I made a 12 foot table for a client out of 2" thick ash, dyed and stained a jet black with a sprayed and hand rubbed Lacquer finish. I spent a lot of time picking the lumber for the graining and placement, since that was all that would show through the opaque finish.  The boards were placed with the largest in the center, and got progressively smaller as they approached the edge.  When I did this project (quite a while ago)  I hadn't worked with the finish before, and had lots of trouble getting it right.