Scenery Base Colour

Yesterday Peter Mumby and I got together to watch the DVD from this years Fine Scale Model Railroad Expo and a second DVD  about scenery made by Doug Foscale of FOS Scale models Fos Scale Models, Uncommon Structure Kits . What I noticed in the DVD's was Doug using black for his base colour while modelling for the ground and water bases. Doug did add a lot of ground cover...a lot more than I do. I am not sure if any black would actually show through anyway. He does not mention why he used this colour, but after some discussion with Peter we both though that black is used in many applications to create shadows and subtly hide details one does not want others to view. I think I might just give it a try...George Dutka