Nature's Palette: How the Outdoors Inspires Our Colour Choices
- mike26716
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
In the world of animation, colour plays a powerful role in storytelling. It sets the mood, guides the viewer's emotional response, and helps build immersive animated worlds.
While much of this work happens behind the computer screens, some of the most compelling colour choices are inspired by the natural world around us.
We spend most of our time inside the studio, doodling and designing, animating and getting lost in digital worlds. But every once in a while we trade our styluses for sandwiches, and head outdoors to let nature help us create more beautiful animated scenes.
Why Colour Matters in Animation
Colour = Emotion
In animation, thoughtful colour palettes can:
Enhance character development
Emphasise narrative beats
Establish time of day or season
Create emotional resonance
A warm, golden background might evoke nostalgia or joy, while cooler muted tones can suggest calm, melancholy, or tension. By aligning colours with story and setting, you can shape how audiences feel without saying a word.
Finding Animation Inspiration in Nature
One of the most effective (and often overlooked) ways to create authentic colour palettes, is by observing the natural world. Especially in environments where light, texture, and seasonal colour variations are at their most dynamic.
From sunlit tree canopies, to the shimmer of a birds feather catching the light, the environment offers a rich natural palette that is perfect to translate to the screen.
Real-World Colour in 2D Animation
We can translate these real-world observations into a custom colour palette, which doesn’t just have to relate to the natural world on screen. The nuance and parallels we draw can be effective in taking those emotions to other aspects of design and animation.
Nature as a Tool for Animation Inspiration
For animation studios, colour theory is more than a technical skill, it’s a storytelling tool. Grounding your palette in real environments helps deliver visual authenticity and emotional depth.
Explore your surroundings, observe carefully, and bring those colours back to the screen.
Interested to see how we can explore colour to help your message, let’s have a chat!
