This really isn't a writing tip, but a resource. Several years ago tired of writing the same colors over and over again: (green, blue, yellow, black, white, or adding light or dark to the front of the color), I sat down with a thesaurus and dictionary and made myself a simple color thesaurus. Now going through my creativity dumpter, I found the sheet again. I thought I'd share. If anyone has any questions on what the actual colors are, I'll post those too.
Yours,
CL.
The Color Thesaurus
YELLOW/GOLD
flaxen
platinum
golden
sulphur
canary
cream (yellow)
saffron
straw
auric/auricumous
golden
bisque
lemon
sun/sunny
leucous
topaz
WHITE
ash
off-white
snow/snowy
cream
alabaster
ivory
pale
bleach
milky
blanche
albino
GREEN
emerald
lime
jade
shamrock
chartreuse
nile
paris
verdet
myrtle
sea
sea-foam
glaucous
aquamarine
olive
moss
verdant
viridian
apple
forest
grass
vert
beryl
peridot
BLUE
dusty
powder
baby
aquamarine
ultramarine
beryl
cobalt
marine
nile
robin's egg
turquoise
teal
cadet
china
mulberry
azure
cerulean
lapis
royal
sapphire
navy
slate
peacock
topaz (blue)
PURPLE
amethyst
periwinkle
violet
lilac
heliotrope
orchid
plum
lavender
indigo
mauve
maroon
burgendy
wine
pomegranate
violaceous
perse
PINK
rose
coral
primrose
blush
fushia
magenta
salmon
baby
RED
hyacinth
crimson
ruby
scarlet
vermillion
cardinal
carmine
cherry
cerise
wine
dahlia
damask
rubicund
sanguine
vermeil
titian
garnet
burgundy
ORANGE
tangerine
flame
apricot
peach
BLACK
blue-black
ebony
raven
jet
soot
ink/inky
coal black
cimmerian
obsidian
dusky
dark
midnight
aphotic
BROWN
sable
flaxen
copper
umber
amber
tawny
fawn
ochre
coffee
auburn
bronze
chestnut
cinnamon
henna
hazel
russet
tan
beige
almond
brindle
khaki
nut-brown
dun
brunet
roan
mahogany
taupe
topaz
GREY
silver
pepper and salt
dove
grizzly
dapple
pearl-gray
iron-gray
mouse-gray
taupe
steel
