Which Black Is Best?

Strangely, black paint is controversial in the oil painting world. This was a total surprise when I first started painting. I didn’t know there were different kinds of black, and I didn’t even think of mixing one.

The first black I remember using out of the tube was Ivory Black, made from charred bones. It sounds gruesome. Then I discovered Lamp Black and Mars Black. Neither of these are made from charred bones. Lamp black is from carbon remains of burning oil (hence “lamp”) and Mars Black is Iron Oxide (the same element used in many other pigments).

Of course, there’s still painters who refuse to use black and their reasoning tends to vary. Usually, artists who don’t use black just prefer to mix their own. Obviously, they’re still using black, just not buying it that way. Instead of a single pigment (e.g. iron oxide) to get to black, they mix multiple pigments to get the same (or similar) result. I often do this myself.

Some of the reasoning around not using black has to do with some other painter not using black, as in “well my favorite Old Master never used black, so I won’t”. That’s as good a reason as any, I suppose. However, if your reason for not using black, or for picking one black over another is based on a faulty assumption or bad science, you may want to reconsider. For example, I’ve heard claims that carbon based blacks “may not be archival”. which has no science behind it.

I tend to use black as a color on its own, and to mix with other colors. I like the fact that it muddies my colors. That’s actually the effect I’m looking for. I prefer using slower drying blacks when I’m painting because I like to keep the paint workable for as long as possible, being a direct painter. I’m fine with mixing my own black as well, and see no real difference in doing this vs buying a tube. I really don’t care about the color temperature of black paint. Most black paint is cool (turns blue when you add white to it). Some claim to be “neutral” and Mars black in particular is said to be “warm”. I’ve never found any black to be warm, but I have other colors on my palette to mix with to push things cool or warm as needed, so I’m not worried about that.

Drying times and transparency are definitely things to consider though. The fastest drying black paint is Mars Black, but it’s the most opaque and has the strongest tinting strength which can make it harder to handle in mixes, but to be honest, it’s not that hard to handle.

I think the bottom line is use whatever black you want. Use it however it works for you. Just keep painting.