Carbon Black: The Pigment From Fire That Made Painting Possible

At Nawarla Gabarnmang in northern Australia, there is a piece of charcoal drawn across a rock surface that has been dated to 28,000 years ago. It is one of the oldest known pieces of art on the planet, and it was made with carbon black, the pigment produced by burning organic matter. The same pigment appears in the caves of Lascaux, Altamira, and Chauvet, applied with fingers, brushes, and blowpipes to create the animals that cover the walls. Carbon black is the oldest black pigment, the most widely used black pigment, and the most chemically stable pigment of any color. It is also one of the cheapest: you can make it by setting fire to wood, bone, oil, or almost anything else that burns. The pigment that made prehistoric cave painting possible is the same pigment that makes modern ink, modern tires, and modern mascara.

Carbon black is a family of black pigments produced by the controlled burning or partial combustion of organic materials. The specific type of carbon black depends on the source material and the burning method. Charcoal is produced by burning wood in the absence of air. Bone black (also called ivory black) is produced by charring animal bones. Lamp black is produced by collecting the soot from burning oil in lamps. Vine black is produced by charring grape vines or other woody material. All carbon blacks are composed primarily of elemental carbon, and all produce a deep, permanent black that is resistant to light, chemicals, and weathering. Carbon black has been used in painting, drawing, printmaking, and writing for at least 40,000 years and remains one of the primary black pigments in use today.

This entry covers the history of carbon black, its various types and production methods, its use in art from prehistoric caves to modern canvases, and the scientific methods now being used to identify specific types of carbon black in historical works.

What Is Carbon Black and How Is It Made?

Carbon black pigments are classified by their source material and production method. A 2024 study published in Science Advances by researchers at Duke University noted that carbon-based black pigments are classified in two ways: by the form of carbon present (graphitic carbons, flame carbons, chars, cokes, or coals) and by the material's origin (mineral, vegetable, animal, or soot and smoke). These classification schemes reflect the complexity of carbon black pigments, which have been produced from diverse materials using diverse methods throughout history. Read the study at Science Advances.

Charcoal is the simplest and oldest form of carbon black. It is produced by heating wood in a closed container with limited oxygen, a process called pyrolysis. The wood decomposes into volatile gases and a solid carbon residue. The quality of the charcoal depends on the type of wood and the burning temperature. Hardwoods like beech and willow produce fine, dense charcoal suitable for drawing and painting. A 2020 study published in the Journal of the American Institute for Conservation reconstructed Frankfurt Black, a historical pigment made from charred wine lees, by following 17th to 19th-century instructions. The researchers charred wine lees at 380 degrees Celsius for 300 minutes and compared the resulting pigment to other plant black pigments and modern bone black printing ink. Frankfurt Black ink displayed the deep dark color and soft texture described in historical sources. Read the study at Taylor & Francis Online.

Bone black is produced by charring animal bones in a closed vessel. The bones are cleaned of fat, dried, and carbonized at high temperature. The resulting pigment contains calcium phosphate from the bone mineral along with carbon, giving it a slightly different character than pure carbon blacks. Bone black has a bluish tint and is slightly less intense than charcoal or lamp black. Ivory black, historically made from charred elephant ivory, is the finest and most intense form of bone black. Modern ivory black is made from bone, since the use of actual ivory is now restricted.

Lamp black is produced by collecting the soot from burning oil in a lamp or similar device. The soot is deposited on a cool surface and then scraped off. Lamp black is extremely fine and produces a soft, velvety black. It was the standard black pigment for ink in the medieval and Renaissance periods and remains important in printmaking.

Origins and History

Carbon black is the oldest pigment used by humans. The earliest evidence of carbon black in art comes from cave paintings in Africa, Europe, and Australia, dated to between 40,000 and 30,000 years ago. At Chauvet Cave in France, charcoal drawings of animals have been dated to approximately 32,000 years ago. At Nawarla Gabarnmang in Australia, carbon-based black pigment has been identified in some of the oldest known rock art. A 2017 study published in PLOS ONE identified charred plant matter as the main component of black pigments in Spanish Levantine rock art at the Les Dogues rock shelter, using a combination of physicochemical and archaeobotanical analyses. The study identified angiosperm and conifer charcoal as primary raw materials and found that the pigment was mixed with fatty or oily binders. Read the study at PLOS ONE.

In ancient Egypt, carbon black was used in ink for writing on papyrus. The ink was made by mixing carbon black with water and a gum binder, producing a fluid ink that could be applied with a reed pen. Egyptian carbon ink is remarkably stable: papyrus texts written 4,000 years ago remain perfectly legible, with no fading of the black ink. The same basic formula, carbon black plus gum binder, was used for manuscript ink throughout the medieval period in Europe and the Islamic world.

In China, carbon black has been used in ink sticks since at least the Han Dynasty. Chinese ink is made by mixing carbon black (from pine soot or oil soot) with animal glue, pressing the mixture into molds, and allowing it to dry. The ink stick is then ground on an ink stone with water to produce fresh ink. This method produces ink of extraordinary quality, with a depth and richness that liquid inks cannot match. Chinese ink painting, which developed during the Tang and Song dynasties, relies entirely on carbon black ink applied with a brush to silk or paper.

A 2025 study published in the RAP Conference Proceedings examined black pigments used by Albanian post-Byzantine painters Jani and Vasili in 18th-century church frescoes. Using Raman spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence, the researchers found that the black pigments consisted of carbon structures corresponding to graphite, specifically charcoal-origin carbon. The study demonstrated that even in the 18th century, painters in remote regions of the Balkans were using carbon black pigments consistent with those used in prehistoric cave painting. Read the study at RAP Proceedings.

A 2025 study published in Heritage Science identified carbon black in murals from Bezeklik Cave 51 in Xinjiang, China, dated to 1025-1159 CE. The researchers used Raman spectroscopy to identify the characteristic D-band and G-band peaks of carbon black, and also identified lead dioxide as a black discoloration product of red lead. The study noted that carbon black was the primary black pigment used in Silk Road mural paintings. Read the study at Springer Nature Link.

Key Artists and Paintings

The Chauvet Cave Painters (c. 32,000 BCE)

The drawings at Chauvet Cave in southern France, dated to approximately 32,000 years ago, are the oldest known figurative drawings in the world. The animals, including lions, horses, and rhinoceroses, are drawn in charcoal on the cave walls. The charcoal used at Chauvet was made from pine and other coniferous woods, and the drawings show a sophistication of line and shading that demonstrates the artists' mastery of the medium. The carbon black of the charcoal has remained perfectly stable for 32,000 years, with no fading or chemical degradation.

The Lascaux Cave Painters (c. 17,000 BCE)

At Lascaux, carbon black is used alongside ochre and manganese to create the paintings in the Hall of the Bulls and the Axial Gallery. The black areas are painted with charcoal and manganese, applied with brushes and blowpipes. The combination of carbon black outlines with ochre fills produces the characteristic look of Lascaux: dark silhouettes against red and yellow backgrounds.

Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669)

Rembrandt used carbon black extensively in his etchings and paintings. In his etchings, the ink was made from carbon black (typically lamp black or Frankfurt Black) mixed with burnt oil varnish. The deep, rich blacks of Rembrandt's etchings are a direct result of the quality of the carbon black ink. In his paintings, Rembrandt used carbon black for the deep shadows that define his chiaroscuro effects, often mixing it with lead white to create the subtle grays of his middle tones.

Chinese Ink Painters (Tang Dynasty onward)

Chinese ink painting, developed during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) and perfected during the Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE), uses carbon black ink exclusively. Painters like Wang Wei (699-759) and Dong Yuan (c. 934-962) created landscapes using only variations in ink density and brushwork, producing works of extraordinary subtlety and depth. The carbon black ink used in Chinese painting is valued for its ability to produce a range of tones from the deepest black to the palest gray, all from a single pigment.

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)

Hokusai's woodblock prints, including The Great Wave off Kanagawa (c. 1831), use carbon black ink for the outlines and dark areas. The ink, made from carbon black mixed with a binder, is applied to the woodblock and then transferred to paper. The crisp, deep blacks of Hokusai's prints are a testament to the quality of the carbon black ink and the precision of the woodblock technique. The pigment has remained stable for nearly 200 years, with no fading of the black lines.

How to Spot Carbon Black in a Painting

Carbon black is the standard black pigment in virtually all paintings and drawings made before the 20th century. It produces a deep, warm black that is slightly different from the cold, bluish black of modern synthetic iron oxide blacks. Under magnification, different types of carbon black can be distinguished by their particle morphology: charcoal produces angular, irregular particles; lamp black produces fine, rounded particles; bone black produces particles with calcium phosphate inclusions.

The 2024 Duke University study mentioned above used pump-probe microscopy, coupled with a support vector machine, to distinguish common carbon-based black pigments as pure pigments, as two-component black pigment mixtures, and as mixtures of black and colorful pigments. The methodology yielded robust qualitative classification, demonstrating the potential of pump-probe microscopy to spatially differentiate carbon-based black pigments in works of art. This is significant because distinguishing between types of carbon black can provide information about an artist's materials and methods, and can help detect forgeries or restorations.

In paintings, carbon black is most commonly found in underdrawing, in shadows, and in mixtures with other colors to darken them. Its transparency in oil paint makes it useful for creating deep, luminous shadows rather than flat black areas. In drawings, carbon black appears as charcoal, graphite, or ink, each with its own visual characteristics.

Related Pigments and Terms

Carbon black belongs to the family of inorganic pigments and is the oldest and most widely used black pigment. It was used alongside ochre in prehistoric painting and alongside ultramarine and vermilion in historical painting. In printmaking, carbon black ink is the standard medium for etching, engraving, and woodblock printing. For more on the broader context of pigments in art, read our entry on oil painting, or explore our post on how to read a painting.

See Carbon Black in Person

The most spectacular carbon black art is the cave paintings at Chauvet (replica at the Caverne du Pont d'Arc), Lascaux (replica at Lascaux IV), and Altamira (replica at the Museo de Altamira). For carbon black in drawings, the Rijksmuseum holds Rembrandt's etchings, where the quality of the carbon black ink is immediately visible. The Tokyo National Museum holds Chinese and Japanese ink paintings, including works by Hokusai. The British Museum holds Chinese ink paintings and Hokusai's woodblock prints.

For carbon black in oil painting, look at any Rembrandt at the Rijksmuseum or National Gallery in London, where the deep shadows are built from carbon black. For a comparison of carbon black with modern synthetic blacks, look at a 20th-century painting that uses Mars black (synthetic iron oxide), which produces a colder, flatter black than the warm, varied tones of carbon black. For more on the pigments that shaped art, read our entries on ultramarine and lead white, or explore our guide to chiaroscuro and dramatic contrast.