The art store I go to ran out of Winsors Artist Grade Titanium White, but they had Winsors Artist grade Flake White Hue. For most painters, its the first white we use. It is essentially titanium white, with the addition of zinc oxide. The temperature of the white pigment in your paint can affect your mixtures - and it becomes even more important when you are painting a passage that uses pure white.As a painting ages, safflower whites will tend to hold their color better.Paints that use linseed will naturally dry faster and harder in addition to their warm color. It's not the painting technique - it's the white pigment causing the problem. I have a small tube of (what I assume) is a similar white. Lead-based white oil creates a more durable paint film than Zinc or Titanium. This medium texture will also not feel too stiff under the knife. In 1782, Guyton de Morveau at LAcadmie de Dijon, France, suggested zinc oxide as a substitute for Lead White. Gamblin, for example, offers a Flake White Replacement which uses titanium white instead of lead carbonate. Zinc White does not blacken in the presence of sulfur fumes like Lead White. They have different drying times, varying levels of opacity, and they allow you to create different types of texture on your canvas. Lead Whites outstanding handling characteristics come with a cost. It is lead carbonate. Lead White is better suited for certain types of indirect painting but comes with some obvious baggage. They did direct paintings, i. e., Alla Prima, Au Premier Coup.,These paintings consisted of very few wet into wet layers and had very few problems with the cracking and delamination. It will completely cover up what it is painted over, not allowing anything to show through. My Blog "Creative Realism" Not sure which white paint you need? However, it should not be dismissed due to this property. Our testing indicates that safflower whites hold their colors best over time. Whites with moderate dry times usually take about two or three days to dry. But what is most exciting to me is its effect on color. Flake White Replacement combines a lower tinting strength with a dense, ropey texture. For these situations, we recommendRadiant White, our brightest white. To get only lead white pigment in that brand, one must buy Old Hollands Cremnitz White. Not sure just why, but I like it for my working methods, and I am not into this ropey and stringy characteristic of lead whites, so often revered by some oil painters. Harmful if swallowed. Must be used exclusively as material for arts, crafts or hobbies, not for use by children. Every time this comes up I just think to myself, My god, I LOVE flake white. Whenever someone says that they love Flake White, the first question that comes to my mind is .whose? I picked up my (oil) paonobrushes today for the first time in five years. Flake white also includes zinc, which helps to make it stiff and provides a firm consistency. In the study by Mecklenberg et al at the Smithsonian the delamination was observed in zinc oxide oil paint applied over acrylic dispersion grounds, but not when the same paint was applied over oil or alkyd grounds, according to my original communication with Mecklenberg. _GEORGE OHANLON_Director Rublev Natural Pigments. In 1794, the English color-maker John Atkinson began to manufacture Zinc Oil Paints. They offer the least amount of resistance to your brush, making them easy to apply and easy to mix. If, for example, they used linseed oil then youd expect that it might show a very slight amount of yellowing and thus not be a good choice if you really want the most pure brilliant white possible (but without knowing, its impossible to even make a guess; this information is provided on the tubes, so its a mystery to me why they dont include it on their web site with all the other data). Flake White Replacement has all the working properties of traditional Flake White: long ropey stroke, warm color, translucency, and short brush mark. Any thoughts on the Flake White Hue as a substitute to Titanium White? The topic Titanium vs Flake White? is closed to new replies. Advocates of Lead-Based Oil Paints downplay the health risks associated with using Lead-Based paints. Zinc Oxyde alone should not be used for general mixing because of its low tinting strength, One should not layer faster drying pigments over Zinc Oxyde. As a white paint, it is incredibly versatile and mixes well due to its low tinting strength. If you intend to paint large white spaces, rather than as light within your painting, undertones become more critical. Disposal of the lead waste from the painting process is also problematic. I like it very much. When you want to get those amazing translucent skin tones, you see in Rennaisance paintings, opaque whites with a lot of titanium dioxide is usually what keeps artists fighting against their paint. Follow our Meetup page and subscribe to our newsletter for drawing sessions and workshop updates. Mecklenburg did extensive studies to determine the acceptable ranges of relative humidity and temperature in museums and galleries. Underpainting white consists of linseed oil or alkyd resin, which makes it dry relatively quickly. The Winsor and Newton Flake White Hue is bound in safflower oil. Pure WhiteWhether the painting in question is abstract, representational, a bit of both or somewhere in between, there are situations where the use of straight, pure white is called for. One can easily see that Titanium White is chalky compared to Flake White Replacement and Zinc White. Soft whites are easily brushable. There are some good reasons for this. Like titanium white, it has an average drying time, is neutral in temperature, and has a buttery feel. Heres why you need more than one type of white oil paint, and its not only about color. With a neutral temperature, it has a soft feel, allowing it to dry quickly. It has poisoned artists, factory workers, women looking for beauty fixes, and children who were attracted to the strange sweet taste. Its high tint strength can overwhelm colors, making them appear chalky in tints. Of course, the Master would have their apprentices make these Lead-Based White oil paints for each painting. Initially, supplies of Zinc Oxide were limited, and its use as a pigment in oil paints proved far too expensive. Always protect ones self against chronic hazards of this and other chemical products by keeping them out of ones body. There probably isn't much more of a reason for it. Take into account the desired effect you want to have, to help you decide which are the most important properties in your white oil paint. The login page will open in a new tab. Because zinc white is so clean, it is invaluable for making tints with other colors. Learning how to handle it can make it a very desirable whiteespecially for the upper layers of a painting, where a bit of opacity can be useful. I also prefer OHs Cremnitz White over many other brands of Lead White. Zinc white is one of the stiffest and coolest white oil paints available. Safflower oil, on the other hand, does not yellow and makes for brighter white but takes longer to dry without additional drying agents. Compared to other white oil paints, Zinc Oxide has a more delicate tinting strength. One needs sufficient knowledge of the Painters Craft to use Pure Zinc White effectively. Many painters prefer the Lead Whites warm tone and handling characteristics enough to work around its well-documented health hazards. Zinc white is slow to dry, giving you lots of time to work with it. Flake replacements without the lead never seem come close, truly a shame that it is becoming harder to get lead based flake white. Why not take this a bit further and use other high-value colors as your white? With so many white oil paints to choose from, its understandable that theres confusion around which white to use. There is a lot of smoke and mirrors going on here, but the long and the short of it is that Zinc Oxyde will not adhere to Mechanical Grounds like ACRYLIC GESSO. Painters have chosen to work around these limitations to take advantage of some of the advantages of Zinc Oxyde. Textures range from soft and smooth, to rich and buttery, to dense and stiff under the brush.A soft white will feel light and smooth, oftentimes right out of the tube. The result is beautiful half tones that are not as chalky as they would be if white were used. On the other hand, Grumbacher offers a Flake White which I believe is strictly a Lead pigment. Too many people being misled by all the toxicity claims. Take a look at the image below, and pay close attention to the tint variation of different paints. It shouldn't be the primary white you use unless you are using a panel for your oil painting. Why is lead paint a safety concern? According to the W&N faq, Flake White Hue has a lower tinting strength than Titanium White to match Flake White and a similar drying rate to the original. It actually has a slightly higher permanence rating (AA is more permanent than A) than their regular Flake White. Some of these single-pigment lead whites are called Cremnitz White, by one spelling or another. Unlike flake white, Cremnitz white does not include zinc oxide, so it has that stringy feeling that some artists love. Gamblin Titanium White has a strong tinting strength and an unparalleled, beautiful texture. The swatches below show Titanium White, Titanium Zinc White,and Titanium White 1980 mixed 5:1 with Quinacridone Red. Most titanium whites contain zinc oxide (PW 4), and so do many whites called Flake White. Lead white without zinc stands the best chance of enduring for the longest period of time. Many artists choose their white oil paints based on texture. In short, when one mixes color with Zinc White, the resulting color is much more saturated and cooler than mixing a color with other whites. It is important to note that some paint manufacturers are moving away from the traditional zinc white in favor of others. They will resist the knife and the brush. Here is what Gamblin says about Flake White Replacement:The first true non-toxic alternative to Flake White. My current painting Corps de Ballet wip has Mussini tit opaque, a really extra dense white, and Doaks Flemish White, a very particular lead white that is strange but wonderful, I did a thread on it here a couple of years ago, you can search on Flemish white. The Flake whites that I use are always (or always claim) to be a mixture of Lead and Zinc. Im not sure just why that is. While we can easily argue that all painters need titanium white in their palette, its not that cut and dry. Even stiffer than Titanium White, but less powerful in mixtures. Read the label to see what it is, and dont buy it if it says PW 4 or zinc oxide, unless you just dont care how long your paintings will last. It also has a low tinting strength, making it a good option for mixing pastels. Were Ready To Open Our Doors to In-Store Shopping on June 15th! What one buys in tubes has little in common with the Hand-Mulled pigments made in Renaissance Workshops. CONCLUSION: If one has to choose only one white to have on their palette, that choice would be between a Forms of Lead White a Titanium-Zinc Mixture or a Flake White Alternative. After logging in you can close it and return to this page. Danger! Swapping Titanium White for any number of alternatives can solve problems and create meaningful, new artistic possibilities. "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." (Photo: Lead White Stack (Dutch) Process). Personally, I use a combination of about equal amounts of Old Hollands Cremnitz White (Lead White), and Old Hollands Titanium White. Its the leanest of the Gamblin whites and a terrific underpainting white. It overpowers other pigments making them chalky and pale. Transparent white has a neutral temperature, and its semi-transparent, so its easy to mix with other tones and glazes. Foundation white has a warm, yellow undertone, making it well-suited for many types of underpainting. Staring at a slew of white paints can be overwhelming and a bit confusing, even for a professional artist. You can experiment with anything in between to find the right feel you enjoy under your brush and the right tone on the canvas. This includes combinations of titanium dioxide and zinc as well as lead carbonate and zinc oxyde. Lead whites pigment number is PW 1. Warm White was used in a limited fashion for my lightest values and highlights, while Titanium Buff was used in nearly all color mixtures. Paints made with linseed oil, such as underpainting white, are warmer in tone. Titanium whites are buttery, easy to apply, and neutral in temperature. That's what we first learned to use and it's what still use out of habit. Heres a glimpse at the key whites youre likely to find in every art supply store and why you want them all in your supply kit. It also dries slowly. I have to say, it is absolutely irreplaceable for mixing skin tones. Today, it seems that the term, Flake White, can really refer to just about any sort of pigment, as long as it appears white. Since the test findings cannot be separated from the non-archival commercial house paint grounds they only tell us one thing. Its merely a matter of preference and what youre looking to achieve. Titanium white usually reflects about 97% of light, making it the brightest white available. Before deciding which white oil paint you need, youll need to understand what each one can do. Flake replacements without the lead never seem come close, truly a shame that it is becoming harder to get lead based flake white. Their campaign slogan, Friends Do Not Let Friends Use Zinc. positioned Zinc Oxyde as a pigment one should eliminate from their repertoire, thus taking the focus off the toxicity of their own products and eliminating their major competition at the same time. Titanium white falls into the buttery category. The addition of lead used in flake white makes it a warm and opaque white oil paint. It is the best binder for earth colors used in underpainting but not the best binder for most whites. Do this by avoiding ingestion, excessive skin contact, and inhalation of spraying mists, sanding dust and vapors from heating. Theoretically, one can paint safely with Lead-Based paint; the considerations, however, are manifold. Because the lead carbonate used in this paint is toxic. This all seems to depend upon what brand of Flake White that it is. It has a very subtle reddish-yellow undertone that is almost unnoticeable unless one is looking for it or comparing Lead White side by side with other Whites. Linseed oil tends to yellow over time, but it dries faster than other oils. I started today but need to use a white tomorrow. I really like it. To determine the perfect white for your next work, its essential to know how different types react to the brush. Because of its lengthy drying time and brittle film, one should not use Pure Zinc White for ground layers. It works within that goldilocks zone, playing the middle ground.The stiffer whites are great for getting those big thick, juicy brush strokes. I am a beginner and by mistake I bought Zinc white instead of titanium white my friend who has been painting for a very long time and does more realism told me not to use the zinc only the titanium. Now that player number one has pointed out that ACRYLIC GROUNDS are real problem, and player number two has confirmed it, we are left with player number three ACRYLIC GESSO. TITANIUM-ZINC WHITE: This is the real workhorse; it is a mixture of Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide. This is your non-toxic general painting white and the only white you need on your palette if you can only have one. Some are crisp and opaque. While many painters love it for the impressive results it produces, many manufacturers are shying away from it due to more governmental health safety standards. contact@tsofa.com. Home Forums Explore Media Oil Painting The Technical Forum Titanium vs Flake White? Winsor also has came out with a Flake White No. Stiff whites are a perfect choice if youre trying to replicate (or create your own) impressionist-inspired painting. Not quite as bright white as the zinc/lead blended white but it works wonderfully. Please log in again. I buy it by the 225 ml tube, because I use it for my imprimatura, my grisaille, and my color glazes. It has a stiff consistency and feels fairly stringy on your brush or palette knife. Because of its lengthy drying time and brittle film, one should not use Pure Zinc White for ground layers, or general mixing. Quick dry times allow painters to get more painting accomplished and start working with a pristine matte surface quicker. I have a friend who refuses to use zinc because she heard of its problems, and refuses to use lead because of safety concerns she ends up with portraits that look one of two ways. [FONT="Palatino Linotype"]Nick Ward I use Grumbacher Pretested Oil Paints, but not that one. A number of our other whites contain less titanium dioxide, which means a lower tint strength, and in turn more saturated color mixtures as well as more subtlety and control in color mixing. They all achieve different results. Using Portland Grey Light as a white is great for tonal painting. Now that we have DEFROCKED the DEFAMERS we can start to discuss the pros and cons of Zinc Oxyde. Texture is how the paint feels on the brush and how it interacts with the canvas. TITANIUM: and Zinc White are two popular white oil paints but totally different in appearance and performance characteristics. For example, one with which I am familiar is Old Hollands whites. You will have to consider the texture and mark-making of the paints, the dry time, tinting strength, opacity and temperature to fully understand which white will get the effect you're after.Titanium based whites, or Zinc oxide based (or something in between like Titanium Zinc White) - let's take a look at what they do. Proponents of Lead-Based paints point to Titian and Michelangelo, who lived well into their 80s. You may want to try a small, 40 ml tube of Old Holland Cremnitz White, if you appreciate a nice, lead white. Another third party Zinc defamer is the author of a book on Old Master Methods and his conclusions do not jibe either. Temperature isn't something that gets that much consideration. From drying time to thickness to undertone, four main categorizations of white oil paints explain how each paint works and what each hue can do. Titanium Dioxyde, in its pure form, creates a soft, spongy film that is unsuitable for artists oil color. We've sent you an email with a link to update your password. Rublev Natural Pigments launched a marketing campaign based on its own misleading conclusions of the Mecklenburg Test. Lead paint, the tubes it came in, as well as rags and solvents used for cleaning when working with Lead, are considered hazardous waste and have to be disposed of at hazardous waste sites. We designed it to be the perfect, all-around mixing white and to have the perfect texture to support the work of painting. Of course, they skip over Raphael, who died of Lead Poisoning at 37. The Five Hundred Pound Gorilla in the room is the ACRYLIC GROUND as the man says. There will undoubtedly be some that you enjoy working with more than others, and the only way to know what you prefer is to test them all, so you know what they all do. They break easily from the brush, allowing you to make crisp marks, but they can also be manipulated and nudged to be made a bit softer. According to Dr. Marion Mecklenburg of the Smithsonian Institute, Zinc Oxide, can become brittle in as little as three years even under museum conditions. On the down-side, the product costs more and comes with a warning label. But for most artists, this is easy to manipulate and alter to suit your specific needs. Tints made with Zinc White show every nuance of colors undertones, making it far superior to tints made with other whites. And the more oil content in your paint, the leaner your paint will be. These tests were done on Mechanical Grounds and substantiate the Smithsonians test results which singled out issues with Acrylic Grounds. Lead White is also the fastest drying of the three basic whites, making it particularly suitable for indirect underpainting techniques. Marions team did make the observation that certain pigments have trouble adhering to Acrylic Gesso Grounds. Some whites brush smoothly on canvas. Lead based choices are Lead Carbonate, Lead Sulfate, Stacked Lead White, Flake White, Cremnitz White, Flemish White, Lead-based Foundation White. This paint will have the least resistance under the palette knife or brush. If drying time is of concern, youll want to pay attention to the fast, slow, or moderate drying capabilities of your various white paints. The first rule I entertain regarding my painting in oils is if it is good for my oil painting, percieved toxicity always takes a back seat. I would avoid any fake Flake White hue or imitation. I use a variation of this, keeping both on my palette and mixing as I need it for various effects instead of premixing toghether. Cremnitz white is also lead-based, so it too is toxic. Titanium Zinc White and 1980 Titanium White are both bound in safflower oil. For comparison sake, we prepared the same mixtures, but reversed the ratios 1:5 white into Quinacridone Red: How about matching the color of your white to the color of your light? Zinc Oxyde has been used successfully for over 225 years and the tens of thousands of paintings hanging in museum and private collections prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Problems With Zinc White Oil Paint is a marketing hoax. I like mixing Titanium White with Lead White (real Flake White) to get a great handling and looking mixing white. When using titanium white, youll notice that very little undertone shows through, so its not intended for creating transparent effects. Contains lead. I love using Permalba White for its creamy consistency. If you like WN, try WN Artist Titanium mixed with their Cremnitz. Cremnitz white is a version of pure Lead White. (Photo: Francisco Goya, Self-portrait with Dr Arrieta). If one habitually touches their mouth, rubs their eyes, picks their nose, bites their fingernails or picks at scabs, we strongly suggest staying away from lead white. Others are transparent. Recent studies show that, over time, zinc white paint films become brittle and are susceptible to cracking. For some reason unknown to me, the combination of Titanium and Lead Whites does not seem to be a popular, commercial mix. These two are at the opposite ends of the spectrum, serving to rein in the rest.Choosing the best white for you depends on a few different factors. When deciding which white oil paint to use, youll want to consider the color, undertone, temperature, drying time, and texture. Constructive critiques and comments welcome. Its flexible and dries quickly, so it can speed up the paintings drying time, even when mixed with other colors. I looked on Winsor site and they both look the same as far as permanence, transparency, ingredeients etc. Flake White Replacement has all the working properties of traditional Flake White: long ropey stroke, warm color, translucency, and short brush mark. Is there any noticeable difference between the two. Mecklenburg makes no recommendations on the use of Zinc White he merely makes the observations about its characteristics which painters have known about for centuries. Play with both. Takin at face value it makes a pretty compelling case. It also has the highest tinting strength, so its great for mixing with other colors. Titanium white is a must-have in every artists palette. Made with titanium dioxide and pigments carried in safflower or linseed oils, titanium white is a pure white that dries at a moderate rate and mixes easily with other colors. A slow drying times give a painter more open time to work the paint without adding any mediums, combining wet into wet. By 1844, a better Zinc White for oil was developed by LeClaire in Paris. Once the amount of Zinc Oxyde added exceeds a certain percentage, the labeling changes to Titanium-Zinc, this percentage varies from brand to brand. This is presented as a new revelation when in fact Painters have known the characteristics and limitations of Zinc Oxyde for centuries. Many painters have every version of white in their painting kit and use them for various reasons and achieve new effects. Buttery whites have a middle-of-the-road texture. Despite its many advantages over lead white, zinc white oil color also has a drawback; it drys to a stiff, somewhat brittle paint film when used unmixed. Titanium, introduced in 1921, is the most durable, most brilliant white available to artists. One has to at least consider the possibility that this Pseudo-Scientific bate and switch tactic is flim-flam. Flake white paint is lead-based. Paints blend various oils and binding agents, which greatly affect how whites look on canvas. Wear protective clothing and gloves to prevent contact with skin. It often includes zinc, which improves its texture. Just like shades of blue, red, and green, white oil paints have all sorts of undertones and depths of color. The label claims the only pigment is lead. The linolenic acid is what gives the oil these unique properties.Both Titanium and Zinc oil paints are made with linseed oil, and they will exhibit that warm character. Beautiful, but deadly, and many painters still consider it indispensable and continue to use it. Each drying oil has its characteristics. An example of stiff white would be lead based paints (Flake White or Cremnitz white) but what I recommend is Flake White Replacement because it is lead free and gets you the same effect. If one prefers a little stiffer white then Flake White Replacements or Alternatives may be an even better choice there are several brands available, Gamblin Flake White Replacement, Michael Harding Warm Lead White Alternative. Titanium white has strong opacity and tinting strength, while the Zinc is a more transparent white.Titanium naturally dries faster, while the Zinc White takes its time.Which one should you pick? https://williamfmartin.blogspot.com. It dries quickly, making it a good option for laying down multiple layers a few hours apart.