How to Mix Black in Watercolor (Without Using Black Paint)
Did you know you can create rich, vibrant blacks in watercolor… without ever using black paint?
In this watercolor tutorial, I’ll show you how I mix beautiful darks using color instead of relying on flat black straight from the tube. This simple shift can completely transform your watercolor paintings by making your shadows feel deeper, more luminous, and full of life.
One of the biggest secrets to creating exciting watercolor paintings is understanding how color relationships work together — especially in your dark values.
In this video, you’ll learn:
🎨 How to mix black in watercolor using other colors
🎨 Why mixed blacks feel more alive and vibrant
🎨 How to avoid muddy or “dead” darks in your paintings
🎨 Simple color combinations that create rich shadow tones
🎨 How stronger darks can make your paintings glow and pop
This lesson is wonderful for beginners, but also incredibly helpful for experienced watercolor artists who want more depth, atmosphere, and harmony in their work.
Watercolor becomes much more exciting when you stop thinking in terms of “just black” and begin seeing how colors interact with one another.
So grab your paints and experiment along with me.
If you’ve ever felt unsure about what to buy or overwhelmed by all the options… then this is for you.
Inside my free mini-course“Supplies I Can’t Live Without!”, I walk you through the exact brushes, paints, paper, and materials I personally use in my own work and classes. And more importantly, why I use them.
Because in watercolor, your supplies shape how the paint moves, blends, and flows. And that directly impacts how confident you feel as you learn.
I’ve carefully curated this list to help you get started right away so you can spend less time guessing, and more time actually painting.
You can explore and shop everything through the links provided inside. These are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.