The most meditative practice I’ve found recently has been painting everything black.

I’m a new painter, and advice that comes up all the time in beginner watercolour instruction is “not to use black.” Many instructors recommend using a colour’s opposite (on the colour wheel) to mix your own black. The argument is this technique brings more nuanced colours into your palette, where as using traditional black can be considered too “harsh”.

I’ve found that abandoning this advice and using more black in my work has been liberating. Sometimes I think a painting is not salvageable and then I paint it black at it brings new meaning to the piece. Here are some examples:

When I’ve finished the coloured parts of the piece, I take Chinese Ink and carefully outline my piece in black. It takes time painting the background last, I’m careful not to paint over what I’ve already created. It’s meditative and relaxing though time consuming.

You can use this exercise as art therapy or a simple meditation: keep bringing your attention back to your brush and the small strokes of black ink. You can use old pieces you haven’t finished and paint them black or draw some basic flowers in colour and try this technique. Let me know what you think in the comments below.