Anyone who has ever studied art with me knows the importance of blue in my palette. I recently studied Cezanne’s Still Lifes–especially those painted in watercolor–and I recalled my early training in color and my alignment with the Impressionists who tended to use blue, rather than black, for shading.

Paul Cezanne
Detail Still Life with a Blue Pot

Notice how Cezanne uses blue to shade
Also notice how Cezanne shaded yellow with color

I teach both of these tenets as part of my color theory.

Although most of my students want to ultimately paint in watercolor, I recommend that they begin their journeys with colored pencils:

Shading Yellows, Oranges, Reds to Purple with Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils

On every adult student’s first day of class, I begin to explain my color theory, which I cultivated after years of careful study of Impressionist Painters

Black Eyed Susan
Jacki Kellum Watercolor 

The above black eyed Susan is exemplary of my use of blue in watercolor shading. There is no black paint in the above painting. my darkest color is indigo. You see the same in the following;

Sunflower with the Blues
Jacki Kellum Watercolor

Sunflower After Dark
Jacki Kellum Watercolor

Certainly, I use blues  to paint the darkness of night

Summer Night
Jacki Kellum Watercolor

But I also use blue as shadow in bright sunny light 

Bouquet in a Blue Jar
Jacki Kellum Watercolor

Believe it  or not, I didn’t use black paint to paint the following black raven:

The Raven – Jacki Kellum Watercolor
Sold

Notice how I use blue to shade flesh tones:

Janis Joplin – Jacki Kellum Watercolor
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I use blue to shade my acrylics and oil paintings, too. I didn’t use black paint in any of the following:

Jacki Kellum Oils and Acrylics

Mrs. Cow Down on the Farm
Jacki Kellum Watercolor

Imagine a black and white cow painted with no black paint:

The Cow Jumped Over the Moon
Jacki Kellum Illustration

[Note: I highly recommend that you read this free-to-download publication from the Getty Museum. . It provides a quick biography of Paul Cezanne and perhaps more importantly, it explains how to elect to create art–especially still lifes–that tell stories about oneself]

Anyone can download and read this book free from Getty Museum:https://media.getty.edu/Text/9ce69980-32ac-5051-b356-0a257ee8ee8d.pdf 

Cezanne’s Still Life – Watercolors & Oil – The Human Stories Told by Still Life Painting