TWSA > Newsletters > Spring 2008 > Afraid of the Darks? Contact newsletter editor: newsletter@watercolors.org

Afraid of the Darks? In the beginning there was light. And in the beginning of art 30,000 years ago there was black. Lamp Black, soot, as a matter of fact. And since that time, watercolorists have loved the former and feared the latter. For the last few years, two loves have come together for me; musical theater and painting. I have spent hundreds of hours sitting in a dark auditorium, watching a spotlit stage. This has had a strong effect on my paintings. Like most watercolorists, I have always been moved by the light, by the white of the paper. And, as most of us have learned in the painting process, the thing that makes that white, that light, pop are the darks. To paint the spotlight effect, I had to finally confront my fear of the darks. There are many ways to paint darks. As watercolorists, we are usually told to never use black and to mix our own darks. So this is what I did. I tried the three basic techniques of mixing blacks and avoiding mud. Mixing 2 or 3 appropriate pigments in the palette, then apply it to the paper. Dropping pure dark-making colors into a wet area and let them mix themselves. Painting multiple successive glazes, alternating the pigments until the dark is achieved. After using them all, I found 2 and 3 to be the liveliest, but 3, alone, to be rich and velvety in texture. Of the common pigments that make a good dark when mixed, I have coupled Burnt Sienna with French Ultramarine Blue, Thalo Green with Alizarine Crimson, Anwtwep Blue with Brown Madder, and Sepia with French Ultramarine Blue. The results have all been satisfactory, except when the glazes left an area of shine on the surface of the paint. In trying to solve this problem, it finally hit me that I was afraid of trying the very thing that would make the ultimate pop of light; black. At the 2006 TWSA show, I asked the master of darks, John Salminen, how he did it. His answer was, Lamp Black. A lot of Lamp Black. When I stopped hyperventilating, there it was, the ultimate rule breaker and the answer I most feared. Use black. Yet because it was suggested by a respected artist, I thought I'd give it a try. I bought several blacks: Lamp Black, Ivory Black, Neutral Tint, and Payne's Gray. With each of these plus a mixed black of Thalo Green and Alizarine Crimson, I began making swatches on different papers, seeking the ultimate dark. Even as I look at these now, they look dark but dull to me. The Ivory Black was brownish, the Payne's Gray, bluish. They were velvety but unexciting. In the case of the mixed dark, next to blacks it looked quite gray. I could suddenly see why the directive not to use black arose. The blacks were overpowering. And dull. So I asked John again for more advice. He said, "I'll explain using the nine value scale: Light includes: (1) light light, (the white of the paper) (2) medium light and (3) dark light. Medium includes: (4) light medium, (5) medium medium and (6) dark medium. Dark includes: (7) light dark, (8) medium dark and (9) dark dark. Place your 9's (Lamp Black in this case) into an 8 (usually a mixed black). The addition of #9 will bring life into the surrounding dark values and become integrated into the painting. He continued, "I was taught never use black - it will overpower the painting. That's because most watercolorists just drop it in without regard to the surroundings and in that case, it IS too powerful. I encourage people in my workshops to use all of the values available to them... #1 - #9." Problem solved, I hope, with a little practice. As artists we're natural problem solvers and rule breakers. How wonderful that we share part of our tradition with the very first artists of 30,000 years ago in that Chauvet cave who first used soot and conquered their fear of darks. Main | Membership | Merchandise | Newsletters | Contact TWSA Last updated on 5-5-08