Black Magic Undertones: What to Compare Beside Your Finishes

Start with the documented color character

Black Magic is a very dark black with a slight warm influence. A physical comparison is needed to decide how that character works with your own finishes. Black Magic and Tricorn Black share the same LRV, so a claimed brightness advantage would be unsupported.

Why the warm white plaster and brass relationship matters

Warm plaster and brass provide a reason to compare Black Magic's slight warmth, using authentic samples rather than the numerical tie alone.

Black Magic and Tricorn Black both have a published LRV of 3. That equality describes reflectance, not matching colorants or identical undertones. Tricorn Black is described by Sherwin-Williams as a true black without an undertone. This supplies a named color control; the LRV gap alone does not identify the warmer, greener or pinker paint.

Use Tricorn Black as a control

Give Black Magic enough illuminated area to reveal its color, then move the same board into the normal shadow. Compare it briefly with Tricorn Black. Decide whether the hue is important everywhere or whether a near-black impression is acceptable in the darker parts of the planned surface.

Separate a persistent cast from a comparison effect

Test it directly against Tricorn Black; equal LRV does not mean an identical color impression. The warm-versus-cool comparison covers that related choice.

If the unwanted cast remains beside a permanent finish under normal light, that is a practical reason to replace Black Magic. If it appears only beside an unused sample, remove the comparison and assess the intended palette alone. Before ordering samples, compare room-planning features in the paint color visualizer roundup.