Fear of Black

I was recently reminded about fear of black. During my workshops, when I asked students to use a black pastel, some froze, reluctant to reach for that color. It prompted conversations about being taught an art RULE about not using black paint. I do remember giving consideration to that theory in the past by mixing black, enhancing black, etc.

We accidentally hit upon a solution when Sue Anne selected black paper for her afternoon pastel painting. No need to apply black, it's already there! She created a colorful little painting on Canson Mi-Teintes TOUCH with the first step being her color adjustment of the original reference photo. Thanks, Sue Anne for your good work!

Sue Anne's original reference photo

Color adjusted reference photo is on left, finished painting on right, both atop Canson Mi-Teintes BLACK

Landscape, pastel on black, 7 x 5 inches, SueAnne Sullivan 2016