Getting to Know You: Black Paint

Chronicling all of my paints compared to each other. This is how I become familiar with my paint personalities and know how they will work in my regular painting practice. You can find these cool boards to do your own here.

Testing squares are:

1. Fully Opaque – out of the tube

2. Slightly transparent – I try to just scrub the dry paint evenly. If the paint is too dry to do this I MAY add a tiny bit of oil to encourage transparency.

3. very transparent – I try to just scrub the dry paint evenly. If the paint is too dry to do this I MAY add a tiny bit of oil to encourage transparency.

4. Value 2 mixed with white – The White used is Natural Pigments Lead White #1.

5. Value 5 mixed with white – The White used is Natural Pigments Lead White #1.

Brand	Consistency Out of the Tube	Easy to glaze/spread?	Temperature	Drying Time
Micheal Harding Ivory Black	creamy, dark	yes	cool	Slow
Natural Pigments Bone Black	slightly stiff, slightly matte	no	cool	Slow
Winsor Newton Ivory Black	Very creamy, dark	somewhat	cool	Slow
Old Holland Ivory Black Extra	slightly stiff, slightly matte	not really	cool	Slow
Natural Pigments German Vine Black (SUPER GRAINY)	gross, super stiff, super matte	no	warm	Fast
Old Holland Mars Black	creamy-ish but stiff	yes	warm	VERY FAST
RGH Mars Black (SUPER STRONG AND OPAQUE)	Creamy but stiff	NO	cool	VERY FAST
Gamblin Van Dyke Brown	Stiff/Dry	YES	warm	VERY FAST

In summary, I still like Michael Harding Ivory Black best for my regular black. I HATE the German Vine black with a passion. I also am not a fan of how overpowering the RGH mars black is. It’s almost impossible to work with.

I sometimes use Mars black Old Holland for a first layer if I need my black to dry fast but mostly I just add burnt umber to my regular black for a first layer so it dries faster.

I still have spots on this board os if you have more you want me to compare, let me know/send me a tube!