Chalk Paint – 'black' not really black…?
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31 October 2017 at 8:47 am #345155
I’ve watched Paul’s videos on producing the ‘time worn’ look with contrasting colours of chalk paint – notably red and black.
I have tried this with two different brands of chalk paint – and neither of the ‘blacks’ come out looking as dark as Paul’s. They are described as ‘graphite’ in both manufacturer’s cases I appreciate. (Annie Sloan and Rustoleum)
Although I appreciate that the dark colour lightens appreciably when sanded/wooled, Paul seems to get a truly black finish when subsequently polished or varnished. I’ve tried waxing the paint, and water-based varnish, and both are quite grey. The water-based varnish is still a little ‘milky’ when dry (months later), and the waxed finish probably the darker of the two.
Any thoughts on either brand, type of paint, or finish to get a ‘blacker’ result?
Hello Richard,
Firstly, I’d say Graphite is a shade of Grey, not Black. Although it’s dark, it will only be a very dark Grey at best. Do those brands have a specific ‘Black’?
Did you use Red beneath? Paul’s use of Red underneath is not just for that worn-through effect, it darkens the Black too. Red is often recommended for undercoating Black Gloss. You’d think Black Gloss would cover anything, and achieve the intended colour, but it really does make a difference with Red undercoat.
I would try adding some pigment to the colour you already have. Black Leather Shoe-Dye springs to mind.
Paul’s tool trunk may be appearing darker on camera than it actually is. Paul & Team have mentioned the difficulties they’ve tried to overcome with lighting.
Does it need to be CHALK paint? Would regular Black Matt (on Red undercoat) achieve the same result if you can’t get True-Black Chalk Paint?
31 October 2017 at 9:00 pm #345442Understand Alan – the ‘graphite’ was the darkest as no specific black seems available, and I have indeed gone red underneath.
Let’s see if anything comes back re the chalk paint – I only raise the Q here as I’m replicating what I have seen on Paul’s videos etc., and obviously I could seek out something like blackboard paint.
31 October 2017 at 11:35 pm #345513Chalk paint is basically water based, which makes it compatible with any artist acrylics. What true black is, is a bit subjective, but the blackest commonly available black is Mars Black in the artists world. The pigment is basically carbon black produced by burning natural gas and collecting the soot on water cooled spinning drums. It’s the pigment for oils and acrylics.
There are newer blacks advertised as blacker that depend on nanotechnology ( google Vantablack and Black 2.0) but I’m pretty confident Paul didn’t go there.
You could get some artist heavy body acrylics and mix it in with your darkest chalk paint and you’d get a pretty black black. It’s a pretty powerful pigment, so it wouldn’t take much.
Or you could mix complementary colors like Monet did to get black, ( he didnt have black on his pallet) but if you don’t know what you are doing, that’s hit and miss. Many colors including some blacks are hues, which are blends of pigments and harder to predict.
You could just purchase some carbon black, but when I checked many years ago, it was expensive.
So years ago I purchased a pint of powdered charcoal to mix with West System epoxies to fill cracks in wood and impart flat black look. A quarter Tsp. will color a pint of epoxy.
If you are really into mixing colors, that powdered charcoal could be ground much finer for paint. But chalk paint is already pretty coarse in texture.
I’ll do a little experiment in the next day or so to see if it would work with chalk paint. It’s a lot cheaper than carbon black.1 November 2017 at 3:56 am #345615That graphite look might just need dark wax over it.
Have a look–
1 November 2017 at 7:53 am #345661Thanks for replies – I have decided to add in some of the missus’ Black Acrylic as it is perfect.
I’ve done the waxing approach but don’t want to do that here as I have to sit on it – I’ve colour waxed a pine table in the past and it gradually came off on people’s elbows etc.
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