Flat Black in Picture Books and Art

If you’ve ever heard advice to avoid black out of the tube when painting, this article is a good explainer for what that actually means in practice.

Below is a collection of art in which I think the black looks really great.

'Absurd Alphabet' illustrated by Walter Crane, 1874 — ‘Absurd Alphabet’ illustrated by Walter Crane, 1874

Menu created by Margaret Macdonald (Lighthouse, Glasgow) 1911 black — Menu created by Margaret Macdonald (Lighthouse, Glasgow) 1911

BLACK WATER

The black of the water below is unexpected but hugely effective as a contrast against the yellows, greens and blues.

‘Garden-land’ by Robert W. Chambers. 1907. Illustrations by Harrison Cady

BLACK OF THE FOREST

I love that the forest below looks like colour laid upon black. The darkness of the forest ‘shines’ through.

Stories the Iroquois tell their children by Mabel Powers illustrated by W Fletcher White 1917

For the illustrations below, Harrison Cady uses flat blacks for the background line of trees, the foreground foliage and also on the characters’ clothing.

Thorton Burgess Animal Stories illustrated by Harrison Cady from 1942

James Whitcomb Riley (1849 - 1916) All the Year Round, 1912 — James Whitcomb Riley (1849 – 1916) All the Year Round, 1912

THE BLACK OF LINOGRAVURE (LINOCUT)

Certain types of art will naturally result in more darkness in the finished work.

Vasily Kandinsky (1866, Russie - 1944, France), Le Miroir, 1907, linogravure, 322 x 158 mm. The British Museum — Vasily Kandinsky (1866, Russie – 1944, France), Le Miroir, 1907, linogravure, 322 x 158 mm. The British Museum

Earlier printing technologies also meant a limited colour palette, so illustrations from the 19th century tend towards blackness.

Franz Wacik, Austrian. Born 1883, died 1938

Piero Bernardini, 1941 chimney — Piero Bernardini, 1941

Fabio Faorzi, 1950 chimney — Fabio Faorzi, 1950

Roger Duvoisin, 1944 lion — Roger Duvoisin, 1944

BLACK IN ART NOUVEAU

Black is especially useful to Art Nouveau because a flat black negative space balances out all the ornamental decoration. We find a lot of flat black in artwork from the 1920s and 30s. (Art Nouveau lasted from roughly 1880 until just before World War I.) Walls, skies, floors, clothing, animals — the artist can use a flat black for pretty much anything, as the composition requires.

These artists all had a similar look:

Kay Nielsen
Ida Rentoul Outhwaite
Margaret Clark (Australian)
Virginia Frances Sterrett (American)
Marjorie Miller [Estes]
Dorothy Lathrop’s work feels like these artists only ‘for kids’
Adrienne Adams (American) also illustrated for kids but her black-heavy works retained more creepiness than Dorothy Lathrop’s

Virginia Frances Sterrett (1900-1931) USA, Old French Fairy Tales c1920 by Sophie Ségur

Virginia Sterrett’s black and white illustrations for Old French Fairy Tales c1920 by Sophie Ségur

Rosanie or The Inconstant prince, Kay Nielsen 1913

Marjorie Miller [Estes] (1899 - 1995) 1931 Queen Of The Night illustration — Marjorie Miller [Estes] (1899 – 1995) 1931 Queen Of The Night illustration

Incidentally, here is a similar palette:

*About Harriet 1916 Written by Clara Whitehill Hunt Art by Maginel Wright Enright*

Ida Rentoul Outhwaite worked in both black and white and colour, and I think experience in black and white makes an illustrator especially good at tonal contrasts. She also made use of the flat black when creating her coloured fairy world illustrations.