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Chromatic blacks: how to mix rich darks without tube black

Tube black is a dead end. It has no hue to relate to the rest of the painting, it turns yellows green and reds brown, and a shadow painted with it sits in a hole. A dark mixed from two chromatic pigments is just as dark, and it stays alive because you can tip it warm or cool at will.

The classic pairs

Pair Near Character
Ultramarine Blue + Burnt Umber 1 : 1 The workhorse. Neutral to cool; the most useful dark on the palette.
Ultramarine Blue + Burnt Sienna 1 : 1 to 2 : 1 Slightly warmer and more transparent; excellent for warm shadow.
Alizarin Crimson + Viridian or Phthalo Green 3 : 1 or weaker Deep, luminous, slightly violet; the green dominates.
Phthalo Blue + Burnt Sienna or Cadmium Orange 1 : 2 Very dark, cool; watch the phthalo.
Dioxazine Purple + Sap Green or Raw Umber 1 : 2 Soft, warm dark for foliage shadow.

Ratios are starting points for one brand; strength differs between sets. The calculated near-blacks below show the brand-specific versions:

Charcoal GreyRecipe by paint setNavy BlueRecipe by paint setPayne's GreyRecipe by paint setMaroonRecipe by paint set

Why chromatic darks look better

A chromatic black has a hue, however faint, so it relates to the colors around it: the dark under a green bush leans green-violet, the dark in a red drapery leans red-brown. You can adjust it with the parents instead of adding grey. And because it is mixed from transparent or semi-transparent pigments, it keeps depth when thinned, where Mars Black turns to a flat opaque wall.

Tipping a dark warm or cool

Start from the Ultramarine + Burnt Umber pile. More umber: warmer, browner, for shadows on skin, wood and earth. More blue: cooler, for shadows under daylight and for distance. A dab of Alizarin: a wine dark for red objects. A dab of Viridian: a deep green dark for foliage. One pile of neutral dark and four dabs cover a whole painting.

Lightening a dark correctly

Do not lighten a chromatic black with white if you want it to stay a shadow; white makes it a grey. Lighten with a lighter version of the parents (more Burnt Sienna instead of Umber, a little Yellow Ochre) to keep it in the shadow family, and keep white for the lights. See how to mix grey for the deliberate grey version.

BrownRecipe by paint setForest GreenRecipe by paint setOlive GreenRecipe by paint setRustRecipe by paint set

When tube black is right

Ivory Black is a useful color rather than a dark: with Cadmium Yellow it makes a quiet olive green, with white it makes a cool grey, with Yellow Ochre a khaki. Use it as a blue-black pigment on purpose, in mixes, not as the thing you reach for to darken. Mars Black is stronger, warmer and more opaque; keep it for grounds and value studies.

Questions

How do you make black without black paint?

Mix two dark complements: Ultramarine Blue + Burnt Umber (about 1:1) is the standard. Alizarin + Phthalo Green and Phthalo Blue + Burnt Sienna also reach near-black.

Why should I avoid black in oil painting?

Not avoid; use it knowingly. Black dulls and shifts hues (yellow goes green) and shadows made with it look lifeless. Darks mixed from complements stay related to the picture and can be tipped warm or cool.

What does Ivory Black mix well with?

Cadmium Yellow (olive green), white (cool grey), Yellow Ochre (khaki) and Alizarin (deep plum). It behaves like a very dark, weak blue.
Let the app do the arithmetic
PaintMixLab photographs the color and writes the recipe in parts for the paint set you own. Free for 3 days on iPhone.