Once you go BLACK
Updated: Mar 9, 2020
This is such a valuable subject. If you ask an artist they will call black a colour but not the scientist. As colour is only present due to light and black is the absence of all light. Whatever you believe I will refer to it as a colour in this blog.
Having an exceptional light source is a massive MUST. I’ve found that good diffused daylight and daylight globes are the best sources. At least a cool globe rather than the warm.
Black is a very tricky colour to create. When Needle Felting blacks I’ve found I prefer a mix of blacks to best show off my creatures realistic features.
In my Tassie Devil Feltorial I’ve used a combination of darkness with the dark brown Romney core, the cooler black Merino for base and the warmer black Corriedale as a top coat. The differences in these wool types and shades, helps to create depth to your black. Therefore mixing fibres is an essential part of creating that realistic illusion. This pleases the eye way more than a monotone version.
Photographing black can also be very tricky and a good rule to remember with all black photography is to limit the dynamic range in the scene. The camera gets confused if there is too much contrast so using a darker background with help immensely.
Try out different things and see what works for you. Experimenting is the best way to learn new skills.
Rx
PS. Check out this interesting read: Art Fight! The Pinkest Pink versus the Blackest Black.
floor plan generator makes a great point about the science versus art debate on black. The tip about using a mix of blacks for needle felting to show off realistic features is really useful.
GLBtoOBJ makes a good point about using a mix of blacks for needle felting to show realistic features. I always struggle to get the right lighting, so I'll definitely look into the diffused daylight and daylight globes you recommended.
I just finished reading "Once you go BLACK", and the practical angle stood out right away. Appreciate you publishing this. sig figs practice
It's interesting how the article points out the artist versus scientist perspective on black, and ZEnhancer really dives into that nuance. Your note about using a mix of blacks for felting to add realism is a great, practical tip that makes a lot of sense.
I found the point about black being technically the absence of light, yet artists treating it as a color, really interesting in popemote. Your tip about using a mix of different blacks for more realistic features is brilliant—I'll definitely try that. Also, the advice on getting good diffused light was super helpful to read.