Sunny-side up: golden yellow on creamWhite plate, cream cooked egg, golden yellow yolk, pale yellow yolk shine, gold toast crust.
Show all 40 palettes (30 more)
Blue sky and white 10
Canvas chair: cobalt and whiteWhite canvas, cobalt stripes, sky blue horizon, yellow sun hat, sand beach.
Daisies: white and golden yellowWhite petals, golden yellow centers, sky blue backdrop, leaf green stems, pale green grass.
Fair-weather cloud: white on azureAzure sky, white cloud top, pale gray cloud base, yellow sun, pale blue haze.
Gull overhead: white on blueBlue high sky, white gull, warm gray wing tips, golden yellow bill, sky blue low haze.
Open window: sky blue and whiteWhite frame, sky blue view, pale blue curtain, butter yellow sun patch, pale gray wall shade.
Playground swing: yellow on azureAzure sky, white clouds, yellow seat, warm gray frame, green grass.
Vapor trail: white on azureAzure high sky, sky blue low haze, white trail, pale yellow sun haze, pale blue horizon.
Washing line: white on sky blueSky blue horizon, white sheets, pale blue sheet folds, yellow pegs, leaf green lawn.
Whitewashed steps: white and cobaltWhite wall, periwinkle step shade, azure sky, cobalt door, yellow flower tub.
Yellow balloon: lemon on sky blueSky blue backdrop, white cloud, lemon balloon, pale yellow shine, pale gray string.
Warm pavement 10
Bicycle shadow: yellow and lavenderSand path, yellow bicycle, lavender bicycle shadow, white tires, leaf green verge.
Boardwalk: pale yellow on tanTan boards, pale yellow glare, dusty blue railing shadow, white railing, azure sea.
Cafe table: lemon on sandSand paving, white table, lemon parasol, periwinkle parasol shadow, terracotta planter.
Chalk sun: yellow on sandSand pavement, yellow chalk sun, coral chalk flower, dusty blue long shadow, white chalk cloud.
Doorstep cat: orange on sandSand doorstep, orange cat, butter yellow sun patch, dusty blue door shadow, terracotta pot.
Dropped ice cream: pink on sandSand pavement, pink strawberry scoop, pale yellow vanilla scoop, dusty blue shadow, tan cone.
Hopscotch squares: white on tanTan pavement, white chalk squares, yellow chalk numbers, pink marker stone, dusty blue shadow.
Market cobbles: golden yellow on tanTan cobbles, golden yellow awning, periwinkle awning shadow, red tomatoes, white price cards.
Sundial: gold on sandSand stone dial, gold brass pointer, dusty blue pointer shadow, pale yellow lit rim, leaf green lawn.
Tiled yard: butter yellow on terracottaTerracotta tiles, butter yellow sun patch, lavender arch shadow, white wall, leaf green potted palm.
Lemon and leaf 10
Butterfly on clover: lemon on leaf greenLemon butterfly, leaf green clover, pale green new leaves, pink clover flowers, mint dew.
Citrus grove: golden yellow and greenGolden yellow fruit, green trees, lime sunlit leaves, tan dry earth, azure sky.
Daffodils: golden yellow and leaf greenGolden yellow trumpets, butter yellow petals, leaf green leaves, pale green buds, azure sky.
Fruit bowl: yellow and limeYellow lemons, lime green fruit, white bowl, leaf green sprig, tan table.
Lemon and mint: lemon and leaf greenLemon rind, pale yellow slices, white pith, leaf green mint leaves, pale green glass.
Lemon tree: yellow and leaf greenYellow lemons, leaf green leaves, dark green shaded leaves, white blossom, azure sky.
Marigold box: golden yellow and dark greenGolden yellow marigolds, leaf green leaves, dark green trailing ivy, terracotta box, white sill.
Picnic cloth: lemon and whiteLemon checks, white cloth, leaf green grass, lime apples, red cherries.
Sun through leaves: lemon and limeLime lit leaves, leaf green leaves, dark green shade, lemon sun flecks, brown branch.
Vegetable bed: yellow and limeYellow squash flowers, leaf green squash leaves, lime lettuce, brown soil, olive bean poles.
How this list was compiled: Own work, written for Draw This Next on 2026-10-13: palettes of five colors for a picture of a bright day, in four kinds (midday yellows, blue sky and white, warm pavement, lemon and leaf). Every palette, name, color word, hex code and part is our own choice; nothing is sampled from a photograph or a painting, and no brand, product or place is named. How a strip is ordered: each color is named for its part of one small scene, and the name carries two of the colors; a Warm pavement strip starts with its sunlit ground. Our own tests, not a standard: every strip holds a yellow (an HSL hue from 40 to 64 degrees, a saturation of 65 percent or more and a lightness from 50 to 90 percent) and no color darker than 25 percent lightness; a Midday yellows strip holds three or more such yellows; a Blue sky and white strip holds white and a blue of the sky (a hue from 195 to 235 degrees at a lightness of 50 percent or more); a Warm pavement strip starts with a warm ground (a hue from 10 to 50 degrees, a lightness of 50 percent or more) and holds exactly one shadow, with a hue from 200 to 270 degrees; a Lemon and leaf strip holds two or more greens (a hue from 65 to 170 degrees). The facts in the page copy, checked on 2026-10-13 against English Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0): Sunlight, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunlight (when clouds do not block direct solar radiation, we feel it as sunshine, bright light and radiant heat together); Sun, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun (the Sun's colour is white seen from space or with the Sun high overhead; with the Sun very low, scattering in the atmosphere turns it yellow, red, orange or magenta); Shadow, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow (by day the shadow of an opaque object lit by sunlight has a bluish tinge: the object blocks sunlight but not the blue light that comes from the whole sky). Which colors stand for sunshine is our choice. 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 2026-10-13: every code is #RRGGBB, each color word fits the hue and lightness of its code, no palette, name or line repeats, no two palettes share four codes, no two colors of a palette are closer than 8 in CIE Lab, 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 markers, take the nearest color. Licence: own work
How it works
A sunshine color palette here is one bright day in five colors: yellows at noon, white cloud on a blue sky, warm pavement with its shadow, lemons among green leaves. Nothing on the list is darker than a shaded leaf.
Read the full guide
Four kinds of sunshine palette
Midday yellows holds three or more yellows and golds. Blue sky and white sets a yellow against white and a blue of the sky. Warm pavement starts with sunlit ground, then adds a yellow and one shadow. Lemon and leaf puts a yellow with two or more greens.
Paint the shadow blue
In daylight a shadow has a bluish tinge: the thing that casts it blocks the Sun but not the light of the blue sky. So the pavement strips carry a dusty blue, periwinkle or lavender shadow, never a gray. In Sundial the brass pointer is gold #E9AE1C and its shadow dusty blue #6F8BB3.
Questions and answers
What colors are in a sunshine color palette?
On this list: yellow #FBDB28, golden yellow #FBC513 and lemon #F8F23F, with white #FCFBF8, azure #329BF1 and sky blue #7BC3EF for the sky and leaf green #40A32E beside them. Every strip holds at least one yellow.
What color is sunshine?
Sunshine is direct sunlight that clouds do not block. The Sun is white when it is high in the sky; very low, scattering in the atmosphere turns it yellow, orange or red. Noon sun here has a white disc and yellow rays.
What is a sunny day color palette?
Blue sky, white and a yellow. The Blue sky and white strips are built that way: Fair-weather cloud is an azure sky, a white cloud top over a pale gray base, a yellow sun and pale blue haze.
What colors go with sunshine yellow?
Sky blue and white first. Then leaf green and dark green, as in Lemon tree, or sand and terracotta with a blue shadow: Doorstep cat has a butter yellow #F9E99A sun patch and a dusty blue #6F8BB3 shadow on sand, by a terracotta pot.