Lemon
Freshness and light, like the first cut of the fruit.
About lemon
Lemon tends to suggest freshness and light, like the first cut of the fruit. It feels sharp and clean.
- What color is lemon?
- Lemon is a bright, cool yellow, like the fruit. Its hex code is #FFF44F.
- Is lemon warm or cool?
- Warm: it sits on the warm side of the color wheel, with the reds, oranges and yellows. It is a very light color, value 9 of 10, and its opposite is mauve. More in warm and cool colors.
- Value and codes
- Value 9 of 10, in the yellow family. RGB 255, 244, 79. OKLCH 94.8% 0.177 105.5.
Where to use lemon
In a room
A kitchen chair, a bowl or a small painted wall. It wakes up white rooms.
In an outfit
A summer top, a bag or a scarf. Fresh with white and denim.
In art
A cool yellow for highlights, fruit and spring light.
In design
Too pale for text on white, at 1.1 to 1. Use it as a background instead: dark text on it reads well, at 13.8 to 1.
What lemon pairs with
- Royal blue
Bright blue, sharp and sunny.
- Ivory
A soft white that calms it.
- Gunmetal
A dark gray that makes it sing.
- Mint
A pale cool green for a fresh mix.
The opposite of lemon: Mauve #AF85C8
Opposite lemon on the color wheel sits mauve. Side by side, each makes the other look stronger; mixed, they turn each other gray.
Side by side
Lemon around mauve
Mauve around lemon
Often confused with lemon
How to mix lemon in paint
- 10 parts
cadmium yellow light - 1 part
cadmium yellow medium
Golden Heavy Body Acrylics. This is a calculated mix and comes very close, so adjust by eye as you go. It uses a paint beyond the basics. Practice in our Paint Mixer game.
Lemon tints, tones and shades
Tints
Tones
Shades
Tap a color to copy its code. A tint adds white, a tone adds gray of the same lightness, and a shade adds black. More in tints, tones and shades.
Colors similar to lemon
Lemon inspiration
Find your own colors
Add the pictures you love to Color Taste to see which colors they share, or make a palette from one photo in Image to Palette.