The Internet and modern computing power make identifying color in paintings an easy activity.
In the past, copying a specific color from a source such as a painting required a person to sit dutifully in front of the painting, mixing paint and comparing it to the original. Today you can avoid this through the use of online color-picking tools that can scan an image and provide a list of all colors found within it.
Instructions
1. Search online for an image of the Mona Lisa. If using Google, click "Image" at the top of the screen to open Google Image Search. Type "Mona Lisa" and press "Enter." Click "Large" from the size options on the left side of the screen. This will cause Google to show only large image files, which are necessary for the color-picking tool to work.
2. Select a photo from the range of photos; make sure you choose an authentic version, rather than a doctored version (Mona Lisa chewing gum, for example). Click on the photo you want. On the next page, click the "Full-size image" link on the panel on the right side of the page.
3. Right click on the photo of the Mona Lisa and select "Copy Image Location" for Windows or a similar option for other operating systems. This will copy the Web address for the photo itself, rather than the Web page featuring the photo.
4. Open another browser window and access an online color-picking tool such as ColourGrab. This will bring up a website with some welcome text and a form. In the form under the welcome text, right-click and paste the URL for the photo. Press the submit button.
5. Look through the colors the tool has identified in your image. All colors in the image will be represented as a solid tone as well as a hex code, which can be used in image editing and creation programs. Find the orange colors and pick the one you want. To use the exact color, you need to copy its hex code and paste it into the appropriate place in your image manipulation program.
