Black Afghan: The Story Behind the Painting
Black Afghan is the dark one. If you see my paintings in a row, she is the one that looks like a hole in the wall until you get close. Then the frost shows up. I painted her in January 2023, and the line on her page is the whole review: so dark, so pretty. Here is the longer version, and the pieces she lives on now.
Why I painted her
Black Afghan is an indica, and her roots are said to go back to Afghani landrace plants. What she is known for is her color. The leaves go so dark they read as black, and the buds are not far behind. I paint the mature female flower of every strain, and most of them hand me a lot of green to work with. She did not. She gave me purple so deep it was almost black, a little green at the edges of the leaves, and a thick coat of frost sitting on top of all of it. That frost is the painting. On a lighter flower it blends in. On her it looks like someone spilled sugar on a black sweater.
Black Afghan, the original. 24 x 30 acrylic on canvas, matte black background.
The black background
I put a dark flower on a matte black background on purpose, and people ask me about it. The easy move would have been a light background so the flower jumps out. I wanted the opposite. I wanted you to find her. From across the room you see a dark canvas with a shape in it. Walk up and the shape turns into leaves, then hairs, then frost. The matte black keeps the canvas from shining under a lamp, so the only thing that catches your eye is the paint. She is the quietest painting I have done and the one people stand in front of the longest.
Where the original is now
The Black Afghan original is sold and lives in a private collection. Every Canna Queen is one painting, 24 x 30 acrylic on canvas, UV sealed, signed and stamped, and when one goes, it goes. So the prints are how she stays around, and the Black Afghan page is where all of them live.
The poster
The Black Afghan poster is the painting printed on thick matte paper, 10.3 mil, 189 g/m2, sourced from Japan. Matte matters more on this one than on any other strain I have painted. A glossy print of a black painting is a mirror. This one is not. It comes as an 18x24 with no frame or in a black, red oak or white frame, and as an 8x10 for a desk or a shelf. All of ours at home are in black frames, and on Black Afghan the black frame melts into the background so the flower looks like it is floating. If you want the edge of the painting to show, go white. Red oak warms her up and brings the purple in the buds forward.
The 8x10 ships with no frame, and a standard 8x10 frame from any store fits it. It is the one for a desk, a shelf or a bathroom wall where an 18x24 would be too much.
The small one
The collectible Black Afghan poster is 12x18 with the strain name printed under the painting and our mark. It is the one I hand people who are building a wall of strains a few at a time, because a black poster next to Super Lemon Haze on yellow or Sour Diesel on navy makes the whole row look planned. Buy any three collectibles and the discount shows up at checkout on its own.
Collectible Black Afghan poster, 12x18.
On the couch
Black Afghan is one of the 26 designs on the cannabis throw blanket, 60 x 80 inches, printed on one side with a white back. We have four of these blankets on our couch and they are soft, they cover a whole adult and they wash well. A black one is the one that forgives a long weekend. The same painting is on the throw pillow in 18x18 or 22x22 with the insert included, if you want the couch to match.
Black Afghan throw blanket, 60 x 80 inches.
Made to order
Everything on her page except the original is printed when you order it. Production takes 3 to 7 days and US delivery is another 3 to 7 business days, so give it about two weeks. If you need it by a date, email us at cannaqueensproject@gmail.com and we will tell you straight. If Black Afghan is not your strain, the shop by strain page has all of the Canna Queens with a short note on each.
💚 ☁️ 🌱Kristy