Black is fascinating...

One of my favorite techniques is working with colored pencil on black paper (and also mocha colored paper, an ~ 50% value, lovely warm brown).  Colors sing in a different way when applied to a colored ground; black is the most intriguing.

The grapes are two different table grapes I bunched together for composition purposes - no, they didn't actually grow that way on the vine - that was me, taking "artistic liberties" and having fun!

I did rubbings of wild grape leaves growing nearby, and impressed the resulting images of leaf veins and margins to the background before applying colored pencil.   I used Prismacolor #1098 Artichoke, which reads as "gold", in a single layer over the impressed lines, and a couple of more layers to the surrounding area to punch up the effect.

The grapes have a "reverse grisaille" underpainting in white colored pencil.  That is, I applied the highlights and lights while leaving the black paper for the darkest darks.  Conversely, when working a grisaille on white paper, dark tones are added while saving the white of the paper for highlights and light values.

4 Grape Leaves
Colored Pencil on Black Stonehenge