Only two blues were used. The cerulean can be seen pure in the distant hills running in from the left and in dashes on the right of the window frame. There are only small amounts of the cobalt blue, often applied with a finger to add a particular depth, such as in the tiny area between the chin and arm of the figure. Two yellows are discernible. A lemon cadmium appears with rare impasto over some foreground roofs and thinned with white for glazes in the foreground cloth.
Yellow ochre complements the lemon to provide some drawing around the red book.
Bonnard used viridian to great effect. He thinned it with zinc white to create the transparent acid green of the shutters and in the angled window bar. It was also used in the heavy green of the clumps of woodland. A flake white was used in the thickly applied pure white sheet offered to view, which then calls across to the pure whites and primed canvas of the houses, creating a set of optical stepping stones into the distance. Bonnard also employed a black in a similar way.