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Nighthawks is painted oil on canvas, and measures:
84.1 x 152.4 cm (33 1/8 x 60 in.)

That puts it roughly in the ball park of 3 ft x 5 ft, larger than most would guess. The color scheme is a distinctly drab pastel, composed of blues, grays, browns, and greens. The most eye-catching color of the painting is the woman's dress, which departs from the color scheme, a bright red. It's tough to pinpoint exactly which way the brush strokes went without seeing the actual painting, but from the picture it seems that many of them were strokes rather than the splashes associated with impressionism, a style for which Hopper had a fondness. However, there are some vaguely impressionistic motives in the windows of the diner, as well as the exterior, which seem less comprised of solid strokes. Also, the diner itself is geometrically incorrect; the bar is slanted so that the bartender is seemingly trapped inside, as well as the diner itself having no visible doors or way out. Other than this, the painting is pure realism, and Hopper's preoccupation with shadow play is evident in the many crossing sections of lights and darks, including some shading on the characters present in the painting. Often Hopper's characters wear an indifferent look on their faces, and Nighthawks is no different.