American Realism occupies the comfortable middle of the value scale, avoiding both extremes to hold the eye in a sustained middle grey. Warm hues command this palette; it favours the reds, oranges, and yellows of firelight and earth. Mid-saturation across the board: the palette has colour character without chromatic excess. The most saturated colour, #E29E85, is reserved to 3.5% of the surface, where it acts as a focal punctuation. A value spread of 55 units gives the palette both depth and air - shadows are genuinely dark, lights genuinely light.