get colors from colormap for arbitrary data

mpl_colors.py

import matplotlib as mpl
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

# whatever the data is
a = np.arange(5, 15)

# get colors for data from colormap (viridis in this case)
norm = mpl.colors.Normalize(vmin=a.min(), vmax=a.max())
rgba_color = plt.cm.viridis([norm(v) for v in a]) 

# take a look at the colors
for ci, c in enumerate(rgba_color):
    ax = plt.gca()
    p = mpl.patches.Rectangle((1*ci, 0), 1, 1, facecolor=c)
    ax.add_patch(p)
    ax.set_xlim(0, ci + 1)

plt.show()