Jonathan Linton's "White Test"

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Today is Wednesday and for the second week in a row I have forgotten to do a "Technique Tuesday" post. In my defense I actually just have a lot excuses. My son has been home for 3 days with a fever, my husband is home in between contracts, I have not had coffee for 48 hours and I have a major commission due which I hope to share shortly. All the above issues = comatose brain cells.

But I do have one extraordinary technique tip to share with you today. My good friend and mentor, Jonathan Linton created years ago a "White Test" where he systematically tested various oil painting whites (and whites mixed with black) and then left the entire test in a window for 2 years to see what happened to them and help figure out which was the truest white over time. Think of it as an art nerd's Survivor Island.

For a complete list of the whites Jonathan used check out his original post from 2010 (above) which has been featured on other blogs including Gurney's Journey and most recently on Muddy Colors. Then see if you can figure out which white is the great survivor--and be sure to use that knowledge in your paintings going forward.