I started out using titanium white oil paint when I was teaching myself to paint. I found that I was getting lovely zombie people in my portraits. I couldn't figure out the problem until I read one of the books in my art library which suggested flake white. I gave it a go, and I instantly had more success. I figured out by comparing the two that titanium is more opaque, stiffer, and more aggressive than flake white. Through more experimentation I decided to use just flake white for all my mixing, and reserve titanium white for final highlights and impasto touches, or if I needed to add more body to a color. I soon found that flake white was getting more expensive and harder to find, and was maybe not as archival. So I tried zinc white and found its working properties similar enough to the flake white to make the switch.
Now I have enough experience under my belt and enough knowledge of color that I could make a painting work with just titanium white. When I was just starting though it was much harder for me to control. For that reason I always recommend to my students to start with zinc white, or at the very least "soft mixing" white, which is a blend of zinc and titanium white. They all find this much easier to work with. I then introduce titanium white into their palette for those bright impasto highlights or when more body may be needed in a specific color mix.
When buying tubes of white, I buy a couple of large tubes of zinc white at a time. I have only ever purchased one large tube of titanium white and I am still working my way through it. For hobbyist painters a small tube of titanium white would be sufficient.
Winsor & Newton Artists Oil Color Paint, 200ml Tube, Zinc White
Winsor & Newton Artists Oil Color Paint Tube, 37ml, Titanium White
