This site is community-supported. We may earn a commission (at no extra cost) when you buy through our links.
Mars Black
Gamblin Mars Black has a raggedy texture that is hard to get really smooth with a palette knife (of course without adding medium- speaking of paint out of the tube). This paint is glossy, shows resistance to being spread, has some bounce, and also had air bubbles. When spread with a palette knife these small bubbles dried into the texture of the film. This could be a candidate for impasto applications as it holds shape in small textures (like bubbles) when dried. The paint also had a semi-gloss before drying to matte.
A previous description from Gamblin: “"Mars Black is slightly warm in its tint, and this leanest (more matte) black dries more quickly than Ivory Black. Though not as black as Ivory Black, Mars Black has about three times the tinting strength and is very opaque.“ -Gamblin Oils”. They add, “Mars Black is a synthetic iron oxide, and like other Mars colors, it is very opaque. It has a very strong tinting strength, making it a bit overwhelming in color mixtures. Mars Black is useful when you want to use a strong, opaque black in your paintings straight from the tube (think Franz Kline or the German Expressionists).” -Gamblin Oils. Additionally, they note, “Slightly warm in its tint, Mars Black dries more quickly than Ivory Black. Though not as black as Ivory Black, Mars Black has approximately three times the tinting strength and is very opaque. Cool in its masstone and strong, Mars Black is often the choice of the Neo-Expressionists and others who want to make black opaque marks in thick wet paintings.” A comparison of various Gamblin black paints can be found at https://gamblincolors.com/choosingblackoilpaint/
