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Black colors have been with us for 100,000 years or more, in fact charcoal may even have been the first color in the form of charcoal from a fire. Next came Lamp Black when soot from oil lamps was noticed to produce a richer more intense black. In roman times the discovery was made of the beautiful black to be made from burning ivory. We are not talking the comparatively poor slightly brownish black sold these days as Ivory Black, but a rich semi transparent black, but the same beautiful black Rembrandt glazed into his backgrounds. Real Ivory Black is still sold (made from ivory collected from animals that have died naturally) but it is dreadfully expensive. The normal ‘Ivory Black’ we buy is made from burning any animal bones. It is a poor drier in oils and too transparent for acrylics. An excellent black of more recent origin is Mars Black that has none of the defects of bone black. Artists find that the best black to use however comes from mixing Pthalo Green with Pyrrole Alizarin or Alizarin Crimson.
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