How to Use White in Watercolour

In my modern, spontaneous and colourful approach to watercolour painting, I sometimes use white, especially when mixed with other colours. In this article, through the tutorial A Night Sky and Flowers, I’m sharing my technique for using white watercolour, and I hope to help you rediscover these often-overlooked pigments and spark new creative ideas.

In this article:

• Why is white often excluded from watercolour palettes?
• What is the difference between Titanium White and Chinese White?
• Technically speaking, what is white watercolour used for and how should it be applied?
• Tutorial: a night sky and fluffy clouds in watercolour

Why is white often excluded from watercolour palettes?

Many watercolour artists believe that having white in a watercolour palette is unnecessary (or even pointless!). The whole appeal of this medium lies in its transparency and the use of the paper’s white to create light. To preserve this luminous quality and contrast with darker colours, it is recommended not to cover the paper’s white with opaque paints such as gouache.

That said, for small areas, an opaque white such as Titanium White, used sparingly, can add light touches over a coloured or even dark surface. These touches still allow a hint of the underlying layer to show through and will never completely replace the whiteness of the paper, but they can be useful for adding stars to a sky, for example. However, these pigments can be taken much further.

What is the difference between Titanium White and Chinese White?

The main difference between Titanium White and Chinese White is their degree of transparency, and this is precisely what makes them interesting in watercolour. Titanium White is the most opaque white, while Chinese White is semi-transparent. As I explain later, I use white to make my colours more opaque, so I haven’t really explored the second option as much.

Note: according to an article by Daniel Smith, Chinese White is actually the most opaque white. Check the opacity rating of the watercolour brand you use before choosing your white. A fully filled square indicates an opaque colour, an empty square means the colour is transparent, and a square divided diagonally into black and white indicates a semi-opaque colour.

Technically speaking, what is white watercolour used for and how should it be applied?

In practice, I use white in pure form or mixed in, wet-on-wet and wet-on-dry.

It creates a finish close to gouache. In fact, both mediums are made from the same binder (gum arabic), and the difference mainly lies in the presence of an opaque filler in gouache (such as chalk), which is not found in watercolour. To add white touches, you can therefore also use gouache.

Pure white in wet-on-wet

In watercolour, pigments spread through the water during wet-on-wet painting, and this also applies to white pigments. Even though they do not cover the first layer entirely, they push it back and create soft, cloudy effects. They add variety and even a touch of luminosity.

Here is an example of a colourful sky, left without white and then with added white.

Extract from my YouTube video on the wet-on-wet watercolour technique, where I demonstrate how to use white in a colourful sky.

Pure white in wet-on-dry

Once again, it does not replace the whiteness of the paper, but the tone created by the dark layer also helps bring unity to the watercolour. I mainly use it to add stars in the sky with paint splatters, but there are many other possibilities.

White mixed in during wet-on-wet and blends

This is the technique that really encouraged me to use white watercolour in my work. While trying to create blends with very light, highly diluted colours, I quickly noticed that the pigments in the wash would completely spill into the lighter area and that the colour would not stand out at all.

Adding white enriches the light wash with pigments and therefore blocks other pigments from flooding into that pale area while still allowing it to retain all its brightness. For example, on the right, the turquoise was invaded by indigo during the blend. On the left, the white pigments blocked the overflow and the opposite happened instead: the blend shifted towards indigo. The turquoise kept its place.

The same applies in wet-on-wet: adding a light wash to a coloured area has very little effect, whereas adding a coloured white wash stands out much more clearly.

White can also make colours appear more luminous, slightly alter the hue, or soften granulation.

top: pure colours / bottom: with white

White mixed in during wet-on-dry

In wet-on-dry, using white watercolour produces a result similar to gouache. Opaque enough, it allows lighter details to be added over a dark area. It should be noted, however, that the effect will not be as intense as the colour you see in the mixing palette, because the underlying forms will still remain visible.

If the goal is to preserve a strong light colour, it is better to keep the white of the paper first and then apply the colour. But when the aim is to add finesse and a touch of contrast, mixing with white can be sufficient.

In the example below, the results are:

• On the left, with a mixture of red and white applied wet-on-dry over a flat green wash
• In the centre, by preserving the white of the paper (negative painting)
• On the right, wet-on-dry with diluted red to create a pink hue over a flat green wash

The first two results are very different, but both have their own appeal.

White is therefore not used to lighten a colour, but to make it more opaque and enrich it with pigments, creating new creative possibilities: textures (fluffy clouds), matrix effects in blends, spontaneity (adding details).

I use Titanium White in my beginner online watercolour classes: The Basics of Watercolour (Beginner).

For the sky, I mixed Phthalo Turquoise with Titanium White to better push back the dark pigments around the light area.

For the chalet, I used a mixture of red and white to create a pastel pink so that the colour would not be overwhelmed by violet and yellow during blending.

Tutorial: night sky and fluffy clouds in watercolour

To show the full range of possibilities with white watercolour, I combined the four techniques above in a single painting: a night sky with fluffy clouds and a flower in the foreground. The purpose of this approach is not necessarily to add light elements to watercolour, but Titanium White makes it possible. It moves away from the traditional framework of watercolour while opening up new creative possibilities.

Colours (Sennelier): mixture of indigo and quinacridone red, Titanium White, mixture of Titanium White and quinacridone red, mixture of Titanium White and olive green.

Paper: 100% cotton Arches paper, 15 × 20 cm

Brushes : Princeton Neptune 1, 6 & 8

Step 1: Completely wet your sheet and cover it with a dark blue wash.

Step 2: While still wet, add a slightly diluted Titanium White wash without mixing it directly with the dark blue on the paper.

Step 3: Repeat the process with a white and red wash.

Step 4: Allow to dry, then splatter white paint across the upper half of the sheet to represent the stars.

Step 5: Paint the flowers in the foreground with mixtures of green and vert. Add dark blue flowers to strengthen the contrast. In wet-on-dry, the blue will appear darker than during the first layer because the wet-on-wet layer diluted and slightly lightened it with the water on the paper.

Discover the full video tutorial for more tips and to better visualise how to use water and the brush: