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| "Wise Guy" 30x40 Acrylic on Canvas Private Collection |
"Women think of all colors except the absence of color. I have said that black has it all. White too. Their beauty is absolute. It is the perfect harmony.” Coco Chanel
Happy September Saturday everyone! If there’s one really
controversial pigment color for artists it might be black. It seems to be the one pigment artists either love or never use. Which brings me to the
question I hear a lot: Is black even a color?
It’s a good question..If you add white to your black pigment
you’ll likely get some kind of gray that leans toward a hue such as blue. So in
that case I use black a really dark neutral blue. Here’s an interesting post by the late RobertGenn about using black in art.
In most cases, I mix a “chromatic”
black meaning I create a really dark pigment that looks blackish. In oil
for example, I might use ultramarine and transparent red oxide. This is a very
nice dark neutral mix for landscapes or animals.
In my contemporary owl acrylic painting today I just cut to the chase and used really opaque mars black (which also leans a little warmer). In a painting with more subtle natural colors the black helps add needed contrast especially to the focal area of the eyes. Thanks stopping by--have a wonderful rest of your weekend!
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