Opacity in paint: Why do some colors cover better than others?

Why do some colors cover better than others?

Why do some colors cover in a single brushstroke, while others require several coats to completely hide the canvas?

👉 It's not a lack of talent.

👉 It's not the quality of the paint.

It's opacity. And understanding it can completely transform the way you paint.

Why opacity changes everything in painting

Once you know whether a color is opaque or transparent, you no longer paint randomly. You make smart choices.

Opaque Colors

Ideal for covering, correcting, and simplifying your work.
Perfect for blocking in shapes or quickly hiding a mistake.

Transparent Colours

They don't cover... and that's precisely their strength.
Perfect for creating subtle, luminous, and natural effects.
Example: In a portrait, a transparent red gives a soft warmth to the cheekbones, while an opaque red creates an artificial effect.

Ideas about transparent colors

❌ Many beginners think that paint that doesn't cover well is poor quality.

👉 Wrong. Very often, it's simply a transparent color that does exactly what it's supposed to do.

⚠️ However, if a color advertised as opaque (e.g., titanium white) doesn't cover well, this could indicate a lower-quality pigment with too much binder or filler.

How to read the information on paint tubes

Opacity symbols

On tubes, you will often find:

O = Opaque,

SO = Semi-opaque,

T = Transparente.

Or small graphic symbols indicating the cover.

Symbol on paint tubes to indicate the opacity of the color

Example:

Why is this important?

To know if the paint will properly cover the background
To create glazes
To avoid surprises when layering paints
To work with transparency
To create shading

Transparent pigments are not necessarily of poor quality. They allow light to pass through and are worked differently from opaque colors. They are yet another tool at our disposal as artists.

Concrete example of use opaque vs transparent

Here's a very concrete example of using transparent versus opaque colors: A transparent red (left side) gives a natural effect on a child's cheek, while an opaque red (right side) gives a "clown makeup" effect. Opaque and transparent colors each have their uses.

Portrait de jeune fille pour comparer le rouge transparent et le rouge opaque — Transparent red on the left cheek and opaque red on the right cheek

The colors are available in opaque and transparent versions.

Several shades, or shades close to them, can be obtained in either opaque or transparent form. Generally speaking, regardless of the color—yellow, orange, purple, etc.—there is often an opaque, transparent, or semi-transparent version available.

Opaque white and transparent white

You can obtain both opaque and transparent white: Titanium white PW6 is opaque and

Zinc white PW4 (also known as mixing white) is transparent.

Here's an article that discusses the difference between titanium white and zinc white >>> https://en.cours-de-peinture.ca/post/what-is-the-difference-between-titanium-white-and-zinc-white

Opaque Titanium white vs. transparent white for mixtures

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVccxVoyqCM

Download the free guide – How to decode a paint tube

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