In the field of painting, dyes play many important roles.
In the case of watercolor painting, dyes are the key ingredient. The dyes in watercolor paints are well soluble in water, allowing painters to easily mix colors on paper by controlling the ratio of water to paint, and to show different transparencies and color gradients. For example, the transparency of the sky when painting landscapes relies heavily on this property.

In Chinese painting, plant dyes are widely used. For example, indigo, a dye extracted from blue grass, is used to depict vegetation and other parts of mountains and rivers. Painters combine brushwork and ink techniques to blend colors and lines, showing a unique artistic style.

In acrylic painting, although acrylic paints are mainly pigment particles, there are also products containing dye ingredients. These can be used for special effects. For example, in some creative paintings, by adding acrylic paints with dyes, parts of the picture with fluorescence or special luster can be produced to enrich the visual effects of the work.