Black smoke coming from exhaust, burning oil?

I recently(less than 8 months) got a new 350 put into my car and noticed that black smoke comes from the exhaust when ever you hit the gas petal, the more gas you give it the more smoke comes out. My friend said he thinks that maybe some of the rings have gone bad on the pistons, is this possible being such a new engine? How can I pinpoint the problem with out paying someone else to do a diagnostics? By the way it is carbureted. thanks