The use of Black, Grey  and White
  by Winsor Newton
 

The use of black, grey  and white In general, the addition of
black will dirty a colour. If the artist wishes to tone down a colour, Davy�s Gray will achieve this. For example, Cadmium Lemon and black will tend to an olive green whilst Cadmium Lemon and Davy�s Gray will tend towards a citrus green.
 

When using black as a colour, you can avoid �dirtiness� to some degree by taking note of the colour bias and tinting strength. Ivory Black has a brown undertone and a low tinting strength, most suitable for tinting landscape colours. Lamp Black has bluer undertone, more suitable for tinting skies and has a higher tinting strength. Mars Black is the densest, most opaque black, ideal for large areas of black and where the blackest black is required.

Pyrrole                  Pyrrole  
Red and                red and
Titanium                mixing
 on White              on black


 

 

The addition of white to colours produces tints. Tints will be imperative for many artists to alter tone, produce shadows
and highlights. However, a common mistake with beginners is the reliance on white to lighten all colours rather than develop colour mixing skills to produce hues of varying intensity. 


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