Lunar Black is a highly granulating black made from magnetic iron oxide, which is said to resemble Chinese sumi ink.
Pigment Stats for PBk11
Pigment Description: Magnetic black iron oxide
Lightfastness: Excellent (I) per Handprint.com
Toxicity: Nontoxic (A) per Art is Creation
My Observations of Daniel Smith Lunar Black
Gradient: Unpredictably, highly granulating stroke-y grade from pure black to gray.
Transparency: Opaque.
Glazing: Imperceptible since it’s opaque black on black.
Color Mixes: Not a big fan of these in general, as they’re all just sort of black/gray soot mixed into the color. The earth tones are kind of interesting.
What Others Say
The more I use this paint, the less comfortable I am with it. The texture is very difficult to control, and the paint acquires a kind of gouache flatness in tints. It is a very unsatisfactory shadow color, and so far has only proven useful to represent black stained work or black wool sweaters. However, a small amount added to an earth yellow or red can produce interesting and manageable mineral textures.
Bruce MacEvoy, handprint.com
Lunar Black – I used this color in some paintings, but not all. It tends to take over mixtures and really moves over the paper a lot when applied to a wet area, so I had to be ready for it to do really unexpected things. More often than using lunar black, I would mix a bunch of the other colors already used in the painting to make a really nice harmonious dark.
Claire Giordano, Petrified Forest Residency: Favorite Colors
See also:
- Teoh Yi Chie of Parkablog show examples of India ink and sumi ink compared to watercolor blacks.
- Jamie Anderson did a Youtube paintout on different granulating blacks.
My Overall Review
I feel like this color amplifies everything I dislike about Lamp Black (difficult to control texture, awkwardness in mixing, flat feel.) The granulating effects are interesting, but like many highly distinctive, color-separating paints, it has limited real-world use cases. Might be good for monochrome studies with texture.
On my palette? No.
Alternatives:
- Lamp Black (PBk6) achieves similar opaque flat black masstone, while being less textured and easier to control. Because I typically want to use black in masstone and don’t often use it outdoors, I tend to opt for a gouache rather than a watercolor.
- For granulating dark colors, I generally prefer to self-mix with Ultramarine Blue and an earth orange. You could also consider a Payne’s Gray using Ultramarine Blue and Lamp Black, such as Daniel Smith’s. Some folks also like DS Primatek Sodalite, a highly granulating navy blue.