Anime color palettes
Anime colour is not one look. Cel animation of the nineties used flat, slightly dusty colour to survive film; today’s digital work leans on luminous pastels and rim light. These twelve cover both ends.
- 90s Anime
Readable text on #ff6e61: #111827
- Kasane Teto
Readable text on #f4a462: #111827
- Hatsune Miku
Readable text on #7dd1e8: #111827
- Kuromi Inspired
Readable text on #1f1b2d: #FFFFFF
- Nightmare Fuel
Readable text on #1f1c2c: #FFFFFF
- Earthy Witch Girl
Readable text on #5f4b3a: #FFFFFF
- Miku
Readable text on #c4ede5: #111827
- N Murder Drones
Readable text on #2e1a47: #FFFFFF
- Homura Akemi
Readable text on #0c1d40: #FFFFFF
- Teto
Readable text on #2d6485: #FFFFFF
- Kawaii Y2K
Readable text on #f9a9b1: #111827
- Blue Nightwing
Readable text on #1f1b79: #FFFFFF
Drawing with these palettes
- Pick three values first — shadow, base, highlight — and only then decide the hue. Cel shading is about value steps, not about more colours.
- Keep the saturation of skin lower than the saturation of hair and clothes, or faces read as plastic.
- Add one colour that appears nowhere else for the eyes or an accessory; that is what makes a character memorable in a thumbnail.
The text colour under each palette is whichever of near-black or white reaches the higher contrast ratio against its first colour — check any other pairing before using it for body text.