From Book to Canvas: How I Use A Dictionary of Color Combinations in My Work

⏱️ 7 minute read

The book is always somewhere on my workspace. Sometimes I use it with purpose, other times I just flip through it because it’s a pleasure to look at. A Dictionary of Color Combinations by Sanzo Wada is not a reference book that I only open once a year. It’s a go-to, a compass, a way to sharpen my color instinct.

In my previous article, I explained what A Dictionary of Color Combinations is, where it comes from, and how you can use it. In this article, I go a step further: I show how four of my own paintings trace back directly to specific palettes from the book. Not as theory, but as practice.

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The color theory behind the book: dominant, sub, and accent

Before I discuss the paintings, here is the core of the color theory that makes A Dictionary of Color Combinations so useful.

Each palette in the book consists of 2 to 4 colors, but the way you distribute them is just as important as the colors themselves. The classic ratio that I use:

What makes A Dictionary of Color Combinations unique compared to other color theories (such as those by Itten or Munsell) is that Wada does not give rules about which colors are allowed to go together. He only shows which combinations work, and you determine the ratio. That is what makes the book so flexible and so personally applicable.

Below I show how I did that in four concrete paintings.

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Why A Dictionary of Color Combinations and not just your own intuition?

That is a fair question. I paint abstractly, intuitively, from feeling. Why then consult a book?

Because the color combinations from A Dictionary of Color Combinations don't replace my intuition; they sharpen it. When I see a combination that strikes me, I ask myself: why does this color combination work? What is the ratio? Which color does the heavy lifting and which one only supports? I take those questions with me to the canvas. The book is not a recipe; it is a conversation.

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Soho | Original

A Dictionary of Color Combinations #276: Seashell Pink, Eosine Pink, Yellow Green, Black

Soho started with a feeling of energy and contrast. The city, the noise, the warmth of bricks and neon lights. Color combination #276 from A Dictionary of Color Combinations gave me the structure: a pink undertone as a base, a sharp yellow-green as tension, and black as an anchor.

What struck me about this palette is how unexpectedly it works. Seashell Pink and Eosine Pink sound almost sweet, but next to Yellow Green and Black, they gain character. The sweetness disappears. What remains is something urban, something that chafes in a pleasant way.

In the painting, I used the pink tones as dominant (60-70% of the surface), the yellow-green as sub, and black as an accent. Not literally, not as flat planes of paint, but as an undertone shimmering through the layers.

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Pale Divide | Original

A Dictionary of Color Combinations #134: Eosine Pink, Light Mauve, Red Violet

Pale Divide is perhaps the most faithful work to A Dictionary of Color Combinations that I have created. Color combination #134 is a palette of three pink-purple tones that are close to each other but differ just enough to create tension. No contrast, no shouting. Just gradation.

That is exactly what the painting is: a soft separation, a border that you almost don't see. The colors flow into each other but are never the same. Eosine Pink as the warmest tone, Light Mauve as transition, Red Violet as the deepest point.

This palette taught me something about restraint. The less contrast, the more attention goes to texture, to the movement of paint, to the surface itself. Pale Divide is a painting that you have to look at up close.

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Vonitsa Sun | Original

A Dictionary of Color Combinations #301: Spectrum Red, Aconite Violet, Rainette Green, Ivory Buff

Vonitsa is a small town in Greece. I was there in the summer, in the middle of the day, when the light was so bright that everything seemed to vibrate. Color combination #301 from A Dictionary of Color Combinations captured that feeling precisely: Spectrum Red as the heat, Aconite Violet as the shade you seek out, Rainette Green as the green that survives despite the drought, Ivory Buff as the bleached light.

This is a palette with tension. Four colors that are not obvious when placed next to each other, but which together evoke something you recognize without being able to name it. That is what Wada understands so well in A Dictionary of Color Combinations: color is not decoration; it is emotion.

In Vonitsa Sun, I used Ivory Buff as dominant, almost like a white ground that carries everything. Spectrum Red and Aconite Violet as the energy breaking through. Rainette Green as the smallest accent, but the most surprising.

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Quiet Hours | Study

A Dictionary of Color Combinations #228: Carmine Red, Neutral Grey, Pale Yellow Lemon

A study for me is an exploration. Smaller, freer, less busy. Quiet Hours emerged early in the morning, in the kind of light that hasn't decided what it wants to be yet. Color combination #228 from A Dictionary of Color Combinations fit that perfectly: Carmine Red as the warmth you feel but don't see yet, Neutral Grey as the silence itself, Pale Yellow Lemon as the first light falling through a window.

What strikes me about this color combination is how unexpectedly red and yellow work together with grey. On paper, it sounds busy. In practice, with the right proportions, it is the quietest palette of the four. Neutral Grey takes up the largest surface. Carmine Red shimmers through it as an undertone. Pale Yellow Lemon touches the surface at one point.

That is the lesson that A Dictionary of Color Combinations teaches me over and over: it is not about which colors you choose, but about how much space you give them.

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What I learn from A Dictionary of Color Combinations every time

Four paintings, four color combinations, four times the same discovery: the power is not in the color itself, but in the ratio. A Dictionary of Color Combinations shows that even the most unexpected color combinations work if you distribute the dominance correctly.

What I also notice: the color names in the book sometimes sound more intense than they turn out in the painting. Eosine Pink, Spectrum Red, Carmine Red. That sounds lively. But by mixing, working in layers, and guarding the proportions, those colors become something else. Something more muted, something more personal. That is the difference between a color combination on paper and a painting on canvas.

A Dictionary of Color Combinations gives me a starting point. What happens after that on the canvas, that is the conversation.

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Try it yourself

Do you have A Dictionary of Color Combinations? Pick a color combination that appeals to you and paint something with it. Not with the colors mixed literally, but with the mood as a guide. See what happens if you let the dominant color take up 70% of your canvas. See what the accent does if it is only 5%.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Do you use A Dictionary of Color Combinations for every painting?

Not always, but often. Sometimes I start with a feeling and look up afterwards which color combination from A Dictionary of Color Combinations comes closest. Sometimes I start with the book and let a combination determine the direction. Both work.

Do I have to mix the colors exactly?

No. The color names are a guide, not recipes. It is about the relationship between colors and the mood, not about the exact pigment values.

Does this color theory also work for techniques other than painting?

Absolutely. Illustrators, textile designers, interior stylists, and graphic designers use A Dictionary of Color Combinations in exactly the same way. The principles are universal.

Are the paintings in this article still available?

Click the links next to each work for current availability. Originals are unique, so once they're gone, they're gone. Art Prints are continuously available.

Where can I buy A Dictionary of Color Combinations?

Directly from Athenaeum Scheltema: Volume 1 and Volume 2.

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