I have a friend that put black in the center of her dresden plates. They were colorful and the black worked great. It would not of even crossed my mind to use black. I was once told that if you put a dark color in the center of a Lone Star, it would draw your eye. If you put a light color, the center recedes and you focus more on the edge. This principle would probably work the same way with a dresden plate. Hope this helps.