Comments on: Black Watercolor (Artists Don’t use Black)

By: Anthony

Anthony — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 06:40:06 +0000

In reply to Jennifer B. Thanks Jennifer :-)

By: Jennifer B

Jennifer B — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 15:21:17 +0000

Brilliant, to the point, not overly wordy or cumbersome to follow and I’ve been “watercoloring” for years! I have read numerous big books on watercolors by the big names, watched lots of videos (paid and unpaid) and No One has ever explained watercolor theory with such simple understanding before. That’s the sign of a good teacher, thank you!!!

By: Anthony

Anthony — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 06:29:07 +0000

In reply to Doug Thompson. Thanks Doug :-)

By: Doug Thompson

Doug Thompson — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 05:53:38 +0000

Brilliant stuff thank you!

By: Anthony

Anthony — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 08:45:42 +0000

In reply to Anne.

Lamp black is cooler than ivory black. I’d say it’s more of a personal preference.
You can always push black paint in a warm or cool direction depending on which color you mix it with 🙂

By: Anne

Anne — Sun, 17 Mar 2024 00:05:28 +0000

Okay, sometimes I do want to a little black to another color. I rarely use black on its own, and I understand why mixing my own black is the best option.

However, I’m still confused about which black. I see a lot of tutorials will add a little lamp black. Why that one? I like to add it to browns every so often.

By: Ann Robinson

Ann Robinson — Wed, 20 Oct 2021 06:07:01 +0000

Thank you Anthony- so helpful to me as a beginner!

By: Anthony

Anthony — Tue, 19 Oct 2021 06:38:09 +0000

In reply to Ana.

Hi Ana
Yes… when you’re working monochrome or you need a really deep contrasting black, then black paints are extremely useful. As you say, it depends on the context 🙂

By: Ana

Ana — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 20:20:49 +0000

I definitely agree that black is not good for mixing the colors for most European-style paintings, but I still use a lot of black because I love ink wash paintings (Chinese, Japanese-style watercolor paintings that look really beautiful and ethereal). Black is also essential for painting silhouettes with the backdrop of the sky which is another ethereal-looking style of watercolor painting. It really depends on your style.

By: Sue

Sue — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 12:43:58 +0000

This has been so helpful,
thankyou so much!