Whites

[Debra Norton]

I've signed up for a landscape workshop in July. I have a question about the whites on the paint list. We're supposed to get Permalba or mixing white. I've never used either one of these and was wondering if anyone can tell me the difference between the two. The only whites I've used are cremnitz and titanium.
Thanks,
Debra

[Garth Herrick]

I have discovered I actually have a tube of Permalba White. It must date back to the 1950's. I can't get it open!

Garth

[Claudemir Bonfim]

Mixed white is simply a mixture of both titanium and zinc pigments, the result is similar to the creamy, smooth, opaque, consistent permalba white.

John Howard Sanden uses the Permalba White and so did Sargent, if you visit http://portraitinstitute.com/promix.htm item "C" reads:

"Permalba White is preferred by artists for its delightful "buttery" consistency and "flowing" qualities. "

Some artists in Europe use the artichoke white, it because artichoke and permalba white are very consistent and never yellow with age.

Hope it helps.

[Debra Norton]

Thank you Claudemir, that does help.

And Garth, my oldest paint goes back to the early 70s. Too bad I didn't really learn to use it way back then!
Debra

[Alexandra Tyng]

I'm wondering how Permalba White compares to Titanium. There must be a lot of people on the Forum who have used both and can tell me. I am happily using Titanium white because it stays the same after it dries. In the distant past I tried other whites and was surprised at how they darkened after drying, so that the value I painted was no longer correct hours later.

What kind of white(s) do you use and why?

[Richard Bingham]

Just my humble opinion, but when you sign up to study with someone whose work you admire, you'll get the most from the course by complying with their request for specific materials.

Although Martin F. Weber has been in business making paint since the 1850's, Sargent had only four years of life left to enjoy "Permalba" when it was introduced in 1921.

It's a proprietary mix of pigments based on titanium white. It's a bit transparent, which indicates zinc white, and the handling character no doubt owes to pigment additives, perhaps blanc fixe. It's a useful, pleasant-working "mixing white".

Safflower oil is the vehicle, and the paint comes in a plastic "bladder" tube like toothpaste nowadays . . . both of which I find annoying.

[David Clemons]

It's my dream to find a perfect white that isn't tinted somehow either yellow or bluish. Holbein has a good selection of whites that include some made with barium or strontium, as well as the other types. Their Ceramic White is made with stontium titanate and seems like the best behaved of the ones I've tried. The oil is poppy, but they also have a foundation white with linseed oil.

[Sharon Knettell]

Thanks David,

I was wondering about that ceramic white. Is it soft or rather stiff. Just how bright white is it?

I have been using www.studioproducts.com Optical White recently. It apparently had silicon nanospheres in it. It does not grey the colors like the standard white and makes really luminous skint-ones. The color does not sink in when it dries. It is absolutely wonderful in reds, they lighten up without becoming ashen.

I was surprised at how loose the paint is. I was used to a stiffer texture. The softness of it is a blending delight. It meshes one subtle tone into another without the use of a feathering brush. It has really helped me with my heads.

Love the stuff.

[David Clemons]

The ceramic white is a good tinter with some opacity, similar to a titanium/zinc blend I suppose. Definitely not stiff. I've been curious about the nano-white from SP, but I've got so many tubes now I should paint a few polar bears in a snow storm to use them up first.