Painting White

Painting something that is white can be a challenge. Our eyes see the lightest value and immediately assign a “color” to the object. If we label something white we don’t allow ourselves to see all of the colors that are really there. It’s most effective to paint white objects using colorful neutrals and reserve white out of the tube for final highlights. Your painting should reflect all colors in order to read as white, but those colors must be carefully distributed so that they appear to be reflected equally. Adding too much of one color will cause the observer to see that white object as a colored object instead.

The biggest error I see in painting white objects is not getting the shadows dark enough. White in shadow is not white. It can be a dark blue gray or violet gray or green gray depending on the surrounding colors that reflect into the object’s shadow side.

Often, student painters will base an object in white, and then when they apply the shadow colors the dark is diluted and looks dirty. Apply the color in the area where you see the color, rather than basing the entire object white because it is easier or you think it’s faster. In the long run, that method takes more time because you will need many layers of the darker value to overcome that white base coat.

Mix an array of light colors that are warm and cool temperature. Create form first. If painting something white is a challenge, paint the object in gray values and then add color notes.

Here are some ideas for colorful grays using complementary colors. Add white to see the temperature and color leanings.

cadmium orange and ultramarine blue

yellow ochre and dioxazine violet

burnt umber and ultramarine blue

raw umber and ultramarine blue

burnt sienna light and cobalt blue

burnt sienna and phthalo blue

alizarin crimson and ultramarine blue

phthalo blue and cadmium red light

viridian green and permanent rose 

Naples yellow and cobalt violet 

In the case of white feathers, brush stroke direction is critical but not every feather needs to be painted. I hope you enjoy the video. I'm not a pro at it and can already see a few things I can do to make the video better next time.