Chinese White is actually a compressed form of Zinc White, which is relatively transparent and therefore good for scumbling (putting a semi-transparent layer of paint over another - not always easy with large areas of watercolour, as there is usually the probability of re-dissolving the lower layer of paint).

Titanium White is opaque (owing to its high refractive index - which makes it extremely good at scattering light), it is the white that we have chosen for our own watercolours.

Both whites are absolutely light fast.

Back to FAQ's