Selecting a white in the R&F color line

To follow up our recent post on selecting a black from the R&F color line, it only makes sense to take a closer look at our whites. We produce many options in white. Our chromatic whites are pale tints with subtlety. They include Brilliant Yellow Extra Pale, Scarlet Extra Pale, and Sienna Yellow Extra Pale. You’ll find them in both of our paint lines. We, of course, make several other whites. In encaustic, there is Titanium White, Neutral White, and Unbleached Titanium, and in Pigment Stick® Neutral White, Titanium-Zinc White, and Unbleached Titanium.

Titanium White (encaustic only)

Titanium White is the whitest, brightest, most reflective, and most opaque white in our paint line. It’s the most commonly used white paint in our color line and has good covering power. It mixes well with most other colors, although transparent colors will become much more opaque.

Unbleached Titanium

Made in both color lines, this color gets its brown tint from a tiny percentage of iron oxide that has not been refined out of the rutile ore in making Titanium White. Our Unbleached Titanium is a single pigment off-white color. Next to white or other light colors, it has the look of raw linen. Alongside dark colors, it has a sedate whiteness that does not pop.

Titanium-Zinc White (Pigment Stick®)

Our Titanium-Zinc White is made of 70% Titanium Dioxide, and 30% Zinc Oxide. This combination takes advantage of the hiding power of the warm Titanium with the clean tinting properties of cooler Zinc. Titanium-Zinc White is better for color-mixing than pure Titanium and will require less color to tint.

Neutral White

Neutral White is made in both of our color lines. With spectrum colors it looks white but does not tend to "pop" out like Titanium. It has a calmer and more reserved presence. It's a perfect warm white to use next to a vibrant color palette for a moment of pause, but it’s not the best mixing white.