44 palettes

Natural Color Combinations

Press the button for four or five natural colors, darkest first, with their hex codes.

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Fallen log: bark brown to boneBark brown, moss green, fern green, lichen green and bone. Darkest first; fern green is the strongest color.#4F3726 · #647F3D · #46923F · #AFBD84 · #E8E2D4

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All 44 palettes

Forest and moss 8

Canopy gap: pine green to pale blue Pine green, leaf green, lichen green and pale blue. Darkest first; leaf green is the strongest color.
Fallen log: bark brown to bone Bark brown, moss green, fern green, lichen green and bone. Darkest first; fern green is the strongest color.
Fern gully: dark brown to cream Dark brown, fern green, leaf green, sage and cream. Darkest first; leaf green is the strongest color.
Mossy steps: slate gray to pebble gray Slate gray, moss green, sage and pebble gray. Darkest first; moss green is the strongest color.
Pine needles: pine green to tan Pine green, umber, forest green and tan. Darkest first; forest green is the strongest color.
Sapling stand: bark brown to chalk white Bark brown, forest green, pebble gray and chalk white. Darkest first; forest green is the strongest color.
Toadstool ring: dark brown to bone Dark brown, rust, moss green and bone. Darkest first; rust is the strongest color.
Woodpecker tree: umber to wheat Umber, earth brown, olive and wheat. Darkest first; olive is the strongest color.

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Earth, clay and stone 12

Ant hill: earth brown to sand Earth brown, red clay, ochre and sand. Darkest first; ochre is the strongest color.
Chalk cliff: earth brown to chalk white Earth brown, tan, bone and chalk white. Darkest first; tan is the strongest color.
Clay bank: red clay to sand Red clay, clay, tan and sand. Darkest first; red clay is the strongest color.
Gravel bar: slate gray to bone Slate gray, tan, khaki and bone. Darkest first; tan is the strongest color.
Mud flat: umber to pebble gray Umber, earth brown, khaki and pebble gray. Darkest first; earth brown is the strongest color.
Ochre pit: rust to cream Rust, ochre, straw and cream. Darkest first; ochre is the strongest color.
Plowed field: dark brown to wheat Dark brown, earth brown, ochre and wheat. Darkest first; ochre is the strongest color.
Quarry wall: umber to chalk white Umber, stone gray, tan and chalk white. Darkest first; tan is the strongest color.
Riverbed stones: slate gray to bone Slate gray, stone gray, pebble gray and bone. Darkest first; slate gray is the strongest color.
Root tangle: dark brown to sand Dark brown, bark brown, clay and sand. Darkest first; clay is the strongest color.
Scree slope: slate gray to chalk white Slate gray, stone gray, khaki and chalk white. Darkest first; khaki is the strongest color.
Terrace wall: clay to cream Clay, terracotta, stone gray and cream. Darkest first; terracotta is the strongest color.

Meadow and wildflower 8

Bee border: olive to cream Olive, clover pink, lichen green, buttercup yellow and cream. Darkest first; buttercup yellow is the strongest color.
Buttercup bank: olive to bone Olive, leaf green, buttercup yellow and bone. Darkest first; leaf green is the strongest color.
Clover lawn: fern green to cream Fern green, leaf green, clover pink and cream. Darkest first; leaf green is the strongest color.
Cornflower edge: fern green to wheat Fern green, cornflower blue, sage and wheat. Darkest first; fern green is the strongest color.
Hay meadow: ochre to straw Ochre, leaf green, clover pink and straw. Darkest first; leaf green is the strongest color.
Heather hill: earth brown to mauve Earth brown, moss green, dusty violet and mauve. Darkest first; dusty violet is the strongest color.
Poppy verge: poppy red to straw Poppy red, moss green, sage and straw. Darkest first; poppy red is the strongest color.
Thistle field: moss green to pebble gray Moss green, dusty violet, sage and pebble gray. Darkest first; dusty violet is the strongest color.

River, lake and sky 8

Heron pool: slate gray to cloud white Slate gray, steel blue, sage and cloud white. Darkest first; steel blue is the strongest color.
Kingfisher perch: deep teal to sky blue Deep teal, rust, teal and sky blue. Darkest first; rust is the strongest color.
Lake mist: dusk blue to cloud white Dusk blue, steel blue, mist gray and cloud white. Darkest first; dusk blue is the strongest color.
Mountain tarn: dusk blue to chalk white Dusk blue, slate gray, sky blue and chalk white. Darkest first; dusk blue is the strongest color.
Otter bank: bark brown to sand Bark brown, teal, lake blue and sand. Darkest first; lake blue is the strongest color.
Reed bed: olive to pale blue Olive, lake blue, reed green and pale blue. Darkest first; reed green is the strongest color.
Shaded slope: forest green to cloud white Forest green, lake blue, sky blue and cloud white. Darkest first; forest green is the strongest color.
Trout stream: deep teal to pebble gray Deep teal, lake blue, reed green and pebble gray. Darkest first; reed green is the strongest color.

Desert and dry grass 8

Dry wash: rust to bone Rust, clay, sand and bone. Darkest first; rust is the strongest color.
Dune grass: olive to wheat Olive, sky blue, sand and wheat. Darkest first; olive is the strongest color.
Hay stubble: earth brown to cream Earth brown, khaki, straw and cream. Darkest first; straw is the strongest color.
Lizard ledge: rust to sand Rust, cactus green, ochre and sand. Darkest first; ochre is the strongest color.
Red rock: red clay to pale blue Red clay, terracotta, ochre and pale blue. Darkest first; ochre is the strongest color.
Sage flat: umber to sand Umber, cactus green, sage and sand. Darkest first; cactus green is the strongest color.
Salt pan: stone gray to chalk white Stone gray, tan, bone and chalk white. Darkest first; tan is the strongest color.
Weathered log: earth brown to bone Earth brown, tan, pebble gray and bone. Darkest first; tan is the strongest color.

How this list was compiled: Own work, written for Draw This Next on 2026-10-02: palettes of four or five colors taken from kinds of landscape, each strip written from its darkest color to its lightest (WCAG relative luminance). The test for natural is our own, not a standard: no color has an HSL saturation above 60 percent. In the group Earth, clay and stone every color is also a brown, ochre or cream (a hue from 10 to 60 degrees) or a gray (saturation of 15 percent or less). The line under each name says which color is the strongest: the one with the largest chroma in CIE Lab. Read on 2026-10-02 at English Wikipedia, Earth tone, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_tone (text under CC BY-SA 4.0): earth tones are colors similar to natural materials and landscapes, such as browns, greens, grays and other muted, warm shades. Read the same day at English Wiktionary, earth tone, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/earth_tone (text under CC BY-SA 4.0): a neutral color, one of many, that recalls a natural material such as soil, stone or plants. Every palette, name, color word, hex code and line is our own. A name is a picture the colors could paint. Color names are plain English words with no paint maker, pencil brand or color-matching system, and one word is one code everywhere on this list. The hex codes are for a screen; with paint or pencils, take the nearest color. Licence: own work

How it works

Each palette is a natural color scheme: four or five colors from one kind of landscape, darkest first. All pass one test of ours for natural: no color has an HSL saturation above 60 percent.

Read the full guide

Nature color combinations by landscape

A menu under the button keeps to one group: Forest and moss, Earth, clay and stone, Meadow and wildflower, River, lake and sky, or Desert and dry grass. The line under each name lists the colors dark to light and says which one is strongest.

What an earth tone is

Earth tones are colors similar to natural materials and landscapes: browns, greens, grays and other warm, muted shades. The group Earth, clay and stone keeps to browns, ochres, creams and grays, such as Clay bank: red clay to sand.

Questions and answers

What are earthy color combinations for a drawing?

Browns, ochres and grays with one light color. Plowed field is dark brown, earth brown, ochre and wheat; Riverbed stones is slate gray, stone gray, pebble gray and bone. Chalk cliff runs from earth brown to chalk white.

How is natural tested here?

By saturation. A color passes when its HSL saturation is 60 percent or less. The limit is our own, not a standard, and it is why the reds, blues and yellows on this page are dusty ones.

Which palettes have a flower color?

The Meadow and wildflower group. Each has at least one green and a flower color, such as poppy red in Poppy verge or cornflower blue in Cornflower edge, still inside the same limit.