Digital Illustration Color Palettes: Inspiration for Your Next Design

Article cover Illustration color palettes with blue and beige palettes. Seabed illustration.

Selecting digital illustration color palettes is a crucial aspect of your artistic endeavors. Colors can create an atmosphere, convey emotions, and define the illustration’s style.

However, selecting the perfect color palette can be a challenge. An illustrator may feel overwhelmed by the countless possibilities of colors and combinations. Additionally, it can be challenging to find a palette that suits the theme and style of the illustration.

Hence, having a solid understanding of color theory and the interplay between different colors is always beneficial. This knowledge will help you better understand the chromatic scale and master the colors of your illustration. Moreover, an illustrator can seek inspiration from other illustration works.

This article presents 33 digital illustration color palettes extracted from different styles. These palettes can serve as inspiration for your next project.

Here are some tips for choosing the perfect color palette for your illustration:

Consider the theme and style of the illustration. What emotions do you want to convey? What atmosphere do you want to create?
Use colors to tell a story. Characters, settings, or events can be represented using colors.
Experiment with different color combinations. Don’t be afraid to experiment until you find the perfect palette.

Earthy Fantasy

Color palette with gradations of brown. Illustration of a flying puffer fish holding a basket with a girl. — Artist: Lisa Glanz / Find Out More

Colors: #f9f2d6 | #f3bf95 | #c98943 | #917557 | #382715

This palette in earthy and neutral tones contrasts with the air of fantasy and imagination in the illustration. Its colors demonstrate that it is not always necessary to use a colorful and saturated palette to illustrate children’s and fantastical drawings.

Complementary Elements

Color palette with red, blue and green. Cartoon style. Eye being cut in half and one of the halves is an orange. — Artist: Green Room Media / Find Out More

Colors: #c4453b | #e65a4a | #f2f0d3 | #80c5c0 | #5aa753

Illustration with a cartoon style and a comedic and ironic twist. Color palette contrasting with complementary colors.

Earth and Water

Color palette with shades of blue, beige and cream. Illustration of fish and corals under the sea. — Artist: Anastezia Luneva / Find Out More

Colors: #ad9865 | #e8d7be | #318ca3 | #0b546e | #081e33

Subdued palette featuring cool tones of blue predominating, in contrast with beige and cream colors.

Dragon, Sun, and Fire

Palette with dark green, green, orange, yellow and white. Illustration with texture of a dragon jumping fire through its mouth. — Artist: Retro Supply Co / Find Out More

Colors: #081d1a | #0f9473 | #ef9725 | #f4c852 | #faf2e7

Illustration with warm colors contrasting with shades of green.

Between Reds and Blues

Color palette with red and blue. Mushrooms illustration. — Artist: Candice Baldwin Design / Find Out More

Colors: #860905 | #002231 | #0e5d76 | #b4d5e0 | #f2d8b9

Illustration with an interesting contrast of warm and cool colors.

Red Giant

Color palette with shades of red. Illustration of a giant robot between buildings. — Artist: Green Room Media / Find Out More

Colors: #282622 | #6e3a30 | #a34a41 | #e85946 | #ededbc

Palette with shades of red giving the illustration a monochromatic and intense look. The colors helped to add drama and aggressiveness to the drawing.

Viking Colors

Color palette with yellow, blue. Illustration of a Viking warrior holding a weapon. — Artist: Retro Supply Co / Find Out More

Colors: #f2cd5d | #113a3a | #506290 | #c8c8d6 | #faf2e7

A palette with a strong contrast between colors helps bring life and dynamism to the illustration of a static Viking warrior.

Joy and Simplicity

Orange, yellow, pink, blue and white color palette. Cute and colorful building in the background. Happy girl holding an umbrella under the rain. — Artist: Uproot Brushes / Find Out More

Colors: #e06518 | #f5c502 | #ed82ab | #66bdb7 | #f7f1de

A fun and cute color palette. Excellent for children’s illustrations.

Marine Animals

Colors: #8a2e5c | #f3edda | #96dcec | #3196b3 | #0d506c

The cream background served as the backdrop for a variety of marine animal drawings with various shades of blue contrasting with the color pink.

Funereal Creativity

Palette with black tones of brown and cream. Illustration of a skull serving as a pencil and brush holder with India ink spilled on the table. — Artist: True Grit Texture Supply / Find Out More

Colors: #131313 | #616c6d | #e7d8b6 | #c1944b | #735931

A somber and serious palette with neutral tones contributing to the characteristic morbidity of the illustration.

Floral Delicacy

Palette with blue, pink and light green colors. abstract illustration with flowers. — Artist: Mollyart / Find Out More

Colors: #344163 | #5e8daa | #f38c98 | #fcd9e3 | #9fc7b4

A delicate and cute palette, with pink standing out against the cool colors of green and blue.

Irony and Humor

Palette with orange, red, blue and black. Comic drawing of a sandwich and a character's head. — Artist: Green Room Media / Find Out More

Colors: #2e2e2a | #6fbfb9 | #e86351 | #f7c254 | #f6edc2

Illustration with a comedic and ironic tone, featuring a diverse and colorful color palette.

Vibrant Nature

Palette with green, red, orange and yellow colors. Textured illustration of a snake among leaves and flowers. — Artist: Pixel Buddha / Find Out More

Colors: #0c3641 | #7dcd67 | #d03823 | #dc8231 | #fcbf3b

A color palette with a beautiful contrast of colors.

Warm housing

Palette with brown, yellow and orange. Illustration of a building. — Artist: @inkypaperhouse / Find Out More

Colors: #eca22c | #db6537 | #8c2d1c | #f1e9db | #624738

The color palette with warm colors helps with the dynamic and intense atmosphere of the illustration.

Colorful Simplicity

Palette with green, white and pink. Flowers illustration. — Artist: shoutbam / Find Out More

Colors: #133b4d | #3e8290 | #fefdfe | #e697ab | #711836

Cute Characters

Palette with baby pink, blue and orange. Cute animal characters illustration. — Artist: tatiletters / Find Out More

Colors: #fe938a | #00a9b7 | #86cfcd | #ff9a3f | #fac672

Palette with infantile and soft tones. An excellent choice for children’s drawings.

Earthy and Colorful

Palette with orange, green and red. Illustration of a smiling cactus. — Artist: Green Room Media / Find Out More

Colors: #f4bd5f | #d9a03f | #609b57 | #c74336 | #241e1c

Palette with contrasting and intense colors. A challenging combination.

Chaotic Subtlety

Palette with blue, purple, yellow. Illustration of expressive faces. — Artist: @allenmsutton / Find Out More

Colors: #596183 | #bbc7de | #b990b7 | #fbf8b4 | #dce0c6

Color palette with subtle and soft colors.

Night Cacti

Color palette with three shades of green plus yellow and pink. Cactus illustration. — Artist: Dinkoobraz / Find Out More

Colors: #1a2f2f | #155550 | #30cbc1 | #fcf261 | #ee85ab

Illustration with dark tones and a beautiful contrast with the saturated yellow.

Little Fox

Color palette with purple, pink, orange, brown. Illustration of a female character, a fox, smelling flowers. — Artist: Lisa Glanz / Find Out More

Colors: #b4a1c7 | #dfbaae | #cb8241 | #4d210c | #7d7750

Palette with earthy and desaturated tones and subtle details of pink and purple.

Underwater Detail

Palette with wine, pink and blue colors. Illustration of a single fish at the bottom of the sea. — Artist: Anastezia Luneva / Find Out More

Colors: #442447 | #cd6796 | #78afc4 | #115e7b | #0b243e

Illustration with a color palette featuring excellent contrast between a wide range of blue and punctual details of pink.

Retro and Desaturated

Color palette with desaturated blue and green colors. Illustration of a robot with a brain. — Artist: Green Room Media / Find Out More

Colors: #5e9295 | #397a84 | #1c434a | #010101 | #689960

Illustration with a retro cartoon style and desaturated, cool colors.

Glow and Adventure

Palette with green, blue and yellow colors. Illustration of hat, blouse, pants and binoculars amidst leaves. — Artist: Uproot Brushes / Find Out More

Colors: #0b4b3a | #3a966d | #e1c425 | #344971 | #0b223a

Illustration with good lighting using yellow and orange amidst green and blue.

Playful Subtlety

Color palette with purple, pink, yellow, orange and blue. Children's illustration of trees, sun and turtle. — Artist: Uproot Brushes / Find Out More

Colors: #4e314f | #df497b | #efc602 | #e87f01 | #bed2d4

Cheerful and playful palette for children’s illustrations.

Beautiful Simplicity

Cream, orange and green color palette. Illustration with texture of whole and half oranges. — Artist: Green Room Media / Find Out More

Colors: #ebe7bd | #e0a84c | #2d6f7d | #211f1c

Illustration with a simple, well-contrasted, and vibrant color palette. The simplicity of the color palette allows the focus to be directed to the main object of the illustration: the composition of lemons. The use of black outline aids in the unity and depth of the illustration.