Carmine Red & Oil Green +2

About this combination

Combination 245 of 348 in Wada's six-volume 1933 work. A 4-colour grouping of Carmine Red, Oil Green, Dark Tyrian Blue, Slate Color, as documented in the original plates.

Historical context

Plate 245 of Wada's 348 anchors Carmine Red, Oil Green, Dark Tyrian Blue and Slate Color in the red family — a 4-colour grouping with a solemn, warm, bold character, recorded in the Showa-era volumes of Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations, where these shikisai names have sat in the public domain for generations. Its strongest pairing — Oil Green on Dark Tyrian Blue — reaches a contrast ratio of 3.71:1, usable for large text but not body copy, so it reads best in decorative blocks rather than text pairings.