[u-89]

I frequently use black in abstract work but never in my representational stuff as it tends to flatten surfaces and straight black and white to make a grey tends also to be lifeless. I use color mixtures that together read as a very deep dark blackish hue but really is colorful and lively. The mix could be anything but many times I mix pthalo blue and green, maybe some alizeran crimson, an umber if needed and so forth depending on the circumstances. I will admit to sometimes using Payne's Grey in the sky of landscapes though.

[Sam Cree]

Yeah, that is the rule, don't use black. However "cold" black can be OK, IMO, with its blue cast, it is surprisingly soft.

Apparently Titian, Rembrandt, etc, went ahead and used something similar. I think.