Shading

[Old Tanker]

How do I shade Black? like Boots. With acrylics.

 

[billyturnip]

Paint the boots a dark grey and shade with black.
Roger.

 

[Old Tanker]

Thank you, I was going to try brown over the black.

 

[billyturnip]

You can also make black blacker by adding a dark purple and use that to shade.
I avoided saying Deep Purple but it didn't matter, Smoke on the Water will be playing in my head all day now.

Roger.

 

[sippog]

There's an article on this site specifically about this:

https://www.planetfigure.com/pages/Painting-Leather-Boots/

I also collected together some tips on shading you might find useful

http://dclough.org/hom/?p=29

 

[franceso sbarile]

Agreed with Roger, basically I use a mix of Slate grey and black, shading by pure black and lighting by pure slate grey.
Francesco

 

[m@rp]

By my side I mix black with brown enough to see a slightly brown color and not more and then you have to shade with black.
Also if the boots are black only the lights are applied (tint of grey!)

 

[megroot]

I mix black from indigo and sepia.
You cannot shade pure black, because that is the darkest that you can go.
If you do the mix, you can shade with pure black and highlight with white.

Marc

 

[billyturnip]

I copied this into my painting notes doc ages ago and unfortunately can't remember who's site it came from to give them credit. It's obviously aimed at oil on canvas painters but just as relevant to us "toy soldier" artists.

Mixing Black.
Almost any combination of two deep, dark colors – one warm, the other cool – will produce a dark, usually interesting colour. Try Ultramarine and burnt umber (rather than raw umber), Prussian blue and burnt sienna, dark blues with earth red-browns, You can get a blue-black by mixing thalo blue and cadmium red light. Which side of the colour spectrum your ‘black’ leans towards depends on the balance of colors in your mixture.
When you need a rich strong black, mix equal parts of thalo green with alizarin crimson. Over the years, this is the one black I keep going back to.


The list of colors my painting students take to the art supply store does not include black. Instead, they learn to make a rich, deep colour that appears to be black, known as chromatic black. It’s one of the first things I teach in my Painting 1 course after introducing the ‘split-primary’ colour wheel.
How to Mix Chromatic Black

The more common way of creating a chromatic black is by mixing ultramarine blue with an earth colour, but I teach my students a different mixture that gives an even richer, deeper ‘black’. It’s done by by mixing equal parts of Prussian blue, alizarin crimson, and an earth colour (my favorite is burnt sienna, but burnt umber, raw sienna, and raw umber work as well).
When this chromatic black is added to white you get some of the most beautiful grays imaginable. If these grays are too blue for you, simply add a little more of the earth colour to the original mixture, which will make the grays look more gray.
Create a Color Chart

I have a chart I made that shows what each chromatic black and the resulting grays looks like. For example:

• Prussian + Alizarin + Burnt Sienna = Chromatic Black (+ white = gray)
• Prussian + Alizarin + Burnt Umber = Chromatic Black (+ white = gray)
• Prussian + Alizarin + Raw Umber = Chromatic Black (+ white = gray)

Varying the amount of white added to these mixes creates several values of gray.
An expanded version of my chart includes mixtures using Indian red, Venetian red, and Van Dyke brown. You get a different set of grays depending on which ‘brown’ you mix in with the Prussian and Alizarin.
Use Chromatic Black to Darken Other Colors


Mixing small amounts of your chromatic black into your colors will darken them without ‘killing’ the colour like regular black would do. I tell my students that Prussian blue and alizarin crimson are ‘magic colors’. In my experience, most painting teachers don’t include these colors on their lists of required colors, but once students discover all the possibilities of using these colors they never go back.

 

[Tecumsea]

HI Roger, very useful mate and now copied into my note book as well.

One note on some of the above, it is common practice with some oil painters to highlight black on figures using Flesh. Like an idiot I mixed Indigo and Burnt Umber to make black, then used Flesh and ended with nice Green highlights....I'm not saying it can't be done but test the colour first, I have a terrible habit of introducing new colour straight onto the figure, usually works but not this time.

Lesson learned......LOL.......Keith

 

[billyturnip]

The best lessons and those best remembered are learnt by doing, Keith.

 

[Ronaldo]

HI Roger, very useful mate and now copied into my note book as well.

One note on some of the above, it is common practice with some oil painters to highlight black on figures using Flesh. Like an idiot I mixed Indigo and Burnt Umber to make black, then used Flesh and ended with nice Green highlights....I'm not saying it can't be done but test the colour first, I have a terrible habit of introducing new colour straight onto the figure, usually works but not this time.

Lesson learned......LOL.......Keith

Well Keith you are not the first to get these Faux pas I have ended up with a green horse when doing a black one and I know that Del managed a blue one . then again we do support different teams .

There are some top class painters who have had the same problem when dealing with black

 

[Old Tanker]

Thank you all for chiming in.

 

[Ronaldo]

The best lessons and those best remembered are learnt by doing Keith.

I have absolutely no urge to do kieth Roger

 

[billyturnip]

I have absolutely no urge to do kieth Roger

Just because you don't and at least I spelt his name right.

 

[Ronaldo]

Just because you don't and at least I spelt his name right.

Its my age Roger ,making lots of spelling mistakes now

 

[kagemusha]

Yep....done the green horse thing myself once too

 

[Nap]

Hi Guys

Really good details and links here

Nap

 

[pkessling]

Black and white. Painting both of these colors involve startiing with a good base color. Never use white nor black for the base color. For black, mix a dark brown-grey, blue-gray, purple -grey, green-grey, etc. Shade with blue black or black. Highlight with lighter earth tones depending on the texture you are simulating.
Same with white, start with an off white. Make a decision whether it wil be a cool white or warm white. The base color may not look white to you but it will once you use pure white for the highlights. I always preferred Titanium white. If the figure is all in white, very each article of clothing slightly.