Shades of Gray

Shades of Gray

8 x 8"

oil on cradled panel

© Nicki Ault, 2018

sold at Darrell Bell Gallery

This is my year of challenging any self-imposed restrictions I have put on my art in the past. For example, I have long held the notion that I only paint the natural world and do not include man-made elements in my work... until I was commissioned to paint a large grid road last year and then suddenly I was painting a man-made element. That got a few synapses firing and I realized I might be missing out on some good stuff if I "never" do certain things.

I realized I never use black in my paintings. I have certainly mixed dark darks with Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Umber and Alizarin Crimson and the like, but I have never used a straight-up tube of black. Tubes of black often pull a certain way, usually towards blue, which you can see if you add a tinge of white. I heard about a black made by Gamblin that was supposed to be neutral, so I recently ordered it and have been experimenting here and there. It has been lots of fun, and as you can see above, Chromatic Black has helped me break one of my self-imposed rules.