How to Use White Watercolor Paint & Make Pastel Colors
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- Опубліковано 15 жов 2024
- How do you use white watercolor paint? It's a question I've had over and over throughout the years, and the answer can vary depending on the end-use. Watercolor purists say white is taboo and, like blacks and browns, should not be used. To me, limiting my options is no fun and painting in watercolor, for me, is all about fun! Painting on tinted paper or painting white on black is just one use. For me, I use white watercolor paint as an underpainting or primer to paint over and get some terrific effects. I also use white watercolor paint and gouache for highlight accents on finished work. But, my favorite use for white is to make pastel colors. Find out more, here!
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GEAR:
• Legion Stonehenge hotpress 300lb watercolor paper
• Varying brushes (Isabey, Leow-Cornell, Princeton, Pentel waterbrush)
• Black matting board
• Prismacolor Premiere & Scholar colored pencils
• Daniel Smith Chinese White watercolor
• Windsor & Newton Zinc White gouache
• Reeves White gouache
• Reeves White watercolor
• Crayola White watercolor
• M. Graham Dioxazine Purple watercolor
• Schmincke Blue Violet watercolor
• Daniel Smith Carbozale Violet watercolor
• Daniel Smith Hansa Yellow watercolor
• Daniel Smith Pyrrole Red watercolor
• Daniel Smith Sap Green watercolor
• Daniel Smith Phthalo Blue watercolor
• Daniel Smith Cadmium Orange watercolor
The intent of my channel is to bring videos of useful content to help fellow artists and art students with insightful information, as well as bring consumers real-world reviews on the products we're likely to buy and use every day.
I'm always grateful for feedback to help improve my channel, so please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
Thank you for your support and time watching! Cheers! ~ Mark
A rebel like me,lol. I was trained in classical watercolor many years ago and we were taught the same, never use white, black or browns, you could achieve all these without premised colors, which we know is true. Using white gouache or paint especially was verboten and for many years I adhered strctily to all the rules. I got away from watercoloring for a long time and explored other mediums. This past fall I became drawn back to watercolors and have found my style is changing and I no longer follow the rules. I always keep a tube of Chinese white paint or gouache, I use it like you do to make pastel colors when I am making something with pastel colors. I also use white for highlights. I'm getting too old and worn out to worry about the rules, I don't teach, I no longer sell and I live with chronic pain so I need to do fun stuff where I just let myself play, it's actually improved my painting! Sorry for the novella but this video struck a note with me. God bless you 🤗
Heh. I honestly want to know who made up the rules. I mean... you don't pick up only primaries when you are going to paint your living room. "Aw. I can just MIX that lovely shade of teal. Why actually buy it." LOL. I mean you certainly can have a more compact pallette when you are only using primaries for mixing! and that is super awesome. And it's best to know how to mix all those browns and greens and such. And I LOVE mixing. But to say it's somehow 'wrong' to use a tube of green or brown... I donno. Sounds kind of uppity. Or maybe I'm just a rebel too. :)
@@Chill1332 Painting walls and Fine Art are two different things.
Chilly Studios l
I just realized in the opening screen, the title makes no sense! LOL! "How to use for white watercolor?" Sorry about that typo, as it should read, "How to Use White Watercolor," period. Of course, as it is, it does have a lovely Yoda-like quality to it. Cheers and thanks for watching! :)
@the bridges yeah, it's silly. In an older video of mine, I build a watercolor set and I got some wild feedback about "why would you put white in your set?" I laughed, dismissing it, because while I know why I like it there, other folks don't. And that's okay, too! ;)
@@MDCampbell Purists are rarely pure in their techniques. You want a REALLY "pure" technique? First, toss out watercolors. Second, get fast drying acrylics, only transparent colors, no white or pastel colors or opaque colors allowed.
Then, get unsized paper or even blotter paper and paint. NO friskit allowed either. How can you be pure if you use friskit or anything to reserve your whites?
Now for serious thoughts, since I take no "purists" seriously. Transparent paint on paper has many wonderful effects, but few papers I've run across are going to stay as white as either watercolor/gouache whites or acrylic whites. Depending on most papers to stay a brilliant white is gambling; archival art is enough of a gamble as is. If an artist prefers off white whites, fine. Do that as much as you want and leave the artists who want brilliant white effects alone.
Colors mixed with white are different from glazed colors. M.D. Campbell showed us that in this video. I will use glazes AND tints whenever it pleases me. Any artist can get way more effects using glazes and white tints than with either alone. If an artist wants to train themselves by limiting what they use and even prefer it, I'm super fine with that. I do that myself quite often.
I feel the same way about blacks. I can mix my own and often do, but no mixture that does not use black can substitute for carbon or mars black if full opacity is needed for fine details. I often use such detailing, so I use what is necessary for my art.
It's hilarious to me that so many watercolor teachers rant on till they're blue in the face about getting only single pigment colors, but say don't buy browns and blacks because you can mix your own. You can also substitute greens and oranges or whatever secondary colors you want in that previous statement and be correct. I can go on and on about how single pigment colors often have multi pigment properties. Don't believe me? Get pigments made with minerals, like Daniel Smith's Primatek watercolors and get specimens of PY 43 and PR 102 and experiment. You'll find out pigments can be insane in the possible variations you can make with those pigments. That insanity can be used for many wonderful and wild effects.
@@dynomax101 that has to be one of the most well written and gripping replies I've ever received - thank you for taking your valuable time to reply so thoughtfully. Clearly, you're passionate, which I really appreciate. I've often wondered when the school of thought came to be that dismissing certain techniques, tools, habits, or products from the pursuit of creative exploration actually became a "thing?" I'm sure old master-types had firm beliefs, but that was a long time ago. I find it bizarre that people, today, cling to such antiquated ways instead of just enjoying what's available. I mean, would I rather be writing this on my computer or on a piece of paper with a feather pen by candlelight? lol! Cheers and thank you so much. Great reading, right there! :)
@@MDCampbell Thank you very much!
😳 🤯 *I have **_so many_** tubes of white stowed away after setting them aside from the kits that I've bought in the past, and now I'm about to have **_so many_** new pastel watercolors! Sweet!!* 😄👍
That's awesome, She Who Knows All! Enjoy enjoy enjoy! :)
What an interesting video, Mark! I fully agree that colors mixed with white are different than just diluting them with water, which may or may not be what someone is looking for. I had never heard of the white underpaintings, but I use white all the time for my final highlights. In most cases I like the effect of white being on top of my other colors more so than saving the white of the paper for small details.
At first I was excited to hear about Chinese White (PW4) being good for mixing, specifically with gouache, and even picked up a tube... But then I found out that it's very harmful to waterways and that's a deal breaker for me. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this topic!
+In Liquid Color Thank you so much, Denise! In all transparency (ha! watercolor humor!), I rarely do the white underpaintings anymore. It was something I did a lot when I was strictly a gouache painter and airbrush artist 30 years ago. I still use it on occasion when I'm doing either plein air or when I want a more fine art look. As for Chinese White being harmful to waterways, I wasn't aware. I knew of the breakdown of Chinese White in oil paint, but always thought the watercolor version was relatively safe. Would love to know more! Again, thank you for checking this out and your thoughts. I hope you are doing well and will be heading over to your channel to see what's new tomorrow! Cheers! :)
Just a small note: according to handprint.com ( www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/waterw.html#PW4 ), PW4, mixed with some pigments, will get a resulting colour that is not very lightfast, despite both pigments being lightfast. I suspect the same happens with PW6 due to what I know about Cerulean Blue Hue from Van Gogh - PB15/PW6. I believe this details is worth mentioning, at least as "to test", since for some people lightfastness matters.
Chinese white is lead based paint.
The winsor and newton Chinese white is not lead based :) www.winsornewton.com/na/discover/articles-and-inspiration/spotlight-on-chinese-white
@@rynjeff1073 Zinc based. Period. Lead white is rarely used in watercolor.
Neat video Mark! Using white as an underpainting brings back some memories. In gouache illustration we used to call it a white "backer", a term borrowed from printers. Printing bright colors on dark fabrics or paper needed a white "backer" or a solid white shape. Very useful in dark T-shirt printing. I adopted that technique to glaze some very vibrant light colors in certain types of illustration when it needed to be opaque but vibrant rather than pastel. Mixing bright colors with white seemed to only yield pastel shades.
So agree with you about the "rules" of watercolor and using white. I'm weary of it. Thankfully I do think that mind set is becoming rarer in this mixed media art world. I kind of understand the transparent watercolor purist in one sense in that the look of opaque white is quite different and its usually obvious, so as such watercolor loses some of its natural transparent character. When I avoid opaque white I do so with this in mind. All that aside though art "rules" can sometimes be pretty dumb and it should be a considered choice not a "rule" depending on the look you're going for. "Change it up." Wise words my friend!
Thank you for checking this one out, Steve. I still use a backing when printing on darker colored backgrounds. Printing yellow on purple is always going to cause problems, so that white backer is mandatory. Same with dry backs, where the ink can dry lighter on the paper. A white dry back can help keep the color from soaking into the paper. Most times you don't have to tell the service bureau to watch for those things, because they know, but I've had too many jobs come back with bad trapping, funky overlays, and without proper consideration for the effect of ink on dark paper. You and I could go on for hours about this stuff, for sure! lol!! As for the purity aspect, I do agree with you there. But, for the work I do - especially the more stylized cartoonish stuff, having the extra pan in the palette is used enough to justify it. I know plenty of artists who feel the opposite, because it's how they paint, which I totally respect. Anyhow, sorry to go on and on. Thank you again for feeding back. I always appreciate your voice on matters of watercolor! lol! Cheers my friend!! :)
I know that they have their rules they go about. But I e always believe that art is about breaking the rules so to speak, and trying new things and experimenting with new ideas! I fine it hard to understand when some want to limit you in your abilities and your talent. Thank you for this , I absolutely loved it!! I just started working with watercolors in the last year or so. I had always worked with acrylics. And I have tried white watercolor here and there. But found myself trying to stick to what I was being taught in the beginning. Which was using the white of the paper. And then one day I was just like you know what... what’s it gonna hurt!?! It’s my art! And I worked some Chinese white and magenta together and got a beautiful color! I loved it!! So it’s refreshing seeing you posting this as a professional! Again thank you 🙏
I am sincerely thrilled you enjoyed this, but mostly I'm really grateful for your feedback, Julie Peck! Thank you for that. It's always nice to know that the work I do here has some benefit or entertainment value. And that you had that "aha" moment where you mixed white and magenta... well, I totally know that feeling! Stay well and again, thank you! ~ Mark
I like the idea of using white watercolour paint to turn your watercolours in to an almost pastel gouache paint. It’s something I’ll definitely try out. Thanks for sharing the tip. 😊
Thank you, Ruby Buttons! I've been very happy with the small set that I created. Cheers! Mark
I taught myself 4 yrs ago and my first painting was a watercolor and I used white too. I feel white has a purpose just as black does in certain paintings. I’ve heard you don’t need either but you really do or it would have never been made . Thank You this has helped me a lot and I love how the Daniel Smith watercourse has more pigment
What a great award winning video on mixing watercolors with white watercolor.I like to mix watercolors with white, like you say to create "pastels" colors,for me though it creates "gouache" so rich and creamy.
I like to do seascapes,landscapes in abstracts.Lovely creamy pastels.I'm no professional artist I am an amateur and I do this just for pleasure and for stress,I like to paint with music in paint music the way I hear it and I paint my feelings,so fun to do.Thank you again for a awesome presentation.🏆🏆🏆👍
Hi lynn cooper! I'm not sure if the video will win any awards, but your wonderful reply is certainly a huge reward for me! Thank you so much! And I have to say, even though I've been at this for a long time - like you, I also do it just for pleasure and stress, too! lol! Stay well and I really appreciate your kind feedback! ~ Mark
@@MDCampbell you are very welcome sir
THANK YOU! You just saved me a ton of money. I think I can even imitate the 'vintage' pastel colors that are popular now (and that I love)
That's great to hear, Evelyn Lee Barney! Always glad to know I saved someone some money! lol! But really, thank you for sharing your thoughts and for your time watching this one. I still have these home-made pastels and use them frequently. They are not transparent, but they work really well for the kind of work I do. Enjoy your creative journey! ~ Mark
I've been talking with other artists for years about using the white watercolour paint for different things, happy to see this video. Experimentation is sooo good, I love mixing pastel colours!
Thanks to my background in art classes, I was taught to avoid white watercolor. Thanks to you, I’m learning to undo “purist conditioning”. I loved the perspective and mixing portion. Very inspiring, Mark!
Coming from you, this is a wonderful compliment! I really appreciate your time watching and feedback, but more so that you enjoyed this one. Thank you, Artist Jane Bush! Grateful for your voice! Cheers and hoping all is well! ~ Mark
I totally agree,im no artist but a hands on card maker,newbie.I love trying different ways to use 1 colour.Thankyou great tips
I love the idea of mixing right on each pan, never thought about it. Awesome tips
YES!!! I love using white gouache, I don't understand the hate for it. Great video, thank you for sharing! 😊👍👍
this is the most helpful video about making your own pastel watercolor. i didn't want to buy an expensive pastel watercolor palette so luckily i found your tutorial. thank you!
I'm thrilled you found this helpful, Anna Enna! I was looking at pastel watercolor sets out there and they were either expensive or not what I was looking for, so voila! I made my own. Thank you so much for watching and sharing your thoughts. It means a lot to me! Cheers! ~ Mark
I love the density of white. Recently started using it and i love it
Another use for white paint is when you sketch outside with watercolour and you just need something opaque every now and then; you have to work very quickly and can't plan everything in advance, so dirty fixes are welcome.
I love that phrase, "dirty fixes are welcome!" It says everything! Good advice, pernicious bug! Thank you!
pernicious bug Not a dirty fix if it works. Be more dirty to let a mistake that ruins the picture for you to lie there and fester.
I love that pastel idea. I am going to do that is so pretty. That will be great for my card painting. Thanks for sharing!
I am so happy to have bumped into this video and your channel even though the video is over a year old and I am just a beginner I am a huge fan of pastels for my loose and soft watercolor roses and flower pieces I loved it when I saw you make your own handmade pastel watercolors how awesome are you! thank you so much for sharing and sorry about the continuous text I am using Google Voice texting for this because Lord knows my thumb's would not be able to properly type all this out new subscriber for sure I can't wait to learn more from you thank you.... Laura from Feeding Hills, Massachusetts
I just want to say THANK Y O U! It was the most useful video for last month XD. Never thought about use white watercolor as underground layers. Very useful
Well, white will be my next experiment. I like pastels, soft like in children's books. Thanks for showing your experiments and I see white in my future! I'm a watercolor user in my color books and rubber stamp cards. But I love watching real artists and seeing how brave artist are.
Thank you, Beverly Baxley! I can only say that these paints exist and are not to be taken seriously to the point where we can't enjoy them and have fun playing/experimenting with them, right? lol! As for bravery, well, there are many measures of courage, but having the heart to do something that is fulfilling, spiritual, and meditative is not only good for ourselves, but I think for those around us, as well, as we can communicate better, relate better, and be more open. Just my thoughts! Stay well! ~ Mark
I just started watercolor painting, and don't understand the discrimination lol..This was lovely. Thank you..subscribed!
I love red riding hood's coat. It's an upside down tulip!
Thank you for the lesson. I'm brand new, like just born LOL but you taught me something!
That's awesome, Yvonne! Thank you for sharing that! ~ Mark
I can’t wait to try a white underpainting. How about a companion piece about using black watercolor?
You may have read my mind! lol! :)
I don't know why it has never hit me to make my own pastel mixes! Thank you! This makes so much more sense than what I was doing lol Holy go-to pastel palette batman!
Omg you're actually teaching! Subscribed immediately.
lol! Thank you, Rudy Atillo! I'm happy you enjoyed this one. I love teaching about art stuff, but really, I just love sharing info that might be helpful. Stay well! ~ Mark
Great video and I learned so much! Nice to know white has so many uses. I use Titanium White for accents and am pulling out all my Chinese White tubes to create a pastel palette and fill a pan to have to use for underpaintings-thanks again! 🎨⚪️👍
That's terrific, Lil Divette! Glad this was useful for you! Thank you so much for letting me know and spending your time watching! Cheers! :)
I watch most artyoutubers for fun but every time I'm here I learn something
Thank you, so much, cherry875 - I really appreciate that! Be well!
Very nice. The first time I tried Buff Titanium, I was horrified at what it did to my beautiful watercolor (Ultramarine). I now feel like I'm ready to explore that area a little more... I just got a tube of Buff Titanium and one of Grey Titanium. Let the swatching commence. Cheers ❤
I love that, windywednesday4166! Because it behaves like gouache, it can be a little tricky to use. But, because it's a versatile paint, you can add a tiny bit of Raw Sienna or Raw Umber and get some fabulous effects. I like to use it more as a base color to add warmth to white objects, especially organics (like flowers) or snowy landscapes. In my doodlework, it is good for using as an underpaint for skin tones. I mix a combo of warm yellow and red to get a light, fleshy color and when I paint over Buff Titanium, it reactivates nicely to give the color a sunny glow. I like that. Good luck with your swatching and thank you for leaving your thoughts on this! Cheers! ~ Mark
While I don't end up using white too often since I end up mostly using gouache or gel pens for highlights and whatnot, I FULLY support purchasing it and using it however the heck you want. Mmm hmmmmmmm. Ain't nothing wrong with finding something that works for you and just using it because you like it and it makes you happy or your life easier. I'm all for knowing your options and definitely against shunning choice because that's how we make people feel shameful or ostracized and stunt their spirit of discovery.
Seeing your video was quite timely for me today as I'm working on a portrait of a grey and white cat. I was looking for multiple ways to approach the painting. You've given me some ideas about the white underlay that I want to try.
I'm new to this, and I don't care at all about rules. I just want to have fun. Thanks for pointing me to this video that shows how you use the pencil to work with the tube-to-pan! This was a great video for me also, on its own, to see how to use white paint!
Oh thank you, Elizabeth Zelinka! I'm glad it had something for you to takeaway. Best wishes in your creative journey, and yes, it is all about fun and learning. Anything else is a job! lol!
You are amazing. I love the way you use different types of
tools while you’re painting. So cool. You are very inspirational. Thank you.
Just found your channel and your videos look really well put together and informative!! New subscriber! 👍🏻
Thank you, Lovely Day with Holly! I've been busy with work and hope to be posting new content really soon! Stay tuned! Cheers! ~ Mark
Thank you! I’ve been wanting to make pastels with my watercolor using half pans but didn’t know how. So excited to do this now. Really appreciate you and this video. Ahh pastels. So pretty.
I agree, Susan Sacco, and love pastels, especially during this time of year! Let me know how it works out for you! Have fun! :)
Always using what we have in a different way is great! I have a 59 mil tube of Titanium White from M Graham just sitting here, still in the box that needs to be used. Easter and Spring just around the corner and your idea looks very helpful. I need to go through my regular tubes and make some mixes. Your stir tool looked great for the project and the paint seemed to go on very smoothly. This is what makes friends on You Tube so great, sharing ideas and trying new things. Thanks! PS our daughter in law that had the brain tumor removed is running in the Austin marathon tomorrow, hope she safely completes it. Other than work, she has spent most of her time getting ready for it.
All my best wishes for your daughter in the marathon tomorrow! That is the most outstanding news of the day! Congratulations and please extend my best wishes! She'll be like, "who?" and you'll be like, "this guy from UA-cam!" lol! Such inspiration! As for trying new things and sharing ideas, that's what I enjoy most about UA-cam and all of social media. And yes, I love my mixing tool... a mechanical pencil! lol!! I will admit to you that if I am one thing, it's impatient when I need to get something done. I'll use whatever is around me to do it, no matter what it is. For example, I dropped a glass in the kitchen one time and didn't have anything to clean up the tiny shards... so I used a slice of bread! hehe!!! It worked great, too! Anyhow, that 59 ml tube of M. Graham is just waiting for you! But, wow... that's a lot of Titanium White! Cheers and thank you so much for checking this out and your thoughts. All my best to your daughter!
M.D. Campbell agree, what was I thinking when I bought such a large tube.....who knows, but knowing me it was on sale and seemed like a good idea.
M.D. Campbell just happy to say our daughter-in-law made it, her time was 5 hrs and 32 min. Pretty amazing😁👍🏻
@@essietangle9931 that is outstanding! Congratulations to her! You must be so proud!!! :)
I say use what makes you happy, it’s the end result that counts and painting should be about pleasure, not negativity. Besides, Alvaro Castagnet and Joseph Zbukvic both use white in their watercolour work. (I suppose the only time you can’t use white is if you are entering a purist competition.)
The notion of a "purist competition" makes me itchy! lol!
M.D. Campbell Yes, me too! I was holding back from what I really wanted to say lol! I say we shouldn’t feed into a purist mindset and we should go find a non-purist competition if competitions are what we want to do. 😉
@@Kyomiibrown I think you're right. Though, I think for, I like having the ability to choose to slide in and out of the purist mindset, and dar to be unconventional when the mood strikes. Just like purists in the kitchen, there are many people who like the structure of rules. I find that learning the rules and understanding them makes way for modifying and updating them, where needed. Even just for fun! :)
Thanks for these tips/ideas on using white. I’m kind of a WC newbie and I do have white in my palette and find it comes in handy for the highlights and lightening colors, but of course, adding white does remove the transparency. I’ve never never used gouach, but will one of these days. I do arts/crafts (casual) work along with working on improving my “fine art” skills. I am finding watercolor to be my favorite painting medium. There really is nothing else to compare as far as I’m concerned.
Thank you, Nancy Loomis, and glad you found this useful! Both watercolor and gouache are wonderful to use, each with their own pluses and minuses. There's no "wrong" way to use them, I suppose, but there are many "right" ways to use them. But, the best way is to simply sit down with them, play with them, and feel yourself immerse into the joy of just being creative, no matter what happens. Enjoy! :)
Yep, you gave me some ideas. I will definitely uses this. Thank you
That's fantastic, Stefan Ellery! Thanks for letting me know that! Best wishes!
Oh wow... My girly-side just kicked in hard seeing all those lovely pastels (blush)
Yet another great addition to all that is possible with watercolor paints for varied uses and ambiance settings!
You've got another sub ringing your bell
Thank you so much Mark. Now I know what to do with all the white watercolor paint I have.
Hi Mark, well these are great tips, i'm not shure if i will do my pastels colors that way because to me i prefered the shiny pastels colors whe bought, i never get a Beautiful color when i mix with white but it's a great idea for the one like you who have much more experiences on watercolors the me so anyway i really enjoy watch you having fun doing your Beautiful pictures because i never have fun doing watercolors because it's so hard to achievede a Beautiful result what i should do it's take some classes, that would of be so Helpful and maybee with these classes i won't found that hard to play with watercolors, i've seen on youtube so many Amazing Artists who created some spectacular pictures with watercolors but when i try to do the same well it dosen't work LOL! Thank You for another fun and great video Mark!
Thank you, my friend! I hope you are well! I am not sure these methods are for everyone, but it's fun to explore and experiment and have fun! Life needs more fun, less worry! lol! Thank you so much, always. Cheers to you! :)
@@MDCampbell Totally Agree with you Mark, Cheers to you my friend! -:)
Great video, as always! I also like using white for lightened/pastel colors whenever I'm using dry brush techniques, which I can't do with severely watered down pigments 😁
Thank you, Angela Pascual! Great point about the dry brush technique! :)
I could watch this for ever and ever. Thank you, Mark!
Thank you, forever and ever! lol! I appreciate that.
Great tips, Mark! Most wc artists have some type of white (unintentionally or intentionally!) in their stash. I like the thought that I could mix my own buff titanium, or other neutral pastels for softer highlights and to give objects some body. Also, awesome idea to use the white watercolor basically as a ground to paint on, i'm definitely going to experiment with that technique. Thanks!
I'm glad to learn from Denise that whites contain titanium or other compounds may not be captured by our waste water systems, didn't know that. Even though my municipality does contain cobalts (but not cadmiums), I let my paint water settle and then clean out the sediment with a paper towel and dispose of it in the trash. I would like to know if there's a better way to dispose of potential toxins from art making to keep them out of our waterways.
Thank you, everart okelli. Just to be clear, Denise was referring to Chinese White which contains zinc oxide, which I knew was not environmentally good in oil paints, but hadn't heard about it in watercolor form. Good to know. Here's a link to Dick Blick's article on how artists can be more environmentally conscious. You can contact your local Department of Public Works and ask them about disposal of hazardous materials. Most towns/cities have a place to bring these materials, though some may charge a fee for larger quanities. www.dickblick.com/12-ways-artists-can-go-greener/
M.D. Campbell, Zinc oxide is used in a lot of medical products globally. Watercolour artists in general are so averse to using white that I scarcely think that they would have much impact at all. The amounts we use are tiny, and do not compare at all with use in industry. Still it is good to know so we have a choice. My favourite white is a Kremer zinc white which has very low opacity and can therefore be added to quite opaque watercolour pigments like the PR101 colours or Chromium oxide green to make subtle pale colours that dilute down beautifully, the greens of the latter are particularly beautiful and as it is a dull green anyway can produce lovely results in botanical or nature based work. Colours mixed with this white and then diluted look more like dilute milk on the brush than paint white, so very subtle indeed. It makes me love the opaque watercolours and understand why they were used and valued, I think we put too high a value these days on translucency, which while it is a wonderful quality does not have a full range of versatility. Thanks for a great reminder of that! I do not see the same versatility in most blacks, but I do see some very interesting blacks that can be used creatively to produce great work, but not necessarily in a classic watercolour way.
Ever since I started painting, out of all the colors, white has been the source of many of my problems due to mixed opinions. I learned to never use white with watercolors but I love pastel colors so I was in a bind. Eventually, I switched to gouache where white is definitely used (although I've read people say not to use white with gouache too) and now I don't know the difference between titanium white and zinc white. great tutorial, white is definitely the only color I haven't used for underpaintings, I gotta try it out next time.
Titanium white is known as an opaque white while zinc whites is also known as Chinese white or mixing white it is less opaque.
@MyCrimsonMischief Thank you. I was wondering the same thing. I guess I'll just have to experiment to see how they react.
Mixing your colors is ok. My problem with that is you never get the same tint twice. I'd rather have a consistent hue, that's why I have browns and pastels in my set.
This is such a more reasonable approach than just writing the the color off as if it were sacrilegious or something. I say use whatever is best to achieve the look you are going for. I have used white to mix skin tones on occasion and I almost always use white for highlights and stuff (though technically I usually use a gel pen for that. But the concept is the same) I like the idea of having some pastels like this on my pallatte as well.
wow ! xD i didnt think about mixing into the pan with the colors. thats great idea
Thank you, magus leo! I admit, I did it a long time ago out of laziness, but it seemed to work for me. Glad you found it interesting enough to comment on. Thank you for that! ~ Mark
This was a great video and something I have been wondering about
Thank you, Kathryn Sloan, for both watching and for your feedback. I'm happy you found it useful! Again, thank you for the incredible work you're doing on the front lines of this pandemic! Stay well! ~ Mark
I love that self-made water Color pan set, I need to get one of those.
Thanks, GAME OVER "WE HAVE EVERY PIXEL COVERED". Glad you liked it! :)
Thanks for a video finally about whites :D I just started researching this a bit since I bought some colors from PWC that is quite opaque and contained the pigment PW6 which is Titanium White. Chinese white/Zinc white should be PW4 as I understood it (correct me if I am wrong :) ).
Anyway when I was reading about it I found a page that said PW4 is best for glacing effects and are a bit more transparent and PW6 is way more opaque and make the best pastel colors. So I noticed for your pastels you used Chinese White PW4 and not the one I saw that was Titanium White PW6 the best for pastels.
I would actually love to see the difference when mixing with PW4 and PW6, so if you ever feel like it, would love to see that video and the difference that it can give :D in any case really thanks for making this video about whites that is so banned in the watercolor world, which I don't think is right :) also the first painters of watercolor used something called "cover white" a lot since they used their watercolor paintings as a sketch for oil painting in many cases. And white was added by many water-colorists in the 1900th century. In art there should not be any limitations :D
Yeah, the visual difference between Chinese White and Titanium is very, very slight, but from my observations, Chinese white tends to favor an organic context, lending more to warm colors, especially yellows; Titanium tends to favor a more mechanical or fabricated context, lending itself more to cooler colors, especially blue. They're both excellent, but when used with intent, they can have an even more functional effect. Again, to my observations. I like Chinese white when painting with burnt sienna, yellow ochre, or Prussian blue, where Titanium seems to suit well to the Phthalo colors, veridian, and cadmiums. Thank you so much for the valuable insight and feedback. Grateful for your time!! Cheers!
I always wondered why that even in Chinese or Japanese watercolor sets, there is also a white, some sets like the Pentel watercolor set that I have bought in around 2011 have a bigger tube than the rest. Then I realized something after watching a Chinese silk painting. Since Chinese and Japanese watercolors are more opaque than Western watercolors, and alongside regular paper, since East Asian art tend to use silk, bamboo, and rice paper, which are often off-white or in beige, the paints use stickier binders and white seems to shine a bit more.
Jesus Christ those are some blinding White watercolor tubes you’re holding in the intro hehe,
Thanks for the video
I heard the same taboo of using white watercolor and black anything, I use white watercolor to make pastels too and for subtle highlights
LOL!! I was surprised at the overglow of those tubes! Holy moley! lol! Thanks for checking this out, Heartwork by Kitty! :)
of course my friend
Love your channel, I appreciate the time you put into it.
The cheering in the coffee break always gives me a giggle too, love that you made that a special little thing you do in your videos.
I have a hot pink motorcycle helmet that has big cat ears that I am going to be using in my videos at some point in the near future. I look like a bobble head when I wear it and I think it would be funny to see that in a video.
It’s those little details unique to the person that I love about people’s videos.
Great video as usual Mark, this time it's innovative
Great info. I have never seen white paint used like this before. TY.👌
Thank you, Terry Meechan! I'm glad it was something new for you! :)
Love your videos, wish you would do more of them!!
Thank you, Mary K Havelka. I plan on making more! lol! Stay tuned! :)
they look beautiful
I think your technique of making pastels using whites is a great idea. Thanks for being a rebel and stepping outside the box. Purists are not always right.
Me... a rebel! I like that! lol! thank you, Cynthia Slater! :)
Now I'm very excited to pull out my White watercolor tubes!!
And I'm super excited for you, Jen Goodwyn! Have a ton of fun! :)
Wow. What a way to explain how to use white watercolour without it being just "a highlight" like most videos but this is realllyyyyy informative especially the white under painting method!!
I'm thrilled you found this informative, Faye Wulf. It makes me so happy to read comments like this, so thank you for making my day! Stay well! :)
very cute, it makes it opaque like poster colour, not as opaque as gouache. for me, art is supposed to be fun. it's not rocket science or medicine where if you make mistakes or go against the rules it'll create a terrible, life-threatening situation for everyone. really doesn't hurt anyone to break them rules and experiment once in a while!
I couldn't agree more, peach books! Thank you for taking the time to comment on this. I am grateful for your thoughts! Now, let's go break some art rules! No more metal rulers... EVER!! lol! Cheers! ~ Mark
I use white paint all the time. I love the highlights. I love to use it as an Under-painting.
That's how I feel, Kathryn Sloan. It always comes into play, in one way or another, for me. I hope you're well! Thank you!
Thanks for this amazing video, Mark! You're awesome!!!! I've always wondered about white watercolor. Thanks for always making such interesting, educational and uplifting videos!
I very much enjoy watching whatever you choose to share with us. You just have the perfect... video speed while painting/drawing given the relative simplicity of your shapes, and also relative to whatever you are talking about. I just love watching you work! :-)
Anyway, when first getting into wc I assumed that experienced artists never bought pastel colors, I assumed they all either diluted with water or more rarely made their own. But I don't want watered down weak tea! I want nice thick juicy practically impasto! (Also for a base, prefer the consistency of color which comes from a manufacturer) so anyway, thanks much for the video, as always very helpful!
Thank you so much, Jasper Martin. You are so kind and generous! I appreciate your feedback so much! :)
Mark can you do a video on gouache. I’ve watched other videos but I’d like your take on them. I’d also like to see how one could make ones own by adding white gouache to watercolour and seeing the difference and would love it if you could show this too. I want to invest in some m graham watercolours -expensive over here- as everyone comments on how pigmented they are and would defo do so if I could also use them to make pigmented gouache ( I’ve tried your approach to using white watercolour and love it, I will continue to do this but also am interested in taking it further in this direction) thanks for all you do!
Never thought about white as underpainting. Thank you for the tip 😁
+May Brox you are most very welcome! Thank you!!!
I have an art teacher many years ago that told us all the "rules"... No white... No black (I bought every black I found and I still love using black watercolour 👻)
I have some issues with rules on art. So I have white in all my palette. And I use them to light up the colour, to blend lighter colours to pale skins.
I use white colour pencils under darker to create pastel colour.
Really terrific!
Thank you, Sandi Rodman! I'm thrilled you enjoyed this one and chose to let me know. Stay well! ~ Mark
Very informative and fun! Thank you
I'm glad you made this video. White watercolors gets too much hate.
Thank you for this helpful video! Now I am excited about trying out my white watercolor. What kind of brush is it you are using at the end for the highlights? I have never seen it and it looks funny. Does it have any specific advantages?
Oh my goodness! I just had this thought yesterday and I'm glad that someone is covering this topic!
Thank you, Hanah Le! Great minds think alike! :)
Thank you very much! This has been an inspiration for me to work on some mixed-media projects that I've been wanting to. I am going to try your Technique with using the white as an underpainting for the sky. I have a visual impairment, so my outlines need to be a bit darker than most. I'm concerned that my outlines will be showing through the painting. Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you so much, Michelle Earl, and I'm glad you found this one helpful. As for the impairment and using darker lines, white watercolor or gouache (artist grade) can help conceal those lines, much like a makeup concealer. When using straight watercolor, especially transparent, perhaps try to keep your darker colors next to the lines, to help them blend in. You can also go back over those lines, if they show through, with colored pencil to help conceal them, as well. Good luck and I hope my reply was helpful. Thanks again! :)
@@MDCampbell yes it was! Thank you very much! Take care and God bless.
Great explanation. Thankyou.🙂
Thank you, Leah Calabro! I appreciate your feedback and happy you liked this one! ~ Mark
Great tips and advice. Thank you so much for sharing. 😊
I'm glad this was helpful, Eclectic Sara! Have a great day! :)
This video was helpful! Thank you because I'm kind of scared to use white watercolor paint but I don't have to now. Can you talk about black watercolor paint?
How did I miss this video?? I look all the time for the little bell.. lol I enjoy every video... really is there no black in nature.. if it isn't black what is it? I really need to get back into my art. Your videos always make me think I should.
Hi Naomi Campbell - yes. Yes you should get back into your art. It needs you! Like mad. :)
Awesome 😉👍!!! Very informative thanks for sharing
Hello ! Thanks for this video. I was wondering, what's the name of the tool you're using for mixing the pastel colors ? Thank you !
Watching this one day after buying Prima Pastel Dreams and spending half the night swatching a color palette mixing them all 😑😂 Love this video. Subscribed
Thank you so much, Nicole Mackey, and I'm thrilled you enjoyed this video! A friend of mine has the Pastel Dreams and says they are wonderful. I'm tempted to purchase them, just... well... because! lol! Enjoy them and happy painting! I'm sincerely grateful for your feedback! Cheers! ~ Mark
Wow, I learned something new today, thanks! Never before heard of the white under painting. Ps. I love that drifting eye of Little Red. 😁
Amazing insightful video. please point me in the direction of that bendy detail brush you use, cool!
Brilliant, thank you.
Thank you so much for checking it out, lyndydaisy!
😂 love how you have the white glowing. Clever.
Thank you! I've been known to be clever now and again. :)
thanks for that video: I just learned something I will experiment soon: I'll divide one sheet of paper in two, one with the white paint and the other without the white, and the make the same drawing on each part,
And I'll see it!
Love this!!
Thank you, Ricardo Franco!
Love this, thanks for sharing
I'm really happy you enjoyed this one, Rachael Maccoy! Thank you for letting me know! :)
Hi there, what are the two tools you use with your paints. One looks like a pin on a pencil that you used in the yellow paint timestamp 5:36. The other one you used towards the end of the video time stamp 12:16.
I LOVE make pastel color whit white watercolor and to make skin color, I like the efect of pastel skin colors
Now I know what to do with the tubes of white I have! Lol.. Thanks, Mark!! 💖
Thank you, Aurora's Art World! Oh, the tubes... lol! I have so many tubes, it's sinful. I've donated many to places that can use them, but there are too many I cannot let go of. Enjoy and stay well! :)
Thanks a bunch!!!!! Very useful!!!!
Brilliant. Thank you for this. 🤩
And thank you for checking this one out and your kind words, bingealicious!
Turner used white color isnt he considered one of the best watercolor artist out there? And many of his generation from what I've been learning about used white...so I laugh at people who say not to use white... then bring up Turner....that sometimes stuns people...lol very helpful I wanted gouache but budget wise I'd already acceded my art spending this yr and wondered couldnt I just mix my wcp with my white gouche tube I already have.. thank you very much for this information many blessings to you today...
Looks like glowing crystals
I have a whole collection of various white watercolours, gathering dust, that I’ve removed from my sets over the years...now I know what to do with them :). A great tip that I’ve learned also, is to have a special ‘dirty yellow’ pan in your set...this is any useful yellow, such as Hansa Yellow, that you can dip into with a brush laden with another colour without worrying about dirtying it up...especially useful for tweaking and varying greens as you paint.
THE DIRTY YELLOW IS BRILLIANT! I am absolutely going to fill at least two pans. Thank you!
Hey, question will this work with all types of watercolor brands or only specific brands? I am very new to this and I am just starting out. Thanks.
Unfortunately, Pika Me, depending on the quality of the paint, it should definitely work, but it may not result in the full desired effect. This is also true with gouache. Some pigments react differently to different kinds of binders and such. I'm not sure of the science, to be honest; what I do know is that the mid-and-higher grade products have always worked for me, but the lower grade products seem to come out uninspiring.
@@MDCampbell Thank you so much this will help me decide what works and not to waste money on cheaper qualities. Thank you for the guidance and honesty.
@@pikame921 thank you! I really appreciate that feedback! I hope you're doing well and staying healthy! Cheers! ~ Mark
used watercolor black and write everything graphite a charcoal water-soluble is fantastic
Thanks Bud.
You're welcome!
I love being a rebel and breaking the rules! Thanks for the good idea of mixing pans ahead of time!
And thank you, Mams92115! Gotta rebel whenever we can, right? lol!! I'm glad you enjoyed this one and thank you for your feedback! Be well! :)