Lead White vs Titanium

Artist's Academy Editors

Duration: 7 mins

Description
Discussions

Description

Though Titanium white is a very popular pigment to use, artist Katie Liddiard prefers to use lead white instead. Join Katie as she demonstrates exactly why she uses lead white despite the negative rap it gets. As she applies both of the pure whites onto a toned canvas you can see how bright white the titanium is over the lead.

Then, adding green to the mixture the slight warm yellow of the lead starts to show through over the colder titanium. It’s especially obvious when mixed with vermillion. The vermillion mixed with titanium is easily overpowered to a cold pink whereas it retains a rich warmth when mixed with lead. Moving onto ultramarine, the blue is dulled down by titanium while lead offers a more subtle, rich blue instead. Titanium is a fantastic plein air color because of its brightness, lead is a great portrait color because of its subtlety.

Another reason Katie prefers lead white is because it creates a strong paint film. White is mixed with every color throughout the painting, so using lead strengthens the paint layers extending the life of the painting.