Flesh tint in oil

[John de la Vega]

John Singer Sargent loved black, and probably used it in some mixtures in the flesh. When he met Monet he was surprised not to find find black at all in the Frenchman's palet, and remarked that he himself couldn't paint without it. There's no doubt that Sargent's sense of color was never the same after he was exposed to Monet and impressionism in general, and I suspect he used black less from then on, particularly in the flesh, even though he probably never gave up the color (or the 'non-color') as most of the impressionists themselves did.

I love black and have it on my palette, but never use it in the flesh, and frankly, Pam, I don't recommend you to use it, unless, of course, you're Sargent himself reincarnated.