Just one point about Mars black versus ivory black: Mars black is opaque, and thus will not give the depth that ivory black will. Mars black is good as a tinting black for underpainting because of its high tinting strength, but it is best not used in the color stage because it gives a dirty appearance to mixtures. Ivory black is more transparent, and thus will read as darker, especially if a touch of oil or medium is added to it. Opaque paints reflect light from the surface, whereas transparent paints allow the light to penetrate more deeply, so less is reflected from the surface to our eyes. Transparent colors also give cleaner tints than opaque colors in mixtures with opaque colors.
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