How to Make Black Watercolor: 12 Essential Tips for Rich Darks

Before you start mixing anything, figure out what you're actually going for.

Tip 1: Avoid the "Black Hole" Effect

Tube black is opaque. It sits on top of your painting like a stain.

Mixed black is transparent. It plays nice with other colors. It harmonizes with your palette instead of fighting it.

When you use tube black for shadows, it deadens everything it touches. The shadow looks painted on, not part of the object. Mixed blacks contain traces of the colors you used to make them, so they naturally fit into your painting.

There's a time and place for tube black. Sign your name. Paint a tiny window frame. But for shadows, darks, and rich values? Mix it.

Tip 2: Define "Chromatic Black"

Chromatic black isn't actually black. It's a dark neutral that still has color temperature.

Warm chromatic black leans toward brown or red. Cool chromatic black leans toward blue or green. Both look black at first glance, but they contain color information that makes your painting richer.

Real shadows aren't neutral grey. They're influenced by surrounding colors and light temperature. Chromatic blacks mimic that naturally.

Tip 3: Consistency is Key

You need "honey" consistency to get true black. Not milk. Not tea. Thick.

Use a damp synthetic brush to pull concentrated pigment from your palette. Too much water and you'll just get grey.

Test on scrap paper. If it dries to grey instead of deep dark, you need more pigment or less water.

The Recipes: How to Make Black in Watercolor

Here are the three mixing recipes that actually work.

Tip 4: The Classic Duo

Ultramarine Blue paired with Burnt Sienna. Or swap in Burnt Umber instead of Sienna.

This combo is your most versatile dark mix. Works for almost everything. The blue and brown are complementary enough to neutralize each other into a rich, warm black.

More blue gives you cooler darks. More sienna gives you warmer darks.

Both colors are in most starter palettes, including the watercolor kit, so you can mix this combination without buying anything extra.

Start with equal amounts. Then tweak it depending on whether you're after something warm or cool.

Tip 5: The Cool Deep Mix

Viridian or Green combined with Crimson.

This creates an intense, almost ink-like black with a cool edge. If you get close, yeah it looks purple, but take a step back and WOW it reads like pure black.

Green+red cancel one and other out on the colour wheel, push them together at the right level and you end with a neutral dark, that’s enough to pass for black.

It’s perfect for a nights sky, or shaded areas below a tree. Use this for real deep shadows in cool lighting.

Warning: Phthalo Green is powerful. Start with less green than you think you need. Add more gradually.

Tip 6: The Primary Triad

Red plus Blue plus Yellow in equal, thick concentration.

Harder to balance than the other two recipes, but it gives you a very rich, complex black when you get it right.

The trick is using equal amounts of all three. Too much of any one primary and you end up with a muddy brown or dull purple instead of black.

This black has the most depth because it contains all three primaries. Light interacts with it differently than with two-color blacks.

Takes practice. Worth it once you nail the ratios.