White is the lightest color. It is achromatic, meaning without hue, and stands opposite black. When you see this, you’re witnessing the reflection and scattering of the full light spectrum, unlike black, which absorbs all color.
As an artist, you should understand how people have used it throughout history, the meaning it carries, the emotion it evokes, and how to create and modify its many shades.
This article helps you explore it all, beginning with the history of white and ending with how to mix your own unique shades of white.
A Brief History of the Color White
White was among the first colors used by early humans. In the Paleolithic era, artists drew animals and symbols on cave walls using calcite or chalk, like those seen in France’s Lascaux Cave. They used white to highlight or layer beneath other pigments such as charcoal, red ochre, and yellow ochre.
In ancient Egypt, white symbolized purity and was linked to the goddess Isis. Priests wore white robes and mummies were wrapped in white linen.
In ancient Greece, white represented mother’s milk and was considered a fundamental color. Artists there used a simple palette of white, red, yellow, and black, and worked with lead white pigment, despite its toxicity.
Roman youth wore white togas to symbolize citizenship. Magistrates and priestesses also favored the color.
The early Roman Catholic church adopted white as a symbol of virtue, sacrifice, and purity. The Pope’s traditional white robes and the image of a white lamb as Christ’s sacrifice stem from this association.
During the postclassical period, artists began blending white with pigments to brighten colors.
White dominated Baroque and Rococo interiors and became fashionable among 18th-century aristocrats, who whore white stockings, powdered wigs, and pastel gowns.
James McNeill Whistler used white to evoke mood in his musically titled works. Lead white remained common until titanium white, a safer alternative, emerged in Norway by the late 19th century.
Modernist painters valued white’s purity. Kazimir Malevich’s 1917 painting "Suprematist Composition: White on White” highlights this artistic shift.
White Colors: Psychology and Meaning
White is one of the earliest known pigments in human history, and it carries a wide range of symbolic meanings.
Purity was one of white’s earliest associations. Romans wore white togas to signify citizenship, and the color was adopted by priests and magistrates. In medieval times, a white unicorn also represented chastity and purity.
White’s symbolic range expanded over the centuries, most especially in Western cultures, where it includes goodness, cleanliness, honesty, perfection, new beginnings, and neutrality. That said, white isn’t always positive: in the 16th century and in many Asian cultures today, white represents mourning and loss.
Its link to snow and winter also brings associations with coldness, emptiness, and isolation.
Shades of White
While beginners often struggle to use white effectively, experienced painters rely on it to create subtle, nuanced versions of other colors. With so many possible combinations, the exact number of different shades of white is difficult to define.
According to PPG Industries, there are currently 315 recognized shades of white.
Here are just a few examples of these types of white:
1. Ivory
Ivory has a subtle, creamy tone with a hint of pale yellow or even green.
It reflects the natural color of animal ivory from tusks or teeth.
2. Floral White
While floral white is also a pale yellow-green shade, it's still unmistakable from the previous entry, ivory. This color name wasn’t seen in use until X11 color names were formulated in 1987.
3. Cream
Cream is a light yellow-green color.
As you may have guessed, this color was made to represent the color of the dairy product of the same name.
4. Antique White
Antique white is characterized by its pale-yellow color. Just like floral white, antique white first saw use as a color name in 1987 when X11 colors were first formulated.
5. Bone
Bone is a yellowish-gray shade of white.
As the name suggests, this shade was developed to represent the color of bones. This color name was first used in the 19th century.
6. Flax
Flax is characterized by its light greenish-yellow color. This color name's first recorded use was in 1915.
7. Alabaster
Alabaster is a pale yellow-green shade of white.
This shade was made to represent the whitish color of the mineral of the same name.
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Modifying White Acrylic Paints
Now that you’ve explored the history and the symbolism of white, let’s look at how to transform your white acrylic paints.
As artists, we usually look for the right shade of color to really make our painting pop. When it comes to the achromatic color white, we use it as a highlighting color.
If you don't happen to have the exact shade you need, here's how you can modify your white acrylic paint to achieve your desired shade.
How to Create Warmer Shades of White
To make a warmer white, start with a white base, then slowly mix in some brown. You can then make it warmer by adding in some yellow or orange for different white shades.
How to Create Cooler White Shades
If you want to produce the opposite and make a cooler white, start with the same white base and mix in some black. You can then make it cooler by adding some blue.
Use White to Mute Other Colors
Since white is an achromatic color, you can add it to other colors to make a muted but brighter version of those colors.