WATERCOLOR RESOURCE LIST
You really don’t need very much to get started, and a lot of what you choose will be personal preference—and these preferences will be honed over time as you paint. I started painting again while spending the summer on a remote island off the coast of Maine. We were living in a one room rustic cabin with our sailboat moored out front, and I started ordering art supplies like a crazy person. Our local UPS driver never wanted to drive all the way out to our house, so he would literally keep an eye out for our caretaker, Jeff, while he was on his route and he would put my packages in the back of Jeff’s car. Jeff drove an old 1972-ish Land Rover Series II, affectionately named the “QE I”. She was easy to spot. So then I, in turn, would drive around the island looking for the QE I and would retrieve my numerous packages of art supplies. Jeff was not overly amused. To my then-husband’s everlasting credit, he never said a word about the thousands of dollars I spent on random art supplies that summer. But I’m going to hopefully save you all the same hassle and expense!! I will link several options, but even the less expensive options are wonderful and ones that I myself have used. Honestly, even some of my boys’ paints are just fine and I will use them if they’re all I have and I really want to paint.
What You (Really) Need
*I will put an asterisk next to each item that is my personal choice to use, but each item I’m listing is a quality resource that will work perfectly for your paintings!!
• paint If I am painting a watercolor that I plan to sell, I use the highest quality paint I can. Quality with paint is generally determined by amount of pure pigment versus fillers, and further by where or how this pigment is sourced. My favorites are Old Holland and Case For Making. That said, you can create a beautiful painting with a lot of different paint brands. I will link a Case-for-Making pallete along with several others that I’ve used and loved. In this case I put the asterisk next to the ones I recommend buying if you are not planning to sell your work, or keep it for many years.
• *Basic 36-color set that is perfect for all ages
• Case For Making small combo set
• Old Holland watercolors that I use
• paper The general rule is, the heavier the better, since the paper is absorbing a lot of water and you want it to maintain its shape and structure. My favorite brand is Arches. They have varying weights available and you can buy either a pad or a block. The block is ready to paint on, as it is sealed all the way around to protect the pages underneath it. It is also rigid, so it’s almost like you are painting against an easel. The blocks are about twice the cost, but I usually buy them because they are just so convenient to use, and they also are fairly indestructible in storage. The pages are held in place by the seal, so they can’t become crumpled or torn. I am linking a good easel in the event that you prefer using the pad of paper. In that case you will tear off the individual sheet and tape it to the easel to give yourself a rigid surface to work from. The texture of the paper can be rough or smooth, and this is again personal preference. Generally cold press paper is more textured and hot press is smoother. I personally LOVE the texture of the rough surface, and the way it holds the water and pigment. I recommend trying both (though I have to admit I have a lot of smooth-surface watercolor paper sitting around, because I only ever want to use the rough pages)
• smooth-grain watercolor pad, 9x12 inches
• rough-grain watercolor pad, 9x12 inches
• smooth-grain watercolor block, 9x12 inches
• *rough-grain watercolor block, 9x12 inches
• tape Not a requirement, but I like to use tape to create a white border. Also, if you are painting on a single sheet of paper instead of a pad, then the tape will help you hold it in place on the easel.
• brushes These are also one of those personal preference things. Even if I have ten brushes in front of me, I end up using the same 3 brushes for the entire painting, without fail. I will link several shapes and recommend having 3-5 on hand.
One point that I really want to emphasize is that YOU DO NOT NEED ANIMAL HAIR BRUSHES!! :) once upon a time, artists did not have quality synthetic materials available, and used animal hair. We are not living in that time. Many animals are still mistreated and killed for their fur today, and these animal factories are where brush material is sourced. Synthetic brushes are just as good if not better. This is not made clear enough in mainstream art discussions, so I just want to be clear here that synthetic is not a downgrade. I prefer round-tip for oils, but having the first set might be nice since it includes a larger flat brush. I put an asterisk next to the first two, but if I were only buying one set I’d go with the first!!
• clipboard easel (only necessary if you choose to use the single sheets of paper on the watercolor pad)