Black! Black!- A short guide to some of the blacks and their uses

A short guide to some of the blacks available in Oil, Acrylics & Water colours.

IVORY BLACK (AKA Bone Black) 

A general purpose, most commonly used, stable black with brown undertones and excellent tinting powers.

The name derives from traditional method for obtaining it: by roasting elephant tusks, which obviously isn’t the case anymore.

LAMP BLACK (AKA Carbon Black) 

Opaque, permanent & light-fast it has a bluish tint, ideal for producing a variety of cool blue greys.

One of the oldest pigments, made of pure carbon originally from the residual soot of burnt oil lamps.

MARS BLACK

A denser, more neutral black with stronger tinting power.

A heavy opaque pigment, a dense black colour with a brown undertone and stronger tinting power.

It is made from mineral iron oxide and so named after the alchemical name for iron.

PERYLENE BLACK

A strong black pigment that has an exquisite green undertone, use it on its own or for green and blue mixtures.

BLUE BLACK

A semi-opaque dark blue which when mixed with whites creates blue-grey colours.

A permanent alternative to the traditional Vine Black.

PAYNE'S GRAY

A dark blue grey named after its creator William Payne, the 18th century water-colourist, which he recommended to his students as an alternative to plain black.

Made from a mixture of Ultramarine, Mars Black and sometimes Crimson.