The Quest for the Perfect White

[Ilaria Rosselli Del Turco]

Michelle, thank you for sharing, I will definetely pull the cremnitz white out, I used it a while ago but didn't manage to handle it well and gave it up. I bought it when I read that it is used by Lucien Freud, so I figured out it would help with colour build up.
I am at the moment using Michael Harding's Titanium n 2 with very good results, and is not too expensive compared to W&N (Harding's vermillion in 40 ml tube is sold for ONLY

[Sharon Knettell]

Michele,

What a great report!

Have you tried the Micheal Harding Flake White #2. which can be ordered at www.theitalianartstore.com?

For you Europeans who are having trouble getting Flake White, you may want to try Micheal Hardings website to find out where to get some, www.michaelharding.co.uk.

[Michele Rushworth]

Never tried it. There are so many brands out there I'd love to play with!

[Jean Kelly]

I thank you also, for starting this thread. When I started painting, I couldn't see much difference between the whites. Now I see and feel a huge difference in the two whites I have (titanium and zinc), and am ready to branch out and check out the others.

Jean

[Richard Budig]

Generally speaking, flake white is a faster dryer than are the other whites. Grumbacher's very stiff flake white still dries reasonably quickly with the additon of a softer white. I use Permelba for this. I also use Permelba by itself, and like it.

I also premix some of my colors in strings, going from dark to light. While making the string, I add a drop or two of Liquin as I go along. The result is a very touch dry painting the following day.

The difference (in color) between the flakes and Permelba is that the flakes tend to be a little warmer.

I've also used the dreaded cobalt dryers, and my experience is that you have to use them like I use Liquin -- very little. Cobalt, like Liquin, dries quite well, and usually overnight.

Over the years, I have quit fiddling with these various whites and find myself using mostly Permelba.

[David Boles]

I'll put in a vote for Michael Harding Flake #1 as a mixing white. It is a lead / zinc mix but dries relatively quickly and is not overpowering in mixes as titanium can sometimes be. Flake #1 is in linseed oil while #2 is in safflower oil which is a slower drier. Michael Harding Cremnitz is pure lead carbonate and is also a real nice white. The tube I am using right now is terribly stiff but with the addition of some black oil (my preferred medium) it becomes as creamy as you want it to be. The peice I am working on right has a white blouse where this Cremnitz was piled on pretty thickly yet it still dried overnight. The lead in the black oil probably contributes to the fast drying time.

Studio Products Flake white is excellent. Its like the Michael Harding Cremnitz except you don't need to add anything. It's also pure lead ground in black oil so it also dries fast. The down side is you might consider it to be on the pricey side.

All lead whites tend to be a bit on the transparent side so the covering may not be what you want or need. To combat that I would recommend that you add a small amount of titanium. This should give some added opacity while the lead will speed drying. Michael Harding has a lead / titanium mix he calls foundation white. I think it was made mainly to be used as an oil ground, but it can be used as a pigment. I have no personal experience with this yet so I don't really know what its like.

Carlos asked about walnut oil. Doak uses a walnut oil blend in all his paint and while they are nice paints they take just short of forever to dry. Walnut oil is believed to yellow less than linseed oil, but personally I have my doubts about that. Walnut oil is very slippery which is good especially if you make heavily pigmented paints like Doak, however it makes a realtively weak paint film, and dries real slow.

You also asked about adding damar. It will speed up the drying time since damar dries by evaportion. A small amount won't hurt anything. I think most people do use a bit in mediums just to make the paint flow a little better. Take a look at some of the old Dutch still life painters, especially the florals. I'd bet the farm that there is a large amount of resins used in those to hasten drying.

[Marcus Lim]

Hi Michele,
Any chance you'll be keen to experiment how it'll be like to mix Cremnitz and Titanium White together?

[Kimberly Dow]

Originally Posted by Richard Budig

Generally speaking, flake white is a faster dryer than are the other whites.

That's not been my experience. I've always found flake to be the slower dryer, much slower than titanium or zinc.

[Michele Rushworth]

Kim, what brand of flake/titaniuim/zinc were you using. As I found with the Grumbacher flake white, not all flakes dry quickly!