Vanilla Beans: The Black Sheep?
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CHECKING IN
Two big changes happening this week.
First, be sure to read the blurb in the YouTube, “New Video” section below.
And second, if you’re a student of The Point, please check your inbox or log into Teachable for instructions about the upcoming website move. Your action is needed.
The Blackish Sheep
For the last few weeks, we’ve been talking about white.
White paper, white highlights, white tools.
In the coloring world, we spend a lot of time thinking about white. How to color it, how to make it less boring, and we all love a good white gel pen. Every time a new white product enters the market, we stand in line to buy it the way we used to camp out for concert tickets.
Boomer much?
But today, let’s discuss the color you rarely think about.
In fact, we give this color so little attention, we don’t understand it at all.
Yet we use it all the time.
Uh oh… that’s dangerous. You’re swinging a bag of sweaty dynamite around with barely a care.
What is this everyday, overused, totally explosive color?
Black.
Black? Don’t be silly, Amy. Black is too easy! I use it all the time for shading and it provides such a nice pop to my coloring…
Yep. Fling that TNT around some more.
Most colorers think the biggest worry about black is whether to buy Copic 100 or 11o.
Folks, we need to have an honest talk about black.
And for this, we’ll begin at the beginning of the beginning.
Let’s do an experiment.
Set this newsletter down and go take a walk around your house.
Look for some naturally black objects.
Something organic.
Organic.
It can’t be plastic, rubber, glass, or metal. It can’t be made in a factory. It can’t be painted, dyed, stained, or chemically altered.
Oh, and don’t cheat by hunting at midnight.
I’m asking you to find something that was born black. Something that came up out of the ground black.
Find anything truly black?
Keep trying. Take the week if you need to.
Most of what we call black isn’t actually black.
Black-ish is the best we can get without help from science.
Some stuff is so brown it looks black. Or it’s such a dark green or it’s so deeply red that it appears black.
But it’s not.
Most of what we call black is actually a regular ol’ color but the pigments are so densely packed that the surface stops reflecting light properly and the effect is blackened.
But not black.
And our brains aren’t exactly helping us out here.
If the object is poorly lit or falling into shadow, then there’s less light hitting the surface which means fewer light waves hitting our retinas… so we see shady stuff and call it black as a shortcut.
But real black stuff?
There’s just not a lot of real black in the world.
So why then did you rush out and buy this right away?
And why was black Copic or black colored pencil on your list of colors to buy first?
Our default setting is to use lots of black even though it’s almost nowhere to be found in nature.
Everyone colors with black but that doesn’t make it smart.
Meet my black pencil.
There’s tape on it because I kept accidentally grabbing black when I was reaching for Indigo Blue. It’s a mistake you really don’t want to make on a face. “Oh (bleep), not again…”
Anyway, I’m trying to date this pencil for you.
It’s really, really old.
I’m trying to remember when I added the tape. There’s masking tape below the checkerboard duct tape and I know the masking tape was there around 1995 because I was free-lancing for a university press when I first taped it.
It wasn’t even a new pencil in 1995. The gold imprint and art deco numbers indicate that this is a Berol Prismacolor dating back to the 1980s.
My black pencil is older than some of you reading this newsletter.
And it’s still 5 inches long— it’s not even short enough to need a pencil extender yet.
This tells you how much black I use.
So this week’s tip about black:
The key to coloring realistic black is to understand that black isn’t realistic.
Artists are constant and careful observers.
We don’t use colors just because everyone else is using them— crafters follow trends, not artists.
Artists use color where they see color.
So start seeing.
Spend the week looking for black and take note of which objects are truly black and which objects are merely blackish.
There’s less natural black out there than you think. Understanding why helps you save black for when it’s actually important.
Don’t just go along with the flock.
Be the blackish sheep.
NEW VIDEO SCHEDULE
I’m moving from weekly videos to every-other week.
The next new video will release on Friday, August 23rd.
Being a YouTuber is a full time job and I already have a full time job with all my classes and courses. Now that the channel has some momentum, I want my weekends and Thursday nights back.
In the meantime, enjoy this older video on contrast and realism.
Click to watch. If your device doesn’t like embeds, click here to watch at YouTube
COLORED PENCIL CONFIDENCE?
Then let’s get to the Point!
If you liked The Blend, you’ll love The Point.
The Blend is basic marker with a touch of colored pencil
The Point flip-flops the ratio teaching you colored pencil with a simple base of marker
The two courses work hand-in-hand but let’s be clear:
The Point is NOT a sequel.
You can start with either course. Each will be open for 6 months of the year.
Begin with whichever one is open when you’re ready to get movin’!
The Point closes to new enrollees on Dec 31st, 2024.
The Blend reopens on January 1st, 2025.
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