You can start with dark chocolate buttercream and go from there but you will still need alot of color especially if you are using wilton pastes,to get a deep true black.I keep a tube of wiltons ready made icing on hand for eyes etc...The amount of black I use is minimal but if I get a cake order that has alot of black I make my own.You could also try Chefmaster or Americolor gel pastes that come in a pop top little squeezable bottle...I hear the gels darken the colors like red,blue and black really well.I just bought Americolor Red and black for that same reason.I can't wait to try them!!!
P.S. Americolor,Chefmaster available at Sugarcraft.com and Countrykitchensa.com
Start with dark chocolate bc. Then add gel color. Let it sit in an airtight bowl overnight, and it will darken more.
Thanks to Cali4dawn's frozen buttercream tutorial, a few months ago I started using store-brand fudge icing and it just takes a little Wilton black coloring. It works great!
STAY AWAY FROM WILTON COLORING- ESPECIALLY BLACK AND RED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Try ChefMaster or Americolor. I start out with WHITE icing, I add 1-2 drop per cup of icing and I have a deep black or red.
For BCTs, it's best to use fudge icing (at least in my opinion) for the lines... so southerncake's suggestion was a very good one. I've done that, too.
Calli4dawn, why are you so ADAMANT about not using Wilton Black or red? They're not the best I've used, but they are effective and readily available.
- Kim
Calli4dawn, why are you so ADAMANT about not using Wilton Black or red? They're not the best I've used, but they are effective and readily available.
- Kim
LOL! What makes you think I'm adamant????? 
Seriously......
Because they are not cost effective and not effective in keeping the integrity of the icing. If you have to use a whole jar or most of a jar to color a small amount of icing, that changes the stiffness of the icing and then the taste. Both are not good situations to deal with.
Other brands are readily available if you go to any cake supply store (my cake supply store doesn't even carry Wilton dyes) or purchase on-line. Wilton has some decent products, but not for coloring. I use very little Wilton Brand coloring. In fact, all I have left is what I purchased before I discovered other/better options.
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