Period palettes

The sets of colours that date a picture, and the wording for each one.

A period palette is the fastest way to put a picture in a decade. Nothing else in a prompt does the same job so cheaply: the same room in avocado and harvest gold and in chrome and ice blue is two different years, and a viewer reads the difference before they read anything else. Every palette here is a set somebody really used, limited by the pigment, the ink or the plastic of its time, and every one of them carries the wording that gets it out of a model.

Before the twentieth century

4

Four palettes set by what a maker could get hold of. The list is short because the supply was.

Medieval Manuscript: Lapis blue, vermilion and gold leaf laid flat on undyed vellum.

Medieval Manuscript

Lapis blue, vermilion and gold leaf laid flat on undyed vellum.

Ukiyo-e Indigo: Two blues carrying the picture, with one earth red and a dull mustard as accents.

Two blues carrying the picture, with one earth red and a dull mustard as accents.

Rococo Pastel: Powder blue, rose and pistachio at half strength, held together by cream and gilt.

Powder blue, rose and pistachio at half strength, held together by cream and gilt.

Victorian Parlour: Burgundy, bottle green and walnut lit low, with dull gold as the only bright thing.

Victorian Parlour

Burgundy, bottle green and walnut lit low, with dull gold as the only bright thing.

The modern movements

4

Four palettes chosen on purpose, each one an argument about what colour is for.

Art Nouveau Sage: Sage and soft mauve with old gold, every colour greyed down, on ivory.

Art Nouveau Sage

Sage and soft mauve with old gold, every colour greyed down, on ivory.

Bauhaus Primaries: Red, yellow and blue at full strength, plus black and white, and nothing else.

Bauhaus Primaries

Red, yellow and blue at full strength, plus black and white, and nothing else.

Constructivist Red: One red and one black on cheap paper, with no third colour allowed in.

Constructivist Red

One red and one black on cheap paper, with no third colour allowed in.

Art Deco Gold and Black

Black and polished gold, with ivory and one jewel colour to stop it becoming a logo.

The decades in colour

4

Four palettes that date a picture to ten years. Each one belongs to the printing and the products of its decade.

Fifties Atomic: Turquoise and coral against charcoal and cream, with mustard doing the shouting.

Turquoise and coral against charcoal and cream, with mustard doing the shouting.

Sixties Pop: Hot pink, orange and lime at full strength, flat, with nothing to calm them down.

Hot pink, orange and lime at full strength, flat, with nothing to calm them down.

Seventies Earth: Avocado, harvest gold and burnt orange over brown, with every hue pulled toward earth.

Seventies Earth

Avocado, harvest gold and burnt orange over brown, with every hue pulled toward earth.

Eighties Neon: Magenta and cyan glowing on black, with violet between them and nothing neutral.

Magenta and cyan glowing on black, with violet between them and nothing neutral.

The end of the century

3

Three palettes from the twenty years when colour stopped being expensive and started being loud.

Memphis Clash: Four bright colours chosen not to go together, on white, with black doing the drawing.

Four bright colours chosen not to go together, on white, with black doing the drawing.

Nineties CMYK: The four printing inks used raw and overprinted, with no colour correction.

The four printing inks used raw and overprinted, with no colour correction.

Y2K Chrome and Ice: Brushed silver and ice blue with a lilac tint, lit from every side at once.

Y2K Chrome and Ice

Brushed silver and ice blue with a lilac tint, lit from every side at once.

Run one of them

Copy a palette into a prompt and pay for that one run. No subscription.

Open an image model

Other palette groups

Colour harmonyThe ways to choose a set of colours, and the wording that gets each one.10 harmony schemes Screen palettesThe palettes from film and television, and the wording for each one.12 screen palettes Nature and materialPalettes taken from landscapes and materials, with the words for each.12 natural palettes Functional palettesPalettes chosen to do a job, with the real numbers behind them.10 functional palettes

Print stylesDesigning the whole poster rather than choosing its colours? The same reference, for ink on paper.

A set of colours that somebody really used in a given time, limited by the pigment, ink or material available then. It dates a picture faster than any other choice in a prompt.