{"id":680,"date":"2013-01-04T17:06:31","date_gmt":"2013-01-04T22:06:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/?p=680"},"modified":"2013-02-19T15:12:25","modified_gmt":"2013-02-19T20:12:25","slug":"white-paint-in-praise-of-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2013\/01\/white-paint-in-praise-of-lead\/","title":{"rendered":"White Paint–in Praise of Lead"},"content":{"rendered":"

The most important color–by far–is white.  White oil paint comes in three flavors:<\/p>\n

Zinc white<\/strong> (zinc oxide, PW4, usually called Chinese White when used in watercolors).  Although known from ancient times, its common usage is relatively modern, dating from the 18th century when it was developed as a replacement for lead white, which was long known to be toxic.  Unfortunately,  it’s now well established<\/a> that zinc white quickly becomes unacceptably brittle and can even peel and fall off paintings.  For this reason and others I won’t use it in oil paintings.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/span>In the Studio Oct. 14 2012<\/span><\/a><\/div>

Titanium white<\/strong> (titanium dioxide, PW6) became widely available for artistic use in the early 20th century.  Titanium white is the most opaque and covering white.  Because of that and because of its cool (blue-gray) tone, it appears garish unless used sparingly.  Some artists combat the cold tone by mixing a small amount of  a warm color, such as raw umber or raw sienna,  into it before painting.<\/p>\n

By itself, titanium dioxide forms a spongy skin that is unsuitable for artistic use.  Manufacturers, therefore, mix zinc oxide or some inert material into their paint.  Quality varies widely, so do your homework.  Finally, while some claim heath risks with its use, at this time none of the claims have been reliably confirmed.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/span>Smooth Move—Smooth Painting Surfaces<\/span><\/a><\/div>

Flake<\/strong> or Cremnitz<\/strong> white (carbonate of lead).  Flake white has been used by artists from the dawn of time and it is still the best white today.  It’s less opaque than titanium white (a good thing!) and has none of zinc white’s problems.  Additionally, flake white is a natural drier.  This in itself makes flake white the King of Whites.  Not only is the rapid drying of oil paint important in itself, drying agents affect oil paints in a fundamental way, imparting  precision and ease of use at the same time.  This last point is important enough to me that I don’t use anything but flake\/cremnitz white.<\/p>\n

So what’s the problem?  The problem is that flake white is poisonous.  Care must be taken when using it (I don’t grind my own oil colors because I don’t want to worry about powdered lead white).  Painters have been using it from the dawn of time, like I said, and it can be used reliably with a bit of care and common sense–don’t smoke or drink when painting and wash your hands after use.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/span>In the Studio—10\/28\/12<\/span><\/a><\/div>

Another problem, related to the one just described, is that because of health risks many manufacturers have stopped making it.  Blockx, a high-end manufacturer, no longer makes it.  Luckily, many smaller, American manufacturers, such as Willamsburg<\/a>, Blue Ridge<\/a>, Doak<\/a>, and Rublev<\/a>, have taken advantage of this opportunity by filling the void with their own hand-crafted paints .  I enthusiastically support all of them.<\/p>\n

Finally, be aware that many paint makers offer paints called flake or cremnitz white that actually don’t contain any lead.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/span>Hurricane Sandy<\/span><\/a><\/div>

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Read more<\/span>Thumbs-up: van Ruisdael; Thumbs-down: Renoir<\/span><\/a><\/div>

 <\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The most important color–by far–is white.  White oil paint comes in three flavors: Zinc white (zinc oxide, PW4, usually called Chinese White when used in watercolors).  Although known from ancient times, its common usage is relatively modern, dating from the 18th century when it was developed as a replacement for lead white, which was long known to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[24,113,1],"tags":[105,99],"class_list":["post-680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shop_talk","category-tips_tricks","category-uncategorized","tag-flake-white","tag-oil-paint"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10820,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2022\/08\/titanium-white\/","url_meta":{"origin":680,"position":0},"title":"Titanium white","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"August 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"In the past, I trolled titanium white users--zinc white users too. These whites, inferior as they are, provide the only competition for the champion of oil-paint white, lead white. Actually, it isn't even a contest; lead white wins easily on every metric that matters: blending, body, and all-around handling. Titanium\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "materials"","block_context":{"text":"materials","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/materials\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/ti-white1.jpg?fit=800%2C467&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/ti-white1.jpg?fit=800%2C467&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/ti-white1.jpg?fit=800%2C467&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/ti-white1.jpg?fit=800%2C467&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11445,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2022\/10\/the-problem-with-blended-commercial-oil-paint\/","url_meta":{"origin":680,"position":1},"title":"The problem with blended commercial oil paint","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"October 19, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The ideal palette consists entirely of single-pigment colors. Such an ideal palette provides artists with total control over values and tones. This is especially important for artists, like me, who use lead white. These days, even high-end brands use titanium white in their multi-pigment colors. Old Holland, for example, uses\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "materials"","block_context":{"text":"materials","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/materials\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/pal-a.jpg?fit=1000%2C587&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/pal-a.jpg?fit=1000%2C587&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/pal-a.jpg?fit=1000%2C587&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/pal-a.jpg?fit=1000%2C587&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9671,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2021\/07\/blue-ridges-cremintz-white\/","url_meta":{"origin":680,"position":2},"title":"Blue Ridge’s cremintz white","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"July 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The brands I use most often for the all-import flake white are RGH, Blue Ridge, and Utrecht. I crossed Utrecht off the list after discovering that they've added zinc to their Flemish white. 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Cranfield is a British\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Grumpy review"","block_context":{"text":"Grumpy review","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/grumpy-review\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/cranfield1.jpg?fit=800%2C536&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/cranfield1.jpg?fit=800%2C536&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/cranfield1.jpg?fit=800%2C536&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/cranfield1.jpg?fit=800%2C536&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7533,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2017\/12\/turpentine-diaries-12-17-17\/","url_meta":{"origin":680,"position":5},"title":"Turpentine diaries 12\/17\/17","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"December 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I feel like Sisyphus.\u00a0The batch of paintings that are working me over are\u00a0all in mid-flight.\u00a0 I keep rolling the rock uphill but I haven't reached or even seen the crest of the hill.\u00a0 Not only that, I've fallen backward\u00a0with some of them--bah. 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