Edo era
Pale Blue & Vermillion— 浅葱と朱
The faded blue of Shinsengumi jackets against shrine-gate vermillion — restrained power.
#2B2B2B
neutral · 10 palettes
Sumi
墨
Ink black
About Sumi
Sumi (墨) is a deep, near-neutral neutral tone. Its hex value is #2B2B2B — that is
RGB 43, 43, 43, or HSL 0°, 0%, 17%.
Ink black.
It holds 14.2:1 contrast against white, so Sumi works best for body text, headings, and UI labels. (On white it scores 14.2:1; on black 1.5:1.)
Across Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations, Sumi appears in 10 combinations — most often paired with Sumi, Gofun and Gin.
The story of Sumi
Sumi (墨) is the ink-black of pine soot or lamp soot mixed with hide glue and pressed into ink-sticks. Ground on a wet stone, it produces the calligraphy ink that has anchored Japanese visual culture for over a thousand years. Sumi is not 'black' in the Western sense — it has warmth, depth, and a slight sheen that pure pigment black lacks.
In wabi-sabi composition sumi is the punctuation mark: never the field colour, always the accent. A single sumi line against a cream paper, a sumi ideogram on a tea-room wall, the sumi mon (crest) on an unbleached silk kimono. Modern brand systems use it the same way — as the signature, not the background.
See Sumi in the Japanese Color Glossary →
How often colors like this recur across the 348 plates — the data analysis →
Colours that go with Sumi
As a deep near-neutral, Sumi sits comfortably beside almost any accent — the schemes below show the subtle, reliable pairings from a standard colour wheel.
Complementary
#2B2B2B #2B2B2B
the hue directly opposite — the highest-contrast pairing, good for a single bold accent.
Analogous
#2B2B2B #2B2B2B #2B2B2B
the two neighbours on the wheel — a calm, cohesive scheme that feels effortless.
Triadic
#2B2B2B #2B2B2B #2B2B2B
two hues an even third of the wheel away — balanced and lively without clashing.
Split-complementary
#2B2B2B #2B2B2B #2B2B2B
the two colours either side of the complement — the contrast of a complement, softened.
How to use Sumi
Sumi is a deep, near-neutral tone (HSL 0°, 0%, 17%), which makes it a grounding background or strong accent. For text it passes WCAG AA for body text against a light background (14.2:1) — safe for paragraphs, buttons and labels. When you do set type on it, use light lettering. Pair it with its complement (#2B2B2B) for a focal accent, or with its analogous neighbours (#2B2B2B and #2B2B2B) for a quieter, harmonious feel.
Studio
Taking Sumi off the screen
A hex code is an instruction to a screen, not a colour. Where this one is going decides what it needs next.
Affiliate links — as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
-
...onto paper
Start here if the palette gets printed. Screen colour and ink colour are not the same colour, and this is the deck that translates between them.
Listed on Amazon as Pantone GP6102B Color Bridge Guide Set Coated & Uncoated, Multi-Colour
See price on Amazon -
...onto a screen you can trust
Start here if it stays digital. An uncalibrated monitor is the single most common reason a palette that looked right on your desk looks wrong everywhere else.
Calibrite
ColorChecker Studio spectrophotometer
Listed on Amazon as Calibrite ColorChecker Studio Spectrophotometer for Complete Color Management for Display, Projector, Printer and Scanner Profiling
See price on Amazon -
...by hand
Start here if you are mixing it. Wada's plates were flat printed colour; gansai pans are the closest everyday medium to them.
Kuretake
Gansai Tambi 24 — Art Nouveau
Listed on Amazon as Kuretake GANSAI TAMBI Watercolor Paint Set 24 Colors II - Art Nouveau
See price on Amazon
Amazon Associates affiliate links — your price is unchanged and a small commission keeps the archive free. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Palettes with Sumi
Sumi appears in 10 combinations from the archive. Each pairing reveals how the same color shifts character depending on its neighbours. For how usage like this compares across the whole dictionary, see the data analysis of all 348 plates.
Questions about Sumi
- What is the hex code for Sumi?
- Sumi (墨) is #2B2B2B. Ink black It appears in 10 historical color combinations from Sanzo Wada's 1933 "A Dictionary of Color Combinations".
- What does Sumi look like on white and black backgrounds?
- Sumi (#2B2B2B) has a WCAG contrast ratio of 14.16:1 against white (#FFFFFF) and 1.48:1 against black (#000000). WCAG AA requires 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text.
- Where does the color Sumi come from?
- Sumi is documented in Sanzo Wada's "A Dictionary of Color Combinations" (1933, Seigensha Art Publishing 2010 reprint). Wada catalogued neutral pigments and historical Japanese color terms. The source work is in the public domain.
- Can I use Sumi in my own design or brand?
- Yes. The color name and hex value (#2B2B2B) are factual data — not copyrightable. Our curation and descriptions are CC BY 4.0 licensed.
From the archive
Support the archive The full catalog, on your disk, as a thank-you.
- All 378 palettes (348 Wada + 30 editorial) in five formats
- Figma design tokens (W3C-spec JSON, drag into any file)
- Tailwind v4 + v3 configs — drop into any project
- CSS custom properties — every plate, one stylesheet
- 378 SVG plates (348 Wada + 30 editorial) — print-ready at any size
- Full JSON — colors, names, eras, moods, dominant hues
See what's inside
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