The Artist's Road Painting the World's Beautiful Places

White

"the representative of light"


Mrs. Frederick Barnard      1885      John Singer Sargent

“The first of all single colors is white . . .

We shall set down white for the representative of light,

without which no color can be seen;

yellow for the earth; green for water; blue for air;

red for fire; and black for total darkness.”

                                                                  - Leonardo da Vinci

   The white paint that is so essential in our palettes is white because it reflects light. It reflects most light rays away from itself leaving what has been thought of over the centuries as the purest of colors. The most used white oil paint throughout history also poisoned artists, women who used makeup containing it, workers in the factories producing it and those living in homes painted with it. Lead White poisoned through ingestion, inhalation and absorption into the skin. Still, it was used massively for centuries.

   Lead White artists' pigment can still be found (and used with certain precautions), but not necessarily through the major art paint manufacturers. Lead White was banned in the United States from commercial paints in the 1970s. Artists' paints, however, were excluded from the ban. Because commercial applications for lead paint were no longer legal, the major manufacturers of Lead White paint for industry stopped making it. These producers were often the same ones who manufactured the pigment for the smaller art market. Without economy of scale, affordable Lead White oil paint became less available and more expensive.

   Artists, also, became more aware of the toxicity of Lead White (and other pigments) lowering the demand for it. However many artists still extol the superior handling, warmth, opacity and fast drying time of Lead White and feel that it can never be replaced by other whites.

  
The ability to make very subtle tints when mixing Lead White with other colors is cited as one of its irreproducible qualities (as seen in this detail of a self portrait by Rembrandt.

 
     Lead White is also known commonly as Flake White or Cremnitz White, (although the list of alternate names is long— Biacca, Ceruse, Dutch White, Flemish White, French White, Krems White, London White, Nottingham White, Roman White, Silver White, Slate White).

   There is evidence of Lead White having been manufactured as early as 2300 B.C. in Anatolia. The process to create it involved putting lead stripes in a pot over another pot filled with vinegar. The pots were later covered with manure and left for ninety days. The vinegar fumes reacted with the lead to form lead acetate. The fermenting manure let off carbon dioxide which reacted with the acetate turning it into the flakey white lead carbonate which was in turn ground into powder for pigment.

The White Mantle                          1906                               Willard Metcalf

   It was not a secret that Lead White was dangerous, causing fever, vomiting, shortness of breath, pain, blindness and death. Its use continued, however. The painters who ground it into powder for pigments were said to suffer from "painter's colic."

   One of the more harrowing chapters in its long history is that of its use in makeup. Women's overdoses of makeup made with lead were seen from the mid 1700s through the 1800s. Laird's "Bloom of Youth" foundation makeup, among others, was sold in the 1870s. Its main ingredient was Lead White. Perhaps the most noted story is that of British society belle, Maria Gunning, the Countess of Coventry, who died in 1760 at the age of 27. Known for her great beauty, Gunning used excessive amounts of a makeup made from lead white. Her husband, the Earl of Coventry, was aware of the dangers and tried to persuade her to stop her use of the makeup to no avail. She died after going mad (another effect caused by lead poisoning).

Old Holland Flake White (lead) Color Swatch

   Painters still report the superior handling of Lead White over other white pigments, citing its retention of brush stroke and ability to create subtle value changes when mixed with other colors. Its faster drying time makes its use in underpaintings valuable. That being noted, Lead White is still available with strong cautions attached to its use and disposal. (Lead paint, the tubes it was in and any rags, etc. used with it are considered hazardous waste and by law, must be disposed of at a hazardous waste site.)

Mother                              1895                             Joaquin Sorolla

   Williamsburg Handmade Oil Paints (now owned by Golden Artist Colors, Inc.) manufactures a lead-based Flake White. RGH Artist Oil Paints in Albany, NY. manufactures several different lead-based Whites. Old Holland in Driebergen (the Netherlands) also offers Flake White. 

   Winsor and Newton's Flake White Hue is a mix of Titanium and Zinc Whites as is Dick Blick's Flake White Hue. Gamblin offers a Flake White Replacement, along with several other whites, which are based on Titanium White.

   Rembrandt Oil Paints offers their Titanium White with either a Linseed or a Safflower oil base. Linseed oil whites are warmer; safflower oil whites are cooler in color. In general, whites made with Linseed oil dry faster than those made with Safflower or other oils.

Old Holland Titanium White Color Swatch

   Titanium White is the most used substitute for Lead White. Titanium has a strong opacity and tinting strength. It is cooler in temperature than Lead White. Its high tinting value can be considered a drawback when mixing with other colors in an attempt to lighten values only slightly. It dries more slowly than Lead White. It is considered non-toxic (unless inhaled as fine pigment dust particles).

Peony Close-Up                                                © A. Trusty

   Titanium dioxide was first discovered in 1821, but was not mass produced until 1916. In 1921 an American manufacturer created the first Titanium White pigment suitable for use as an artist's paint. Titanium is the ninth most abundant element in the Earth's crust. Its name was supposedly taken from the Titans—the six elder gods in Greek mythology, sons of Heaven and Earth, who ruled the early cosmos. The powdered form of titanium dioxide is added to many products providing whiteness and opacity to plastics, food and cosmetics and most toothpastes.

Old Holland Zinc White Color Swatch

   Zinc White is a transparent white pigment valuable for use in glazes and in scumbling. It has one-tenth the tinting strength of Titantium White and is the coolest of the whites. It began to be used in watercolor in 1834, called Chinese White. By 1844 it was produced as an oil paint. Because the only other significant white pigment used until this time had been Lead White, the less toxic Zinc began to be used. However, one of the problems that came with heavy use of Zinc Oxide was its brittleness, as can be seen in the cracking of some of the old masters' works. Because of this, some pigment manufacturers do not recommend using Zinc White as a primary white in paintings particularly done on flexible supports. It has great permanence and lightfastness, but is moderately toxic. It dries more slowly than Titanium White. Alternate names for Zinc White are Chinese White, French White, Permanent White, Silver White, Snow White, Zinc Oxide.

A Comparison of Brush Strokes in Titanium White (left) and Zinc White (right)

   Artist pigment manufacturers often offer a selection of whites from Cool White (with an addition of blue) to Quick Dry White and mixes of Titanium-Zinc Whites. Be sure to check the pigment information to find out exactly what the pigment is made from.