Local Color

Local color refers to the natural colors associated with a particular object or scene as seen in normal, neutral lighting. It’s what the object’s surface typically looks like in a straightforward view—like the blue of the sky, the green of leaves, or the brown of bark. Artists and writers use local color to create a sense of realism and specific place. However, in art, local color can also be manipulated with different lighting or emotional effects, making the scene more dramatic or expressive. Essentially, it’s the true, typical color of an object in ordinary circumstances.