No: that is not an indication of racial prejudice but an artistic judgement. I have just finished two pictures to which my response was identical. The tonal balance was all wrong, which damaged the intended sense of depth. After looking at one of them for some time I realised that the “shadow” areas were far too intense, and drew the eye far too aggressively. It struck me that that I have heard warnings before about the inadvisability of using black. My decision to use it on this occasion had been dictated by he fact that I was aiming for a semi-abstract image in which the colours as well as the shapes are rather “stylised”. The damage is nevertheless just the same.
So I lifted the tone in all of those areas in which black had been used, producing the sense of shadow by using varieties of green, blue and violet, mixed into a variety of greys. I was amazed at the extent to which this improved the situation. Taking advantage of this experience, I then applied the same treatment to the second picture, with similarly satisfactory results.
At this point I remembered that a piece I had finished earlier, now confined to a file drawer, had also left me with a sense of dissatisfaction. I pulled it out in order to examine it, and it was immediately obvious that it was suffering from the same problem. A few minutes of corrective action made a great deal of difference–although I don’t think that solved all its problems. (There remains another issue that has to do with composition, and this could possibly be irremediable.)
I hope not to fall into that particular trap again in the light of this salutary lesson.
It is, as they say, and ill wind that blows nobody any good. We are stuck under a constant belt of rain that looks as if it might be with us for the rest of the week. I must say that it is having a remarkable effect of my art productivity!