Video tutorial on recommended watercolor supplies
Equipment and Supplies
Supplies & Equipment
Watercolor Supply List
First let me say this about supplies. Supplies do matter, especially paint and paper. If you choose cheap paint and paper, your paintings will suffer. You will not get a good deep, rich and vibrant hue color if you skimp. Some of the beauty of watercolor doing its magic is dependent on using good 100% cotton paper and colors with deeper and truer pigment. This is sometimes more expensive, but definitely worth it. Know this going in. If you're just experimenting with techniques and playing around as a beginner, use up the cheap stuff. However, as you start to get more serious and really want to create beautiful art worth keeping; art you will be proud of, you'll want to invest in good and more expensive paint and paper.
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Watercolor Palette:
If possible, purchase a palette with a lid and many different sized compartments. This way your paint does not dry out so fast. If you store it away with a wet paper towel or foam, your paint will stay moist for a few days. I like to use a ceramic palette, but plastic will work too. Make sure it is white. You should also have a large area to mix paint or just have a white plate handy. One option is here (Bigger) or (smaller really affordable) Here is the big ceramic palette that I use.
Watercolor Brushes: I have a few as links you can click on to see on the Blick Website. I gave links to a few very affordable ones that I have used.
You can choose a decent affordable brand here or a very nice/expensive brand here.
One very affordable 6 brush set I am experimenting with is here.
• #1/0 or #2/0 round (for small detail work)
• #6 or 8 round, one nice one here.
• #Flat 1/4, 1/2 to 3/4 or 1 inch
• #Flat 1.5 inch (for bigger washes on bigger paintings. decent & affordable or expensive & real nice
• OPTIONAL - Fan Brush
• Affordable decent economy 6 Brush Kit here.
Watercolor Board:
(1/4 inch masonite or plywood) this is what you mount your paper to. Get the board about the same size as your paper. 11x15 or 12x16 is a good starting size. You can also use gator foam, or plastic cardboard sheets.
Watercolor Paper:
I paint on Arches 140 lb. cold press 100 % cotton paper which is required for some of my workshops. You will need to purchase this either in sheets or a "Block". Blocks are a bunch of sheets glued together on the sides. This makes it easy to paint on because there is no need to stretch the paper. See it here (click)
For big paintings, I buy big 44" x 10yd rolls and just cut off what I need. This gives me the option to paint really big paintings. It also comes in 22" x 30" sheets. I will often paint a"half sheet" (15" x 22") or quarter sheet (11" x 15")
• Masking tape 1 inch wide. (Optional)
• Approximately 8 binder clips
(for clipping the paper to your board)
We will discuss other ways to attach the paper to the board in the course, but this is my preferred way.
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Watercolor Paint:
Winsor Newton is a professional grade paint for the serious painter. They also have a student grade available (Cotman). Here again, If you buy cheap paint you won’t get as bright, intense, and vivid colors. Daniel Smith and M. Graham & Co. paints are also good. M. Graham has a basic set I like and use all colors in it. See it here.
Paint Colors:
I recommend at least 2 blues, 2 reds, 2 yellows. One of each of the warmer and cooler selections. There are also a few other important paints that I rely on below that.
The underlined colors are most frequently used.
BLUES:
• Ultramarine Blue (more reddish - Cool)
• Windsor blue green shade or cobalt blue (more greenish - warm)
sometimes I will use Windsor blue red shade (cool) also
REDS:
• Cadmium Red (more yellowish - warm)
• Alizarin Crimson (more blueish - Cool)
I also like to have a magenta on hand and a violet
YELLOWS:
• Cadmium Yellow (more reddish - warm)
• Lemon or AZO Yellow (Cool) (M. Graham Co.)
I really like the AZO yellow
• Cadmium Orange or Gamboge (warm)
(a nice yellow orange color)
GREENS:
(one leans yellow , one leans blue)
• Sap Green or Hookers Green dark (more yellowish - warm)
• Permanent green light or (more blueish - cool)
• Pthalo Green (Cool) (important for certain greens)
Others important: (a few more I rely on)
• Burnt Sienna • Raw Umber or Sepia
• Paynes gray • Yellow Ochre
Additional Items and accessories:
• Windsor Newton Art Masking fluid
• Shoe box or old tackle box to hold supplies
• Water spray bottle
• 2 clear cups or jars for water
• box of white tissue or toilet paper roll
• old tooth brush
• Pencils: mechanical ones with metal tips (Important for a neat technique) 7mm or 9mm.
• 20-30 cotton swabs (important)
• At least a few toothpicks: flat not round if you can find them.
• Exacto knife or at least a blade
• scissors
• salt in shaker
• Hair Dryer (compact if you have one, optional)
Places to look online: compare prices & shop.