Using most black paints in the shadow areas of a painting can create a dull, muddy color when mixed with other colors. Here's a recipe for chromatic black that darkens a color without changing the color's hue.
If you were a teenager in 1966, you may remember the Los Bravos song “Black is Black”. As much as I hate to quibble, the lyrics are arguably inaccurate and misleading. In the world of visual arts, one black is often noticeably different from another black. Among the paints that artists and sign painters use, popular blacks include Lamp Black, Drop Black, Mars Black and Ivory Black. Each looks a little different.
Among
vinyl films, blacks can also vary. RTape's VinylEfx line, for example, has two blacks: Galaxy and Carbon Fibre Black. These
are very different looking colors. The Carbon Fibre Black film uses a durable
carbon black pigment. To my eyes this carbon black looks like a really dark grey. Below you
will notice the difference in appearance in the Carbon Fibre Black compared to
the Galaxy Metal Flake.
The
Galaxy color is best described as a chromatic black. This luxurious black color
has no black pigment at all. It is comprised of red, green and blue dyes. With respect
to aesthetics, I prefer this rich black color to carbon black. For outdoor
applications, however, the carbon black product is a much better choice,
because it is more durable.
Using
Chromatic Black for Painting
In
painting, many fine artists prefer to mix their own chromatic black paint,
combining complementary colors. Their
reason for doing so, is that many blacks straight out of a tube create very
dull, muddy looking colors when mixed with other hues.
The
rule of thumb is never use black in the shadow areas of a painting. Instead,
add a color’s complement to darken it. Another option is to add chromatic black.
Because it has no black pigment, chromatic black darkens a color without
changing the color’s hue.
 |
| By mixing your darkest red with your darkest green you can achieve black. To that add your darkest blue to create a beautiful, rich-looking Chromatic Black. |
There
are numerous recipes for creating a chromatic black. If you are mixing your own
colors, start with equal amounts of a dark red with a dark green. Alizarin Red combined with Phthalo Green is
often used. To this you may want to add an Ultramarine Blue. My suggestion is
to experiment with color mixing.
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About Jim Hingst: After fourteen years as Business Development Manager at RTape, Jim Hingst retired. He was involved in many facets of the company’s business, including marketing, sales, product development and technical service.
© 2015 Jim Hingst
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Hingst began his career 42 years ago in the graphic arts field creating and producing advertising and promotional materials for a large test equipment manufacturer. Working for offset printers, large format screen printers, vinyl film manufacturers, and application tape companies, his experience included estimating, production planning, purchasing and production art, as well as sales and marketing. In his capacity as a salesman, Hingst was recognized with numerous sales achievement awards.
Drawing on his experience in production and as graphics installation subcontractor, Hingst provided the industry with practical advice, publishing more than 150 articles for publications, such as Signs Canada, SignCraft, Signs of the Times, Screen Printing, Sign and Digital Graphics and Sign Builder Illustrated. He also posted more than 325 stories on his blog (hingstssignpost.blogspot.com). In 2007 Hingst’s book, Vinyl Sign Techniques, was published.
© 2015 Jim Hingst
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