Quick Tip 458 - Transparent White

[@querenstewart9944]

I painted a white and black terrier in a painting and it had a lot of soft purple and blue and green within the white area ,when the rest of the painting was done the white of the dog needed to be brighter and lighter but I had done all that colour work and did not want to lose it. So I used the transparent white and it goes on transparent and white but dries more transparent so I had to do a lot more layers each layer getting smaller as each layer was needing smaller highlights. The overall finish was amazing. Also good for lightening transparent glazes Thanks again Sheila

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Thanks for sharing that, Sheila.

[@PatIreland-tw9lr]

Thank you, Dianne! This “transparent white” thing was a rather opaque subject, which I’ve always found rather foggy. (No need to get the hook. I can find my own way out…) Happy New Year!! 🎉🎉 Here’s wishing everyone all the best for 2024. 🎉🎉🎉

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

And Happy New Year from us to you.

[@MsVivian99]

Really interesting!, I didn’t even know there was transparent whites. That misty look is very effective . Thankyou!

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

My pleasure.

[@darylgraf9460]

Thank you so much for this very informative tip. I'm grateful for the effort that you put into your videos. Please keep up the great work. It is deeply appreciated.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Have fun with these ideas.

[@europeanroyalty4778]

In my experience transparent white doesn't leave my colours as chalky as opaque white.I find it very useful.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Thanks for sharing!

[@belindahall5220]

Im glad to know about this! Thanks Dianne😊

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

You are so welcome!

[@ricardoflummiremus]

Super Good Tutorial!! Thank you very much, also 25% is like 1 fourth so in total one of 4 parts. 1 part gel means 3 parts are left… I think you figured it out already, but still don’t discredit yourself, I find life is already challenging enough, we should strive to compliment us more, especially when one didn’t do smt totally wrong. Cheers and happy new year!

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

I really was teasing a bit although I agree that lifting ourselves up is a lot more healthy being self-critical.

[@mrsnrub9780]

Rembrandt list PW6 and PW4 on their website for the Transparent White - so it's a mix out of titanium and zinc. PW5 (Lithopone) is sometimes used in these situations to create transparency, but PW5 is usually brought in as an extender for lake pigments. The question is what proportion of titanium, zinc and safflower oil is in Rembrandt's mix - because that's where the real mystery is, and where the art of paint making comes in. Milling a pigment is one thing, what you do with it to influence its properties is another. Titanium and zinc is a good combination - and with the smallest touch of yellow ochre you can mimic the qualities of lead white. The concerns surrounding zinc's brittle paint film become obsolete, as the titanium pigment will strengthen the mix (I'm not convinced zinc is as problematic as they say, I still use it daily, to raise values and control chroma.) Anyway, that's enough stodgy reading for one day.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Thanks for this additional information.

[@didymusIsrael]

Hi Dianne, I saw a few short KZbin videos from you, and you'll likely be teaching Art (and still somewhat learning) in Heaven... because you have Angel's characteristics... God bless you, and may He give you divine revelation of Heavenly Art 🎨 ✨️

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

My goodness! Thanks for that!

[@asdasx392]

Coincidentally, I just watched a video where the instructor said she only uses transparent white because opaque white is too chalky. I have some and was going to try it with portraits to boost highlights where my highlights aren't light enough, but not sure how well that works. Following up on the fog idea, maybe use it for cigarette smoke

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

The best way to discover what any tube color will do is to experiment with it. The issue of chalkiness when mixing with opaque whites is not just the opaqueness of white, but also the hues that are mixed with it as well as the colors surrounding it in the painting.

[@carolynzolas3314]

Great video. Had no idea about transparent white- Thanks!

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Glad it was helpful!

[@SnkobArts]

Regarding Gamblin's recommendation for their gel medium: The reason for the 25%, or 1/4, ratio by volume is the integrity of the paint film. Think of a dried paint film to be like a brick wall, the pigment particles being the bricks and the oil binder the mortar in the analogy. When you add a medium like a gel medium, it's the same as adding more mortar. You add too much and you get a brittle/weak paint film. This is why solvents are used in glazing mediums because you use less oil to achieve the transparency as the solvent evaporates away. However, the best way to achieve transparency without solvents or sacrificing your paint film's durability is through the use of extender pigments like chalk, barite or crystalline silica by way of paste mediums.

[@SnkobArts]

Paste mediums are functionally colorless paint (usually an off-white or buff color in masstone but disappearing when mixed into paint), so you can dilute colors as much as you need. Only minor considerations needing to be accounted for, such as, yellowing, light-fastness of some pigments, and the tendency of dark colors' value to rise a notch or two when diluted extensively. Some examples of paste mediums are Williamsburg's Extender Medium (barite and marble dust in linseed), and Rublev's Velasquez Medium (chalk/calcite in linseed stand oil). Alternatively, hobby store brands of student grade paints have absurd amounts of extender pigments in them and can be used to increase the transparency of "actual" paints.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Thanks for this additional information.

[@korukiwiarts]

I really enjoyed your tutorial. Thanks

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

You are welcome! Thanks for watching.

[@jondoh587]

7:45 Instructions and directions? nah, just recommendations and suggestions, right? 😂 (At least that's how I treat 'em.) 😁 I like your take, Dianne, in calling it being "adventuresome".

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

All the Tips are suggestions-- ideas for folks to try.

[@TheObSeRvErTheObSeRv]

EXCELLENT TUT....Thank You.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Glad you liked it

[@zsuzsiwinn9786]

Thank you for the video. It is very helpful. I am lately into foggy landscape scenes. Would you suggest to use this transparent white for alla prima? I saw one artist, Sarah McKensdry. She creates foggy paintings using wet on wet, but she doesn’t use transparent white at all. I want to create and finish oil painting in one shot. Is this possible?

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

My gauge for which colors to use depends upon my observation of the scene and the characteristics of my tube colors that will best give me that for alla prima. If transparency is what you need, the transparent white might work, but painting fog depends on observing the degree of value contrast how much hue is visible--along with observation of what the fog is doing to edges. See Quick Tip 133.

[@mysterymccarthy6851]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

You're welcome!

[@guitalelefan]

Thank you for this great lesson!!! I'm curious...the thinning medium for the Genesis Heat-set oils also recommends not using more than 25%. If too much is used, the paint won't dry correctly. Could this be the reason for the gel amount recommendation??

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

The issue is more about the integrity of the paint. I'm not familiar with Heat-set oils so I can't address that with any honesty.

[@williammatthews4491]

Thank you Diane. Very interesting.Would using a transparent colour be preferable to opaque colour when using with the transparent white oil?

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

William, it all depends upon the degree of transparency you want for the color you are mixing.

[@williammatthews4491]

thank you,Diane. @@IntheStudioArtInstruction

[@fsll1575]

Always interesting quick tips. I do have a question and like to see a quick tip about it. I noticed, you rarely used black paint in your process in colour mixing, but you did used black once in other quick tip mixed with veridian and white to do mountain in the back ground. Since black has been part of pallet of masters in the past (ex.: zorn pallet), how can we used the property of black in colour mixing?

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Black used to modify a hue or to stand in for a hue (Zorn) makes it a worthy companion to other colors, but to be used exclusively for lowering the value of a hue only dulls the hue.

[@mcl5473]

Merci Diane vous êtes une personne précieuse !

[@jaimehernandelgadoquintero4539]

Gracias

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

My pleasure.

[@pamelabritton1230]

Wonder how this technique (if possible) would translate to acrylics?

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

That I do not know since I don't paint with acrylics, but if a transparent white is available in acrylics, why not experiment with it and find out.

[@pamelabritton1230]

Sounds like a good idea.@@IntheStudioArtInstruction

[@Lalupin464]

One of the great things about acrylics is that you can mix in as much medium as you want. Creat transparent white by adding a lot of acrylic medium.

[@jondoh587]

Just like in oils, try zinc white for acrylic. It might also be labelled as "mixing white". The pigment for zinc white might be PW4 or PW7, depending on the manufacturer (zinc oxide vs zinc sulphide). For the tubes of acrylic that I own (Grumbacher Academy and Amsterdam Standard), zinc white is definitely less opaque compared to titanium white.

[@laurawalker546]

Why not use a bit of a transparent green, or transparent yellow and blue with the transparent white??

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

That is also an option.

[@katt8536]

I’m wondering here with all of you if anyone who paid for instructions had a problem with advancing from the first step to the next. I did the first paid tutorial and uploaded the task for colors but it would not advance to the next step so I quit after a couple of tries. Maybe it’s me. Any insight anyone? I dropped the subscription after two months.

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Are you referring to the Academy courses? Did you ask for support from the team? We have many students taking the courses, but none have reported having a problem advancing. Please email [e-mail] and describe to him which course and where you ran into this problem. Thanks, Dianne

[@kdjleon]

The 25% rule is so they don’t fall apart over time .. not enough bonding to the canvas

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

Thanks.

[@senizmcmullen484]

Would it make non-chalky pinks from reds?

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

For the most part, yes, but the chalky-ness is also either enhance or reduced by colors surrounding a mixture.

[@senizmcmullen484]

@@IntheStudioArtInstruction How do the surrounding colors effect chalky-ness?

[@larryburgess4816]

Wouldn't a white glaze do the same thing?

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

It depends upon how finely ground the pigment is of the white used in the glaze.

[@pearlshifer1776]

I thought you were going to talk about Rembrandt van Rijn LOL

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

😊

[@GnaReffotsirk]

Calcium carbonate

[@IntheStudioArtInstruction]

According to the Royal Talens website, the transparent white oil paint is based on safflower oil and contains titanium white pigment .