Palettes · theme palettes
Blonde hair color palettes: hex codes for drawing and painting
Five blonde hair palettes with hex codes, each stepped from highlight to mid to shadow for drawing hair, such as golden blonde (#FBE7A1, #D4A24C, #6E4B1F). Copy the codes, copy CSS or download a PNG swatch strip.
Platinum blonde
- #F4EFE1Highlight
- #E6DCC3Platinum
- #CFC2A1Mid
- #A99A77Shadow
- #7D7058Root
Preview
Platinum blonde
Body text in black on highlight, with shadow as the accent.
ButtonNo two colors here reach 4.5:1, so use it for decoration and set text in black or white.
Golden blonde
- #FBE7A1Shine
- #E9C46AGold
- #D4A24CMid
- #A6762FShadow
- #6E4B1FDeep shadow
Preview
Golden blonde
Body text in deep shadow on shine, with mid as the accent.
ButtonReadable text pairs (WCAG AA, 4.5:1 or more): Deep shadow on Shine 6.33:1; Deep shadow on Gold 4.67:1
Honey blonde
- #F6D6A0Highlight
- #DFA96BHoney
- #C4874AMid
- #93602FShadow
- #5E3C1DRoot
Preview
Honey blonde
Body text in root on highlight, with mid as the accent.
ButtonReadable text pairs (WCAG AA, 4.5:1 or more): Root on Highlight 7.03:1; Root on Honey 4.68:1
Dirty blonde
- #E4D2A8Highlight
- #C6AD7CLight
- #A68D5FMid
- #7D6845Shadow
- #54452FRoot
Preview
Dirty blonde
Body text in root on highlight, with light as the accent.
ButtonReadable text pairs (WCAG AA, 4.5:1 or more): Root on Highlight 6.20:1
Strawberry blonde
- #F9D9B8Highlight
- #EAB38ALight
- #D68C62Mid
- #B06A45Shadow
- #7A452BRoot
Preview
Strawberry blonde
Body text in root on highlight, with mid as the accent.
ButtonReadable text pairs (WCAG AA, 4.5:1 or more): Root on Highlight 5.76:1
Every palette here in 3D color space
Lightness runs up the pole and hue goes around it, so palettes that share a mood sit in the same region. Drag to turn it.
- Highlight
- Platinum
- Mid
- Shadow
- Root
- Shine
- Gold
- Mid
- Shadow
- Deep shadow
- Highlight
- Honey
- Mid
- Shadow
- Root
- Highlight
- Light
- Mid
- Shadow
- Root
- Highlight
- Light
- Mid
- Shadow
- Root
On this page
Blonde is the hair color people most often paint too flat and too yellow. Real blonde hair is a range: pale cream where light hits, a warm mid-tone where it lies, and surprisingly brown shadows underneath. These five palettes are ordered from lightest to darkest so each one works as a ready-made ramp.
The five palettes
- Platinum blonde runs from highlight (#F4EFE1) and platinum (#E6DCC3) through a muted mid (#CFC2A1) and shadow (#A99A77) to a gray-brown root (#7D7058). It is cool and nearly colorless.
- Golden blonde goes from shine (#FBE7A1) and gold (#E9C46A) to mid (#D4A24C), shadow (#A6762F) and deep shadow (#6E4B1F).
- Honey blonde is richer and more orange, with highlight (#F6D6A0), honey (#DFA96B), mid (#C4874A), shadow and root.
- Dirty blonde is the one that looks brownish in the shade: highlight (#E4D2A8) down to root (#54452F).
- Strawberry blonde leans pink-orange, from highlight (#F9D9B8) to a red-brown root (#7A452B).
How highlight, mid and shadow work
Each palette is an ordered list. Treat the first color as the highlight, the place where light hits the top curve of a strand bundle. The middle color is the local color, what you would name if asked "what shade is her hair?" The last two are shadow and root: the underside of locks, the part line and the area near the scalp. When you draw, block in the mid first as one shape, lay shadow along the lower edges and between locks, then add highlight as a few long, curved bands rather than scattered dots. Keep the shadow step from becoming black; in blonde hair even the deepest tone is a warm brown, which is why every palette ends in brown rather than gray.
In painting, the same ramp helps with layering. Thin a mid-tone glaze over the shadow areas, and keep the highlight for last, since pale color on top of dark is hard to cover again. For a quick sanity check, squint at your picture: the three steps should still read as three distinct lightness levels.
Reading text against hair colors
If you use these as a design palette, the dark end can hold text. Golden blonde lists deep shadow on shine at 6.33:1, and honey blonde root on highlight at 7.03:1. Dirty blonde root on highlight is 6.20:1 and strawberry blonde root on highlight 5.76:1. Platinum blonde has no pair reaching 4.5:1, since it is a tight range.
Worked example
You are drawing a character portrait for a tabletop game, with shoulder-length wavy hair. Pick honey blonde. Fill the whole hair shape with mid (#C4874A). On a new layer, paint the shadow (#93602F) along the neck side, under the ears and between wave crests. Add a thin root tone (#5E3C1D) at the part. Then use highlight (#F6D6A0) in two or three long S-shaped streaks following the waves, and honey (#DFA96B) between the highlight and mid to soften the change. Because the five steps all stay in one warm family, the hair looks lit rather than striped. Use Copy hex codes to load them into your swatch panel.
Related pages
For hair in other tones, any base color, for instance tan, can be stepped with the shade and tint generator. The black and gold page uses similar warm yellows, and wood has matching brown ramps.