Color vs. Black and White

I'm in a period of change with my art.  I'm searching for something new. Trying to make myself a little uncomfortable.  A little better.

As a result, I've been marching myself through a series of artistic exercises.  First, there was Notan.  All that black and white design made me really think about my painting.  Was I using color as a crutch?  And/or was it blinding me to design problems in my work?

To answer this question, I started with the work that was sitting on my table.

A poured painting:

I used the black and white filter on my phone to take a photo of it:

In black and white I can see that the image has less contrast than I might have imagined looking at in color.  And the design is pretty blah.  No wonder I don't love it.

On the other hand, I love this piece:

Once again I used the black and white filter in my camera to take a photo of it:

I can see why this piece works -- the contrast and the design are great -- both in color and in black and white.

I struggled a lot when I was creating this piece:

It didn't come together until I added those blue stars.  In black and white, I can see why:

Without the stars there's virtually no contrast!  All that color is the same.

I'm taking away two things from this:

1. An easy way to find problems with your art is to use your phone to check it in black and white.
2. I need to paint in just black and white and see what happens.

Do you have other lessons you're taking away from this exercise?  I'd love to know!