My Favorite Vintage Color Palettes for Illustration

Most of my favorite colors aren’t flashy. They’re the ones you’d find in old magazines, on matchbox labels, or faded storybooks left out in the sun. Soft reds with a bit of rust in them. Greens that lean mossy or olive. A brown that almost looks gray until you place it next to something warmer.

Work in progress. Mustard yellow and charcoal pencil — an old color pairing I return to often.

I don’t choose palettes to feel “retro.” I choose them because they feel familiar — like something I’ve seen before, even if I can’t remember where. That’s often the tone I’m going for in a drawing: something that could’ve existed already in an old book or tucked inside a drawer of postcards.

When I draw, I often begin in pencil. But color is where the story settles. I might test a background in a pale sand color, or try a muted blue that feels like a 1930s Danish enamel kettle (Madam Blå). These tones don’t shout — they support. They help the drawing live in a specific time, or maybe just a specific mood.

I’ve pulled color references from Danish book covers, childhood interiors, and antique paperbacks from other countries. There’s an emotional logic to the colors I use — I don’t follow trends or pick from a generator. I’ll sometimes go back and desaturate a palette slightly if it feels too modern. I don’t want slick. I want it to feel lived in.

Red berries, vintage paper, and that soft Danish light. A study in contrast and warmth.

You can see these choices in a few of the illustrations I’ve shared — red berries against a yellowed page, a campground in soft greens and browns, or a girl in a dress the color of old mustard.

I think of it this way: every color says something. But in vintage-inspired work, the quieter ones say it best.

Curious about how memory and place shape my art?

You can explore more of my work in the illustration portfolio, or read about how I bring character into quiet scenes in this sketchbook post.