Hex Colors and Styled Text¶

By the end of this lesson you'll be able to:

Set a turtle color using a hex color code like '#FF5733'
Use turtle.Screen().bgcolor() to paint the canvas background
Write styled text on the canvas with a specific font, size, and weight

Color names like 'red' and 'blue' are convenient, but they only give you a few dozen choices. Hex color codes give you access to more than 16 million colors — every shade imaginable — using a six-digit code that looks like #FF5733.

Welcome to This Lesson!

Monty waving welcome Ready to paint with millions of colors? Today you'll learn the color codes that designers and web developers use every day — and draw a colorful greeting card with styled text! Let's code it together!

Hex Color Codes¶

A hex color code starts with # followed by six characters — each a digit from 0–9 or a letter from A–F. The six characters come in three pairs, controlling how much red, green, and blue light to mix:

# RR GG BB
  FF 57 33   →  lots of red, some green, a little blue  →  a warm orange-red

#FF0000 — pure red (full red, no green, no blue)
#00FF00 — pure green
#0000FF — pure blue
#FFFFFF — white (all three at maximum)
#000000 — black (all three at zero)

You can use a tool like coolors.co or Google "hex color picker" to find any color you want.

Styled Text¶

monty.write() draws text at the turtle's current position. Add a font argument to control the typeface, size, and style:

monty.write("Hello!", font=("Arial", 40, "bold"))

The three values in font are: font name, size in points, and style ("normal", "bold", or "italic").

Sample Code¶

import turtle

screen = turtle.Screen()
screen.bgcolor('#1A1A2E')

monty = turtle.Turtle()
monty.hideturtle()
monty.speed(10)

monty.penup()
monty.goto(-120, 60)
monty.color('#E94560')
monty.write("Hello,", font=("Arial", 48, "bold"))

monty.goto(-80, -20)
monty.color('#F5A623')
monty.write("Python!", font=("Arial", 48, "bold"))

monty.goto(-60, -100)
monty.color('#00C9A7')
monty.write("Let's code!", font=("Arial", 24, "italic"))

What Do You Think Will Happen?

Monty thinking The background is '#1A1A2E' — a very dark blue. The text colors are bright hex codes. What do you think the contrast will look like? Will the text be easy to read? Make your guess — then click Run!

Try It Now¶

Edit the code below and click Run to see the result right on this page. No account needed — everything runs in your browser.

Were you right? Dark navy background with vivid red, orange, and teal text — the contrast makes the colors pop in a way that named colors rarely achieve.

How It Works¶

turtle.Screen() gives you a handle to the drawing window itself. bgcolor() paints the background before any turtle drawing happens — so everything you draw appears on top of it.

monty.hideturtle() removes the cursor icon entirely so the text stands alone without a turtle shape in the corner.

Explanation Table¶

Line	What it does
`turtle.Screen()`	Gets a handle to the drawing window
`screen.bgcolor('#1A1A2E')`	Paints the canvas background with a hex color
`monty.hideturtle()`	Hides the turtle icon — useful for text-only drawings
`monty.goto(-120, 60)`	Moves the text cursor to that position
`monty.write("Hello,", font=("Arial", 48, "bold"))`	Writes text in 48-point bold Arial

Finding the Perfect Color

Monty with a tip Search Google for "hex color picker" and you'll see a color wheel — click any color and copy the #RRGGBB code it shows. Paste it directly into your Python string!

Learning Check¶

Your Turn — Design Your Own Card

Monty thinking The program below sets up a background but writes only one line of text. Add two more write() calls with different hex colors and positions to complete a three-line greeting card. Choose your own colors using a hex color picker!

Experiments¶

Try these changes to the greeting card code. Predict first, then run!

Change screen.bgcolor('#1A1A2E') to screen.bgcolor('#FFFFFF') (white). You'll know it worked when the background turns white — now check if the text is still readable.
Change one font style from "bold" to "italic". You'll know it worked when that word appears slanted instead of thick.
Change a font size from 48 to 72. You'll know it worked when the text is noticeably larger and may extend off-screen.
Use 'Times New Roman' as the font name for one line. You'll know it worked when that line has a serif typeface instead of the default sans-serif.
Add a filled rectangle behind the text using begin_fill(), end_fill(), and a loop to draw four sides — then use hideturtle() and write the text on top. You'll know it worked when the text appears inside a colored box.

Great Work!

Monty celebrating You unlocked 16 million colors and styled text — the building blocks of digital design! In the next lab you'll use math functions to plot a sine wave across the canvas. Let's code it together!