40 palettes

Noir Color Palette

Press the button for one noir palette: four neutrals from dark to light and a single color.

Noir Color Palette

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Hotel sign: neon red in graysBlack night sky, charcoal brick, slate gray fire escape, silver rain, neon red sign letters.#0A0A0A · #292D32 · #4C5867 · #B7BCC3 · #FF1F2E

Next step Find a black and white scene Practice values first

All 40 palettes

One red 10

Brake lights: neon red in grays Black road, dark gray car body, smoke gray exhaust, silver chrome bumper, neon red tail lights.
Diner stool: neon red in grays Black window night, dark gray counter, gray chrome post, pale gray tiles, neon red stool top.
Hotel sign: neon red in grays Black night sky, charcoal brick, slate gray fire escape, silver rain, neon red sign letters.
Lipstick on a cup: rose in grays Soot black table, smoke gray saucer shadow, ash gray cup, chalk white rim, rose lipstick print.
Phone booth: crimson in grays Black street, slate gray booth frame, gray glass, pale gray bulb light, crimson phone.
Rose on a desk: crimson in sepia Soot black desk, sepia blotter, tan envelope, parchment letter, crimson rose.
Scarf on a platform: rose in grays Charcoal train, slate gray platform, steel gray steam, fog gray station light, rose scarf.
Stage door: scarlet in grays Ink black alley, charcoal door, gray step, white bare bulb, scarlet door number.
Ticket stub: scarlet in sepia Dark sepia coat pocket, sepia wallet, sand ticket, chalk white print, scarlet stamp.
Wet crossing: scarlet in grays Ink black tarmac, dark gray curb, steel gray puddle, fog gray headlight haze, scarlet stop light.

Show all 40 palettes (30 more)

One yellow 10

Attic lamp: gold in grays Black building, dark gray ledge, gray drainpipe, fog gray moonlit roof, gold attic lamp.
Late office: butter yellow in sepia Dark sepia office, brown desk, tan case file, parchment paper, butter yellow lamp pool.
Newsroom desk: gold in grays Soot black machine, dark gray keys, ash gray desk, white paper, gold lamp glow.
Night train: butter yellow in grays Black hills, dark gray carriage, steel gray smoke, silver rails, butter yellow windows.
Press pass: gold in sepia Soot black hat band, sepia felt hat, sand card, parchment notebook, gold pencil.
Rail arches: amber in grays Ink black roof, charcoal pillars, slate gray road, ash gray puddles, amber lamps.
Streetlamp: amber in grays Black sky, charcoal wall, dark gray pavement, ash gray wet cobbles, amber lamp.
Taxi in the rain: yellow in grays Ink black street, slate gray rain, steel gray spray, fog gray headlights, yellow taxi.
Venetian blinds: amber in grays Soot black room, smoke gray wall, ash gray slats, white stripes of light, amber street glow.
Yellow umbrella: yellow in grays Charcoal crowd coats, slate gray street, gray rain, fog gray sky, yellow umbrella.

One blue 10

Foggy wharf: azure in grays Charcoal hulls, slate gray water, steel gray fog, silver lamp haze, azure lantern.
Frosted door: neon blue in grays Black corridor, slate gray door frame, gray frosted glass, white lettering, neon blue sign outside.
Ledger and ink: blue in sepia Dark sepia desk, sepia ledger cover, tan pen, sand page, blue ink.
Moonlit stairwell: sky blue in grays Ink black below, slate gray steps, steel gray rail, pale gray landing, sky blue window.
Neon in a puddle: neon blue in grays Black tarmac, charcoal curb, smoke gray puddle rim, silver ripples, neon blue reflected sign.
Night bus: azure in grays Black street, dark gray bus, gray wet glass, white inside light, azure route sign.
Pocket square: azure in sepia Soot black suit, brown lapel, sand shirt, chalk white collar, azure pocket square.
Radio dial: sky blue in grays Soot black cabinet, smoke gray grille cloth, silver knobs, chalk white dial marks, sky blue glowing dial.
Rear-view mirror: sky blue in grays Ink black car roof, charcoal dashboard, steel gray mirror frame, fog gray road behind, sky blue eyes.
Trench coat: blue in grays Black doorway, smoke gray coat, ash gray collar, white shirt, blue tie.

One green 10

All-night cafe: neon green in grays Black street, charcoal awning, slate gray window frame, fog gray steam, neon green sign.
Clock face: neon green in grays Soot black wall, charcoal clock case, steel gray hands, white face, neon green glowing numerals.
Desk with a shade: emerald green in sepia Dark sepia desk, brown drawer, sand lamp base, parchment papers, emerald green lamp shade.
Emerald ring: emerald green in sepia Soot black glove, sepia handbag, tan fur collar, chalk white pearls, emerald green ring.
Fern in the lobby: emerald green in grays Soot black floor, slate gray pillar, ash gray sofa, chalk white lamp globe, emerald green fern.
Go light: neon green in grays Ink black night, dark gray signal pole, steel gray wet road, pale gray mist, neon green signal.
Mint coupe: mint in grays Black garage, dark gray tires, smoke gray concrete, fog gray chrome, mint car body.
Night ferry: teal in grays Ink black water, charcoal hull, slate gray smoke, silver wake, teal deck lamp.
Stray cat: mint in grays Black cat, charcoal alley wall, gray bin lids, silver moonlit fence, mint eyes.
Subway tile: teal in grays Black tunnel, dark gray bench, gray grout, chalk white tiles, teal tile stripe.

How this list was compiled: Own work, written for Draw This Next on 2026-10-09: palettes of four neutrals and one color, sorted by that color (one red, one yellow, one blue, one green). Every palette, name, color word, hex code and part is our own choice; nothing is sampled from a film still, a photograph or a book cover, no film, book or character is named, and the page states no outside fact. How a strip is ordered: the four neutrals from dark to light, then the one color, each named for its part of one small scene; the name gives the color and says whether the neutrals are grays or sepia. Our own tests, not a standard: each of the first four is a neutral (a gray with an HSL saturation of 16 percent or less, a near-black with a lightness of 16 percent or less, a near-white of 90 or more, or a brown from sepia to parchment with a hue from 20 to 52 degrees and a saturation of 45 or less); each is lighter than the one before (WCAG relative luminance, the formula at https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/contrast-minimum.html) and 10 or more from it in CIE Lab; the darkest and the lightest of the four contrast by 7 to 1 or more; a sepia strip holds two or more browns and no gray; the fifth color has a saturation of 60 percent or more, a hue inside its group (red 335 degrees around to 15, yellow 36 to 62, blue 195 to 245, green 120 to 185) and reaches 3 to 1 against the first color; no two strips hold the same four neutrals. 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. Checked on 2026-10-09: every code is #RRGGBB, each color word fits the hue and lightness of its code, no palette, name or line repeats, and no palette is on another palette list of this site or of its sister sites. The hex codes are for a screen; with paint, pencils or ink, take the nearest color. Licence: own work

How it works

A noir color palette here is nearly black and white. Four neutrals run from dark to light, wet-street grays or sepia browns, and one color is let in: a neon sign, a taxi, a tie.

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Sorted by the one color

One red is neon red, scarlet, crimson or rose. One yellow is the lamp colors: amber, gold, yellow and butter yellow. One blue runs from sky blue to neon blue, and one green from mint to teal and neon green. The name says whether the four neutrals are grays or sepia.

Build the picture in gray first

Shade the whole scene with the four neutrals, darkest for the night and lightest for rain, paper or a bare bulb. Then use the color once. In Taxi in the rain everything is ink black, slate, steel and fog gray except the yellow taxi.

Questions and answers

What colors are in a noir palette?

Mostly black, charcoal and grays: black #0A0A0A stands in more strips here than any other color, then charcoal #292D32 and slate gray #4C5867. Eight strips swap the grays for sepia browns. Each adds exactly one color.

What color goes with black and white?

Any single strong one. Here a red is a sign, a scarf or a rose; a yellow is a lamp or a taxi; a blue is a dial, a tie or ink; a green is a signal, a fern or a ring.

What is a sepia noir palette?

Sepia strips trade the grays for browns: dark sepia #37271A, sepia #61472E, brown, tan, sand and parchment #E9DEC9, with soot black or chalk white at the ends. Ledger and ink sets one blue against them.