The color book that has been inspiring artists for 90 years: Sanzo Wada's Dictionary of Color Combinations

⏱️ 8 minute read

There are books you buy, flip through, and put away. And there are books you pick up again and again with every new project, every new series, every time you face a blank canvas and don't know which direction to go. A Dictionary of Color Combinations by Sanzo Wada is one such book.

It was first published in Japan in 1933. More than ninety years later, it is still in print, still on the desks of designers, illustrators, and artists around the world. This is no coincidence. In this article, I'll explain why and how you can use it.

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Who was Sanzo Wada?

Sanzo Wada (1883–1967) was a Japanese artist, costume designer, and color theorist. He worked during a time when Japan was rapidly modernizing. Western influences flowed into the country, but traditional Japanese aesthetics remained deeply rooted in daily life.

Wada moved between both worlds. He studied Western painting, but his sense of color was imbued with Japanese traditions: the muted tones of kimono textiles, the subtle gradations in woodblock prints, the harmony of nature and material. His work as a costume designer for theater and film gave him a keen eye for how colors function side by side, not in isolation but in relation.

The result of years of observation and study was A Dictionary of Color Combinations, a catalog of 348 color combinations built from over 6,000 individual color samples.

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What makes this book different?

There are many color theory books. Johannes Itten wrote about color contrasts. Albert Munsell developed a scientific color model. Josef Albers explored how colors influence each other. All essential, but Wada did something different.

Where other theorists established rules, Wada compiled combinations. No formulas, no color wheels with arrows. Simply: this works. Just look.

Each page shows a set of 2 to 6 colors, carefully placed next to each other. No explanation of why they work, you see that for yourself. The palettes are named (often after natural phenomena or materials) and numbered, but otherwise the book speaks for itself.

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The theory behind the palettes

Wada worked from a number of principles that you can also see reflected in his palettes:

1. Harmony over contrast

Most palettes in the book are harmonious. They share an undertone, a temperature, an atmosphere. This makes them directly applicable without being jarring. Even combinations with a strong accent never feel aggressive.

2. Muted colors as a basis

Wada avoided saturated primary colors. His red is more terracotta. His blue tends towards slate. His yellow is ocher gold. This gives the palettes a timeless, organic quality and they do not age.

3. Proportion and weight

In each palette, there is a dominant color, a supporting color, and often an accent. That proportion is rarely equal, and that is precisely why it works. A 10% accent does more than a 33% accent.

4. Nature as reference

Many palettes are inspired by seasons, materials, and landscapes. Moss, slate, rice fields, autumn leaves. Wada looked at the world around him and translated that into color.

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Influence and legacy

The book largely fell into oblivion after World War II. It was only reissued in 2010 by Seigensha Art Publishing and it was a huge success. It quickly became a must-have within the design and illustration community.

The influence is broad:

• Graphic design: Agencies use Wada's palettes as a starting point for brand identities, especially for brands seeking an organic, warm, or Japanese aesthetic.
• Fashion: Costume designers and fashion houses, particularly in the Japanese and Scandinavian corners, refer to the book for seasonal palettes.
• Illustration: A whole generation of digital illustrators (especially on platforms like Procreate and Behance) explicitly works with Wada palettes.
• Interior: Stylists use the book to compose color combinations for spaces, from paint to textiles to wall art.
• Fine Art: Painters use it as a compass when building a coherent series or choosing a limited palette.

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How do you use it in art making?

This is where it gets practical. The book is not a decorative piece, it's a working tool. Here are concrete ways to use it:

Building a series around one palette

Choose one combination from the book and use it as a guide for a series of works. Not every work needs to contain all colors, but they share the same language. This gives a series cohesion without every work being identical.

Example: Palette #214 combines a warm off-white, a deep moss green, and a terracotta accent. Use the moss green as the dominant color in work 1, the off-white in work 2, and the terracotta in work 3. Three different works, one recognizable family.

Consciously applying color proportion

Wada's palettes implicitly suggest a proportion. Look at how the swatches are arranged. The wide bar is your dominant (60–70%), the narrower your sub (20–30%), the small square your accent (5–10%). Translate that proportion directly to your canvas.

Limitation as freedom

One of the biggest pitfalls for artists is too much color choice. By limiting yourself to a Wada palette of 3 to 4 colors, you force yourself to work with value, texture, and composition instead of using color as an escape route.

Mixing from the palette

Use the colors in the book as target colors, not as an exact mix. Find the closest pigments in your paint cabinet and mix towards the palette. It doesn't have to be exact, it's about the atmosphere and the mutual relationship.

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How do you use it in your interior?

Wall art is always a color choice, even if you don't consciously think about it. Wada's palettes can help make that choice more conscious.

Choosing art based on color harmony

Look at the dominant colors in your space (floor, walls, textiles) and find a palette in the book that contains or complements those colors. Then choose art that falls within that palette. The result is a space that feels like a cohesive whole, without everything matching.

Accent through art

If your space is neutral (off-white, beige, gray), use art as the accent in a Wada palette. A work with a deep blue-green or warm terracotta gives the space just enough color without overwhelming it.

Combining multiple works

Do you want to create a gallery wall? Use one Wada palette as a binder. Works don't have to have the same style. If they share the same color family, they feel together.

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Wada and the art of negative space

There's an interesting connection between Wada's color philosophy and the Japanese concept of ma (間), the art of negative space. Wada's palettes breathe. They are never full, never overloaded. There is always room for silence, a neutral tone that lets the other colors speak.

In your interior, it works the same way. A work with a Wada palette doesn't need a busy environment. It functions best with space around it: a bare wall, a single object, tranquility. I wrote about this extensively before in my article on Ma (間): The Art of Negative Space in your Interior.

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Frequently asked questions

Where can I buy A Dictionary of Color Combinations?

The book is available through major online bookstores (Amazon) and specialized design and art bookstores. Look for the Seigensha Art Publishing edition (2010), which is the most accessible reprint.

Is the book also available digitally?

There are no official digital versions, but there are online databases and tools (such as coolors.co or specific Wada color palette collections on Pinterest) based on the book.

Do I need to know color theory to use the book?

No. That is precisely the power of the book. You don't need to know theory. You choose a palette that appeals to you and apply it. The theory is already incorporated into the selection.

How does Wada differ from other color theories?

Wada does not give rules, he gives examples. Where Itten and Munsell work with systems and formulas, Wada works with intuition and observation. Both approaches are valuable, but Wada is more accessible for practical use.

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Related articles

• Ma (間): The Art of Negative Space in your Interior
• From book to canvas: how I use A Dictionary of Color Combinations in my work
• More articles on art, color, and interior design →

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