Titanium White vs Zinc White by WILL KEMP

Titanium White vs Zinc White

by WILL KEMP
http://willkempartschool.com/

zincwhite
Titanium White is an opaque white, Zinc White is a transparent white.
If you’re working with more transparent layers or very subtle shifts in tone, such as portraiture,  Zinc white can be extremely useful on your palette. It can give you slight shifts in tone for more subtle mixes. However, when you’re first starting colour mixing or building up vibrant solid blocks of colour, it’s the wrong choice of white to use.
transparency zinc white
Here you can see the comparative covering power of both whites. A swatch of paint is painted over the three black lines manufacturers print onto paint tubes so you can judge the relative opacity/transparency of a pigment.
zinc white mixing white
And here you can see the difference in volume between these two mixes.
I started with the same amount of Phthalo blue (green shade) and then added either Zinc white or Titanium white to lift the value (light or dark) of the paint mix.
I needed about 5 to 6 times the amount of Zinc white to achieve a match for the Titanium white resulting in a massive volume of paint – I should point out that these are both Artist Quality grade paints.
So if you want to shift tones quickly with good opacity, use a Titanium white. If you want a more subtle change of colour mixing opt for a Zinc white.

Price Comparison

titanium white coverage
Hobby Paint
Hobby Craft Hobby Range – 75ml – £3.00 rrp – found for £1.50 online.
Student Grade
galleria
Winsor & Newton Galeria Range – 60ml – A nice range of student quality paints – £3.85 rrp – found for £1.95 online
Artist Quality
winsornewtontitaniumwhite
Daler Rowney Artists’ Acrylic – 75ml – £6.95 rrp £4.20 for 75ml online
Winsor & Newton Artists’ Acrylic £6.75 – 60ml £5.10 online
Golden Artists’ Acrylic paints – 60ml £7.50rrp £5.70 (£4.50 on sale)
So next time you’re at the art store looking longingly at a vivid Magenta, spare a thought for your Titanium white as it can help your painting more than you think!
LifeART School is mentioned in the Cape Town Magazine as one of the BEST Art schools in Cape Town!

Come join us and learn from established teacher and artist: Leonie.e.Brown.

For more info contact Leonie on: leonie@lifeart.co.za

Author: LifeArt School

Leonie has been painting for 30 years. she has a degree in Art as well as a Teaching diploma. Her dream has always been to help other reach their full potential, in art as well as in daily life. LifeArt School has been in operation since 2004 and has managed to help various students become full time artists. Leonie is also a well know local and international artist. She paints three days a week and her work is available in various galleries.

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