Are you thinking about trying your hand at Watercolor?  I’m excited for you!  Watercolor is one of my favorite mediums both for the ease of use and for the look of the finished product.  You may have noticed that there are thousands of products out there to use and buy.  It can be pretty overwhelming!  My goal here today is to make it as easy as possible for you to get started and enjoy your process.  I believe the best way to learn is to just jump in and do it.  So I’m sharing some of my favorite supplies to help you do just that!  If you’d rather just watch a video showing all of these products in action, you can find it in the Resource Library. 

And just a quick note: If you’d like to include more watercolor art into your life, I’d like to invite you to join us in The Lily & Thistle Watercolor School!  It’s an online membership designed to help you become a more confident artist quickly.  You can check it out here.  Or just click on the photo below.  It makes a great gift too!

Your supplies are important!

Quality Matters – Really

Do you remember the Crayola watercolors from childhood complete with the hard bristled plastic brush?  I’m guessing it probably wasn’t the best experience.  You’re a grown-up now so you get to use grown-up materials!

Without going into too much detail, you want paint that has lots of high-quality pigment (the color in your paint) and good binders (the stuff that holds your pigment together).  When you paint with lower quality paint, it can sometimes feel like you are using all of your paint to get a good deep color and then when your colors dry they look dull.  This means you probably have low-quality binders/pigment.

Just like most things in life, you usually get what you pay for.  My advice is the get the best paint and materials you can afford.  You don’t need every color in the rainbow to start (You can use my color mixing chart in the Resource Library and mix every color in the rainbow! see below) or all. of. the. brushes. Look for “artist quality” and try to steer clear of “student quality”.  Channel your inner minimalist in the beginning and go for quality over quantity.  You can always add more later once you’ve got the hang of things!

Let’s break down the basics:

Paint:

So let’s talk about paint!  There are many choices out there.  In fact, I could probably do a whole post just on paint but we are going to keep it really simple today (if you want to see a video of all of my favorites, you can find it in the Resource Library).  So, here goes:

There are four paint categories:

Pans

 

When you think of watercolor, you probably first think of pans (just like the Crayola ones you used in school).  Pans are a great option when you are just starting out.  There are lots of great quality pan sets for a pretty reasonable price.  They are easy to put away (which is important for busy mamas!) and are very portable (very helpful for nature journals).

Here are links to my favorites:

Winsor and Newton Watercolour Paint Sketchers (I use this set on almost all of my projects and I love that it is so easily portable)

Winsor and Newton Half Pan 45 Watercolor Set (This set is a larger version with multiple shades and doubles of certain colors that are used often – great for if you paint a lot and want more options)

Tubes

Watercolor tubes are great for large paintings or if you plan to stay in the watercolor game for a long time.  With watercolor tubes, a little goes a long, long way.  Each tube holds A LOT of pigment (color in the paint).  Quality tubes tend to be more expensive simply because they hold a lot more paint.  I would suggest getting tubes if you are doing really large areas or if you know that you want to invest in something that will last for a long while.  You will need a palette to put your paint in.  The nice this is when the paint dries you can use it like a pan palette and come back and use the paint over and over again.

Here are my favorites:

Windsor and Newton Watercolor Tubes

Sakura Koi Watercolor Tubes

Liquid

Liquid watercolors are a concentrated liquid watercolor paint in bottles.  They can be used at full strength for a really deep/vibrant color, but depending on the quality, you’ll probably always want to add a little water.  Just like with any watercolor paint, the stronger you want the color, the less water you use. The lighter you want the color, the more water you use.  They are a bit more pricey but oh so fun!

Here are my favorites:

Dr. Ph. Martins Liquid Watercolors

Sargent Liquid Watercolors

Watercolor Pencils

I almost didn’t include these under paint because obviously, they are pencils.  But, they turn into paint when you add water!  I love using watercolor pencils because you get plenty of control when putting down your color and then as you add water you achieve a beautiful watercolor effect (you can see these in action in my video found in the Resource Library).  Again, quality really matters on these. My favorites are a bit pricey but you can buy them one at a time for around $3.00.  Just get your basic primary colors first and add as you can afford.

Here are my favorites:

Faber Castell Watercolor Pencils

Derwent Watercolor Pencils

Paper

Watercolor paper is one of the most important things you can buy that will make your experience with watercolor a good one.  The good news is, you can usually find a good artist quality paper for a pretty reasonable price.  There are three categories:

Hot Press has a smooth almost velvety surface and is good for a more detailed, dry brush use (dry brush means less water more pigment).  I would recommend this if you are using it for lettering or just adding color to a line drawing.

Cold Press is what you typically think of when you think of watercolor paper.  There is a bit of a tooth to it but not too much.  It absorbs water a bit more quickly than Hot Press and holds color really well.

Rough just has more texture.  That’s it. 🙂

Here are my favorites:

Canson Cold Pressed Watercolor Paper (Great cost effective watercolor paper that I used on a lot of my projects and recommend using it when you are just starting out.)

Arches Cold Pressed Watercolor Paper (Very good quality paper, costs more per page, but when you are ready to move up to this paper it’s worth every penny)

Arches Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper (This is very good quality paper, especially if you are doing hand lettering or very detailed painting.  Remember hot press should be used for more detailed photos with more pigment and less water.)

Watercolor Cards with Envelopes

Brushes

Again, I could do a whole post about brushes.  My best advice is to keep it very simple in the beginning.  A good round brush is a great place to start.  I also really love my water brushes (water is stored in the brush itself  – see the video of how these work in the Resource Library) for nature journaling or when I don’t want water available for kids to spill!  Stay away from cheap craft brushes.  You want something that is soft and holds water.  Craft brushes are designed for thicker paint and harder surfaces. Also at this point, try to stay away from the crazy expensive specialty brushes (unless you have money to burn).  You can achieve most of your desired results with just the basics. I promise.

Here are my favorites:

Ohuhu Water-in-Paintbrush Set

My Artscape Paintbrush Set

Miscellaneous Supplies

And just a few more things to make your experience great:

1. Art masking fluid is a fun supply to have.  It’s basically like rubber cement that you can paint over and then after the paint is dry, remove.  Art masking fluid keeps your paper free of paint in the area applied.  I did a demonstration on the video in the Resource Library – feel free to check it out!
2. Masking tape.  I use this on the edges of my paper when I’m painting something I intend to give away or frame.  It keeps my edges clean and has a nice effect.  Again, see the video in the Resource Library for a demonstration.
3. You don’t have to buy a special jar for your water, my point here is to have a BIG container of water. This will help keep your colors vibrant and clean.  If your water is dirty, your painting will look muddy.
4. Paper towels are a lifesaver!  You can use them to blot out too much water and of course to dry out your brushes after you wash them.  In the resource video, I show you how to use them to take away pigment and make clouds. Access it here.
5. I love to use white gouache to add white highlights to my paintings.  It’s easy to use and dries just like watercolor.  I plan to do a whole post about gouache in the future.  It’s basically watercolor on steroids.  Lots of pigment and very concentrated color.
6. Another option is Speedball’s white acrylic ink.  It does the same thing as the gouache I mentioned above but it’s a bit more fluid.  Just another way to add highlights.

Closing Thoughts

Watercolor is such a fun and so versatile medium!  It’s even better with quality supplies.  I hope this post has been helpful to you.  If you’d like to make your own color mixing chart, you can find that video and many more fun resources in our Resource Library.  Remember quality over quantity and HAVE FUN!

Also, just a quick note: If you’d like to learn the basics of watercolor in a simple way, and fast-  I’d like to invite you to join us at The Lily & Thistle Watercolor School!  It’s an online membership designed to get you and your family into art and nature through monthly watercolor projects, coloring pages, original poetry, and more.  You can check it out here.  Or just click on the photo below.  It makes a great gift too!

 

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