Soft white
 

Can anyone recommend a very soft buttery brand of white? I am looking for some flake white as well as some titanium white.

Also, I've been using and enjoying the softness of Permalba (which is a mixture of titanium and zinc white) but I don't know anything about its quality as a brand. Anyone have input on this?

Thanks!

I've been using Permalba's white for awhile, and I bought it because I seem to have read so many comments about its superiority to titanium and zinc used by themselves and its buttery texture, and because a lot of other artists appear to recommend it. My impression is that it's well thought of. Weber says this about its product:

"Artists have relied on Original Permalba

So I have precisely one thing in common with John Singer Sargent. It's a start...

After seeing that wonderful portrait of Jamie I wouldn't limit it to just one thing, Michele ;)

Michele,

I just purchased the stiff mixing(?) white from Daniel Smith. It was Tim's recommendation for the workshop.

It really was stiff - I was used to more buttery also. It was different. I like it's coverage, but I havent used it enough yet to decide if I like it better than others. It's good for texture where you let the paint build up a bit.

I used to use Permalba a lot, but though I liked the consistency, the white would disappear into pastel colors and not hold its character. So I started using a Grumbacher "soft formula" titanium, and it will flow in a relatively fluid manner but will retain its whiteness and body in mixtures on the canvas. In other words, it has more "guts" than the Permalba.

Best--TE

White options
 

I would be surprised if JSS used Permalba White as we know it. Here's detail of his work. Permalba slips off a painting's surface like motor oil.

This is the point I make to students; if you start with a lean, "thick" white you can add your trusty medium of choice and make any white oily.

If you start oily, you have to set it out overnight on cardboard or such surface to let that suck the oil from it.

Michele,

Try a tube of Gamblin's Flake White Replacement.

It's like frosting.

Flake white was the choice of the old masters.

I just read this interesting comment on Gamblin's website:

"Conservators have demonstrated that the fast dry time of Flake White contributes to the cracking of oil painting over time."