Which white? Titanium, Zinc, Flake and mixing whites explained

Every white raises value, lowers chroma and cools the mix, but by different amounts. Titanium does all three hard: a little Titanium turns Alizarin into a pastel pink. Zinc does all three gently: the same amount of Zinc leaves a translucent, still-saturated crimson. For high-chroma tints (a bright pink, a clear sky) Zinc or a mixing white gives a cleaner result; for covering and for the chalky lights of a face Titanium is what you want.

Because white is such a large share of light mixes, the brand and type of white change recipes as much as any color does. When we calibrated the PaintMixLab engine, a set’s white was fitted from painted ladders like any other tube, and the Winton recipes use Soft Mixing White, Flake White Hue, Zinc White or Titanium White depending on which gives the closest match:

Sky BlueRecipe by paint setPeachRecipe by paint setCreamRecipe by paint setLavenderRecipe by paint setLight Skin ToneRecipe by paint set

White cools, so a light warm color needs help: a little Lemon or Cadmium Yellow with the white for sunlit surfaces, a little Yellow Ochre for skin, a touch of Naples Yellow (a pre-mixed warm white) for both. Naples Yellow is the painter’s answer to “white that does not go chalky”.

• Buy the big tube of white. Running out mid-mix is the usual reason a value drifts.
• Keep two piles: a Titanium for opaque lights and a Zinc or mixing white for tints and glazes.
• Add white in half-parts and recheck; it is the easiest paint to overshoot with.
• Do not use Zinc alone for thick impasto; it cracks. Titanium or a blend is safer for anything built up.

In a recipe, white is a part like any other: “6 : 5 : 1” with six parts white is a different color from the same two pigments at 10 : 5 : 1. The measuring guide covers how to keep the white part honest; small errors in white show more than errors in any other ingredient.