Black Isn’t Just Black
Black is technically the absence of light. White, it’s opposite, is the full combined spectrum of light. Between those two polarities we have refracted light, which gives us the colour spectrum.
I paint with tonal values in mind mainly, not colour. The colour choice can sometimes seem a bit arbitrary. What’s important is the value distinction.
Most people who are new to the painting game will pick colours in a very symbolic sense. Green for grass and trees, blue for sky etc. These are known as local colours - The colour of the object in ordinary light, as perceived on the human earthling spectrum.
Black will be applied to alot of synthetic and artificial products (the tyres of a vehicle will be black), and people might also paint shadows as black.
But “black” can also be represented by other colours. Any colour really. Though let’s assume you are trying to go for some kind of realism in your colours.
Enter brown and blue. Seen in this photo they are the oil paints: “Transparent Brown Oxide” and Ultramarine Blue”. As far as paints go these tend to be pretty dark and transparent, but leaning to either the warmer (redder) or cooler (bluer) end of the spectrum. They will still seem blue and brown in their own right, however combining the blue and brown together will actually produce something you might call closer to black. The transparency allows them to work well as overlays on other colours.
But why not just go for the black straight out of the tube? (In most cases, this will be called “Ivory Black”).
Well you COULD do that. And some people do and get great results. But you may find the results coming off a bit flat.
Because in the real world black isn’t just always black.
Those car tyres are rubber car tyres, and typically are worn and dusty to varying degrees. They also are fairly light-absorbant surfaces. They are matte, not gloss, unless they are brand-new or have a had a water/wax applied or some polishing treatment etc. Even then, they tend to come off less shiny than the rest of the car. Often car tyres are a shade lighter than the internal underbody shadow of the car.
Im wearing a black t-shirt right now. Most days I do. Due to its age it’s really more of a charcoal black as the washing machine and UV light exposure has diluted the intensity of the black. If I was painting it this would affect my choice of colour or tone. SO the black tee Im wearing is a shade lighter than the black hoodie I’m wearing over the top.
This is why many painting courses and guides advise practising first with less colours on the pallette. Maybe only one or two, so you start thinking more in terms of value/tonal relationships than the colours.
Can you combine the black with the brown or the blue to influence the darks on your image? Sure, though the black paint will tend to dominate easily so be careful with it.
