I read the blog Painting Stuff to Look Like Stuff. Kate stone ran an interesting piece on whites. As for me I use Rembrandt Titanium White, and a variety of Lead Whites by the likes of Blue Ridge. I also had RGH blend me some Lead White with Safflower Oil. SLOOOOW drying but beauty.
When you look below you will see why I have had to change my storage method for my lead white panels. Keep 'em sunny side up.
When you look below you will see why I have had to change my storage method for my lead white panels. Keep 'em sunny side up.
Pearly Whites
Being one of those people who gets a bug up their ass and pursues a random project to the eighty percent mark before suddenly dropping it to pursue something else, spring cleaning is an especially interesting time of year for me. It's when I uncover a half-finished, gender-neutral baby blanket made out of hypoallergenic wool; a perfectly organized tupperware box full of every size and shape of envelope that I could possibly ever need, unopened and forgotten; and fourteen separate notebooks and moleskines with the first ten pages filled out with really fascinating objectives: the properties and chemical structure of drying oils (riveting!), quotations about money (wow!), flowers and vegetables I want to plant (I even bore myself). I also found... my old colour swatches! Back from when I bought tubes of paint like they were five cent candies and then meticulously tabulated them in my precious, precious binder.
I'm going to throw it all out because I'm so over being a nerd and I've since blossomed into a sophisticated and carefree artiste who doesn't even read the pigment label anymore. But before I do, take a look at these whites:
The key is as follows, listing brand, colour name, pigment, and binder:
A. Williamsburg, Titanium White, PW 6, linseed oil
B. Winsor & Newton, Titanium White, PW 6 and PW 4, safflower oil
C. Lefranc & Bourgeois, Titanium White, PW 6, soybean oil
D. Old Holland, Titanium White, PW 6, binder unknown because that's how Old Holland rolls
E. Winsor & Newton, Cremnitz White, PW 1, safflower oil
F. Gamblin, Flake White Replacement, PW 6 and PW 4, alkali refined linseed oil
G. Old Holland, Cremnitz White, PW 1, unknown
H. Rembrandt-Talens, Titanium White, unknown, unknown
All of these whites were tucked away in this binder in a box for the past several years, so the yellowing is quite exaggerated. If these paints had been used in a painting and left on a wall where there was some light, it wouldn't be this bad. But still. It's worth thanking your lucky stars you didn't paint your masterpiece with Old Holland Cremnitz White. I mean, you didn't, did you?
Word to the wise, if you're looking for a titanium white to use, look for something that says PW 6 only (no PW 4--that's zinc) and preferably a safflower or a soybean oil. Good luck.
I'm going to throw it all out because I'm so over being a nerd and I've since blossomed into a sophisticated and carefree artiste who doesn't even read the pigment label anymore. But before I do, take a look at these whites:
 |
| This advanced yellowing of something that should be white reminds me of something, but I can't quite put my dental plaque on it. |
A. Williamsburg, Titanium White, PW 6, linseed oil
B. Winsor & Newton, Titanium White, PW 6 and PW 4, safflower oil
C. Lefranc & Bourgeois, Titanium White, PW 6, soybean oil
D. Old Holland, Titanium White, PW 6, binder unknown because that's how Old Holland rolls
E. Winsor & Newton, Cremnitz White, PW 1, safflower oil
F. Gamblin, Flake White Replacement, PW 6 and PW 4, alkali refined linseed oil
G. Old Holland, Cremnitz White, PW 1, unknown
H. Rembrandt-Talens, Titanium White, unknown, unknown
All of these whites were tucked away in this binder in a box for the past several years, so the yellowing is quite exaggerated. If these paints had been used in a painting and left on a wall where there was some light, it wouldn't be this bad. But still. It's worth thanking your lucky stars you didn't paint your masterpiece with Old Holland Cremnitz White. I mean, you didn't, did you?
Word to the wise, if you're looking for a titanium white to use, look for something that says PW 6 only (no PW 4--that's zinc) and preferably a safflower or a soybean oil. Good luck.
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