Sepia (color)

This article is about the color. For other uses, see Sepia.

Sepia is a dark brown-grey color, named after the rich brown pigment derived from the ink sac of the common cuttlefish Sepia.

The word sepia is the Latinized form of the Greek σηπία, sēpía, cuttlefish.

Sepia in human culture

• Grisaille is a painting technique in which a painting is rendered solely in tones of gray, sepia, or dark green.
• In the last quarter of the 18th century, Professor Jacob Seydelmann of Dresden developed a process to extract and produce a more concentrated form of sepia for use in watercolors and oil paints.
• Sepia ink was commonly used as writing ink in classical times.
• Sepia tones are used in photography; the hue resembles the effect of aging in old photographs and photographs chemically treated for archival purposes, an effect sometimes created on purpose. Many digital cameras include a sepia tone effect as well.

See also

• Sepia tone
• List of colors