How to paint black

Tips on how to paint black.

Don't think black, look for the light ash shade and paint the tonal shapes. Remember, light is colour reflected and dark is colour absorbed, and so you paint with the colours you see in the tones. There will be more of the optically warm hues, yellow, orange, or red in the lightest tones, and more of the optically cooler tones of blue, blue-violet and blue-green in the darker shadows.
Take a look at the colour choices the master of light and shadow, Rembrandt, used when painting what we think of as black.

I went to look how I'd painted a black poodle in watercolours—I cheated—I hid her (the leading dog) in the grass, and left her all dark to contrast to the grasses and to not have her as a detailed focal point given she is near the edge of the watercolour painting. Just proves there isn't one way to do anything in art. The man's dark slacks gives a better idea of painting the tones being more important than what colour you use.

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