The Quest for the Perfect White

[Michele Rushworth]

I'd been thinking that the perfect white oil paint didn't exist. I wanted one that was a good clean white, easily brushable and fast drying (but not an alkyd -- I don't trust those newfangled ingredients!) I don't know anything about lead dryers or how to use them so that wasn't part of my equation.

This probably was going to mean flake white and that's okay since I don't eat the stuff, so I'm not worried about the lead. However the flake whites I tried in the past were way too stiff. If I added linseed oil to make them more brushable the drying time got too long and I was back to where I started.

I also wanted a white that didn't necessarily have zinc in it since it sounds like that makes for an inferior paint film and seems to be used as just an inexpensive filler ingredient by some manufacturers.

So I did a test. I bought seven different whites and tried them out. I brushed a square of each white on a small canvas, and wrote down what happened. I also made note of the weather since that affects drying time. The high each day was about 60 degrees and it was cloudy most of the week. (Hey, it's Seattle!)

Here are the results I got:

-- Winsor Newton, Titanium White, contains zinc, took 1 full week to dry, nice clean bright white, too slow to dry for me, though.

-- Winsor Newton, Flake White #1, contains zinc, a little stiffer, less brushable than the Titanium White, took four days to dry.

-- Winsor Newton, Flake White #2, contains zinc, may no longer be available, I had an old tube but couldn't find it online or in stores, took three days to dry. More brushable, slightly warmer in color than the W/N titanium white.

-- Daniel Smith Titanium White, no zinc, took almost a week to dry.

-- Grumbacher Flake White, contains zinc. Awful stuff! Dried very yellow, almost like a Naples Yellow, took well over a week to dry! I'll never use this paint again.

-- Blockx Flake White, lead white with no zinc, is quite purple however, not a clean white. Took four days to dry.

And the winner is.......

-- Winsor Newton Cremnitz White, is a pure lead white with no zinc, dried in a day and a half ( ! ), nice clean bright white, and was quite brushable.

Anyway, thought you might be interested in my little study. Your results may vary, depending on the weather and how thickly you brush the paint on.

[Carlos Ygoa]

Michelle,

Thanks for taking the trouble to the the comparative study. I'm sure it will be quite helpful to all of us. I will take your findings into consideration, remembering the differences in ambient humidity ("the rain in Spain...").
I am quite surprised about the availability of lead white over there. It is practically impossible to find here (commercially, in tubes). One would have to buy the powdered pigment and make it oneself in the studio. I recently combed practically the whole city to look for lead white (as a primer and in tubes) but no luck. So I found myself in a tiny family run shop (one of the few handed down from generation to generation) where they still make their own colours and tried out a few. One of them was titanium white ground in walnut oil and I found it to be quite a good, brilliant, full bodied white. I don't think it contains zinc, although I will have to confirm this with the man. Which leads me to my question:
What is the deal with walnut oil? I have read that it used to be used in the old days as a linseed oil substitute to grind white pigments because of their non-yellowing properties, and that it is a drying oil, but does it take longer to dry than linseed?
Also, are you adverse to cobalt drier mixed in with the medium to quicken drying? If so, why? I am still quite new to cobalt drier and would like to hear from you or anyone else who may have more experience. I ask this since you mentioned you were in search of a white that dried quickly without being alkyd. I have also found that a couple of drops of damar varnish in my medium also quickens drying. Have you tried this, or am I doing something potentially wrong?
Thanks for taking the time.
Carlos

[Michele Rushworth]

I don't know much about walnut oil or cobalt drier. I do know that resins like damar will darken and yellow over time, but maybe with a tiny quantity it's not much of an issue.

As far as getting whites with lead in them in Spain, can you order the same stuff over the internet as I do? (From websites like www.aswexpress.com or www.trekell.net for example?)

[Kimberly Dow]

Wow - a flake white that dried in a day and a half - Im ordering some asap!

Thanks Michele.

[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.