Drowned Lepidolite
Drowned Lepidolite (#4B3182) is a true indigo with an earthy character. It leans grounded and natural, the kind of color that plays well with wood, clay, linen, and warm neutrals. Its HSL profile (259°, 45%, 35%) places it in the balanced band at a mid lightness. It works across type, buttons, and borders, saturated enough to feel deliberate but balanced enough to not fight the rest of the palette. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary lime. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.
Etymology
The past participle of drown — used as a color word principally in literary contexts for the dark blue-green of deep water and the muted browns of waterlogged earth. Drowned implies darkness with the optical complexity of a fluid medium absorbing and scattering light. Sits in the deep-and-cool quadrant, near sunken.
Lithium-bearing potassium mica — pink-to-violet from manganese substitution, sourced from Newry, Maine, and Tanco, Manitoba. The mineral was the Soviet space program's primary lithium source. Lepidolite color refers to a Newry lepidolite booklet on its native pegmatite matrix: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue-violet with the silvery finish of foliated mica with lithium-substitution-induced violet coloration in the cleavage planes.
Closest matches
The nearest named color in three reference sources, ranked by perceptual distance (ΔE76 in CIELAB). ΔE < 1 is imperceptible to most viewers; ΔE > 10 is clearly different. When two sources point to the same hex they’re merged into one tile; click any to open that color’s page.
Variations
Click any swatch to exploreHarmonies
Accessibility
How this color appears to viewers with the four major color-vision-deficiency types. Computed via the Machado (2009) physiologically-based model. If a tile matches the original, the color reads the same to that viewer.
The color used as foreground text against pure white and pure black, with the contrast ratio and WCAG 2.1 grade. Aim for AA (4.5:1) for body text and AA Large (3:1) for 18 pt+ headlines; AAA (7:1) is the gold standard for long-form reading surfaces.