Colors are an important part of our lives. We are surrounded by colors that evoke emotions, set a mood, and even influence our behavior. Writers have the difficult task of translating the visual experience of color into words that can help the reader imagine it. Describing colors accurately while also capturing their essence requires choosing descriptive words carefully. Here are some tips on how to effectively describe colors in your writing.
Use color names accurately
Start by using basic color terms correctly. For example, call something red rather than pink if it aligns with a primary red and avoid mixing up blue and purple which have distinctly different hues. While this may seem obvious, it’s important to nail the precise color first before adding any descriptive language around it.
Compare colors to familiar objects
Relating colors to familiar objects or entities is an easy way to help readers visualize them. For example, you can describe a color as:
- Red like a fire engine
- As green as grass
- Rich brown like milk chocolate
- Pale yellow like a lemon
Comparing colors to foods, plants, and other familiar items allows readers to quickly comprehend the shade you have in mind.
Use color wheel relationships
You can also characterize colors by their relationship to others on the color wheel. For example:
- An orange with more red than yellow
- A purple with hints of blue
- A spring green halfway between yellow and blue
Situating a color between two others helps paint a picture of where it lies on the spectrum.
Describe color intensity
The intensity of a color refers to how saturated, vivid, and bright it appears. You can modulate intensity in your descriptions like:
- A deep, rich red
- A soft, muted green
- A pale, neutral beige
- A brilliant, neon yellow
Words like pale, soft, muted, deep, and brilliant convey how saturated a color looks.
Use adjectives for emotions and meanings
Since colors carry psychological associations, you can also describe their emotional qualities or symbolic meanings. For example:
- Cheerful yellow
- Cold steel gray
- Nothing but clear blue skies
- Her warm brown eyes
This adds a layer of meaning beyond the physical attributes of the color.
Show how light changes color
The way lighting interacts with a color deeply impacts how we perceive it. You can call attention to light effects like:
- A crimson that glowed in the morning light
- The tree was painted with shadows of emerald
- Pale moonlight washed the room in shades of blue
This provides greater context for the setting and mood.
Use metaphors and imagery
Vivid, poetic language also helps paint a picture of a color in the reader’s imagination. For example:
- His words were poison green
- Sunset flames licked the sky in ribbons of orange and pink
- The bruise blossomed into a dark plum hue
Metaphors, similes, and evocative imagery convey more than just the color – they create a feeling and world for the reader.
List key descriptive details
You can also describe colors objectively by listing important qualities like:
- A deep forest green with hints of muted yellow
- A cool azure blue, almost violet in tone
- A creamy off-white with a slightly pink undertone
Breaking down the color into clear descriptive details provides the most information to accurately reconstruct it.
Show how colors combine
Describing how colors interact with one another adds realism. For example:
- The red of her dress clashed with the green walls
- The purple mixed with streaks of navy blue
- Her cheeks were rosy pink on olive skin
Showing colors in combination enhances the reader’s visual understanding.
Use creative analogies
Powerful analogies can capture the essence of a color through an unexpected lens. For example:
- A crimson more electrifying than a lit match
- The canopy of trees formed a broccoli green monolith above us
- His eyes were sea glass green from years in the salty wind
These unique analogies paint vivid pictures that convey far more than basic color terms.
Reference historical or cultural meanings
You can allude to the widely understood associations colors have in culture, myth, or history to enrich your descriptions. For example:
- She was dressed in funeral black
- The warning sign glared in cautionary yellow
- He gave me violets, symbolizing his faithfulness
These tap into collective color symbolism that doesn’t need to be directly explained.
Use synesthesia
Synesthesia is a literary device where aspects of one sense refer to another – like describing colors as loud or soft. For example:
- The popping bright hues were almost noisy
- He spoke in muted, bass tones of gray and brown
- Her emerald dress was cool and refreshing as mint
These types of cross-sensory descriptions can bring colors to life.
Explain colors unfamiliar to readers
With more obscure or unfamiliar colors, you may need to explain them so readers can understand. For example:
- Celadon, a pale bluish green like sea foam
- Tenné, a deep orange-brown the color of tanned leather
- Verdigris, an earthy blue-green of oxidized copper
Defining the color upfront helps readers properly visualize these lesser-known shades.
Show how colors change
Colors are dynamic – they change depending on viewing conditions, materials, and other factors. You can emphasize this transitory nature through descriptions like:
- As the sunset faded, vibrant oranges melted into moody purples
- When wet, the dress became a deeper emerald
- In the daylight, the walls were robin’s egg blue but at night took on a navy hue
Showing how colors respond to changing contexts makes scenes more lifelike.
Use color with purpose
Think about why color matters in the scene and how it impacts the reader’s experience. For example:
- The red warning stickers immediately caught his eye
- The bright white walls of the hospital corridor were devoid of color and felt sterile
- The vibrant balloons created an energetic, celebratory mood
Using color to serve a specific purpose or evoke a precise reaction grounds it in the storytelling.
Be consistent
Whatever descriptors you associate with a color, be sure to use them consistently throughout a piece. Don’t call a dress crimson red in one paragraph and cherry red in another, for example.
Use a color thesaurus
A color thesaurus can jog your creativity and vocabulary for new color adjectives. Online visual tools like Sherwin Williams and SchemeColor allow you to explore color shades and relationships.
Read works with strong color usage
Pay attention to how accomplished writers like Patrick Suskind, Diana Gabaldon, and Victoria Finlay use color in their works. Their vivid, immersive passages reveal how color conveys emotions and brings scenes to life.
Experiment with different colors
Observe how colors appear in changing light conditions, materials, and combinations with other shades. First-hand observation of subtle color nuances will make your descriptive ability more precise.
Conclusion
Describing colors effectively in writing requires selecting details that convey the right shade, intensity, and relationships to other colors. Metaphors, imagery, synesthesia, and considering the color’s purpose in the scene allows writers to move beyond basic color terms and turn it into an immersive sensory experience. Observing colors mindfully in daily life hones the sensitivity needed to translate visual information into descriptively rich language. With practice and an expanded vocabulary, writers can unlock the power of color to enliven their work.
