Lesson 7 – Introducing White
Lesson 7 – Introducing Titanium white – Video

The principle of Contrast

Tutor – Will Kemp
Level – Beginner
Length – 9 min 58 sec

In this video we Introduce Titanium white. This can help us to identify the range of tonal values in the painting and establish our “lightest light” From here it will be easier to judge the different colours and tones of the other parts of the painting.
When we have the mass of mid-tones added with the under-painting we now need to add our lightest light & darkest dark. Why?

This helps our eye to judge the colour intensity of the other elements in the painting.
Introducing white, and later our darkest dark (very close to black) we can achieve a full tonal range which will help create the sense of realism in our painting.

Step 1: squint your eyes at the subject matter.
This will help to simplify the tonal ranges, and the shape that we are looking at.

Step 2: Decide on your lightest light.

In this painting the ‘lightest light’ is the highlight on the jug, however, due to our painting approach the highlight will be one of the last things to go onto the painting. Trying to turn a form with paint having a highlight in the way will make matters very tricky. You have to try and imagine the shape without the highlight on it

Step 3: Start with the white, then add a small amount of burnt umber.
This can be slightly thicker than the previous under painting. Not too thick though because it is easier to correct any mistakes by painting over thinner paint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leave A Reply (One comment So Far)


  1. John Simlett
    13 years ago

    In the video you start with the dark umber and get a tonal range by adding tiny bits of white. Step 3 (above) says the opposite?

    I’ll stick with the video because I can see the results, and I assume I’m not understanding Step 3; although I can imagine you are getting the same tonal range in reverse!

    John