost takes them. The result is a palette that feels simultaneously warm and melancholic: the amber of maple, the rust of oak, the deep crimson of liquidambar, the gold of birch catching low afternoon light. Against a sky that has shifted from summer blue to a cooler, more considered grey-blue, these colours glow as if lit from within. The air smells of woodsmoke and damp earth. This palette draws from all of that — the warmth of the fire and the chill of the shadow, the brilliance of the leaf and the darkness of the bark beneath.

The 6 colors

RGB (196-112-39)

#c47027

This medium orange sits at the vivid end of its family.

The Bog of Recollected via Delineating →

RGB (139-32-24)

#8b2018

This dark red sits at the vivid end of its family.

When the Clear Bay atop Grading →

RGB (154-147-45)

#9a932d

This medium yellow sits at the moderate end of its family.

The Arch beyond Patient Sowing →

RGB (190-30-56)

#be1e38

vivid and medium — a red that reads as grounded.

When the Familiar Bog past Fording →

RGB (160-56-19)

#a03813

A vivid orange: dark, considered, and steady.

When Level-headed Brook for Balancing →

RGB (162-49-37)

#a23125

This medium red sits at the moderate end of its family.

The Layered Border outside the Returning →

CSS custom properties

:root {  --autumn-1: #c47027;  --autumn-2: #8b2018;  --autumn-3: #9a932d;  --autumn-4: #be1e38;  --autumn-5: #a03813;  --autumn-6: #a23125;}

More palettes