My Favorite Watercolor Supplies

Watercolor supplies are THE most important part of creating beautiful watercolors. That’s right. It isn’t about talent, as much as ensuring that your supplies serve you well in your quest to create beautiful watercolors. I wanted to just share the few things that I use on a daily basis. I really want to make the point that you do not need to buy a ton of supplies to create beautiful  watercolors. Check out my video where I share all of my favorite supplies and what I love about them.

PAINT

Let’s start with my paints. I started my watercolor career with Van Gogh watercolor paints. They are manufactured in Holland by Royal Talens and produce beautiful colors with very high standards of lightfastness. This is important in ensuring your watercolor art stands the test of time and doesn’t fade.

Since I paint in a more realist style, my colors tend to be very earthy. When I started, I stuck with Payne’s Gray, Sepia, Indigo and Burnt Umber. Over time, and as I started to get more comfortable with landscapes and color, I’ve been using more Cobalt Blue, Burnt Sienna, Magenta and Permanent Red Light. Color is something I’ve eased into, as I tend to like more neutral tones, but as you get more comfortable with watercolors, finding vibrant colors to experiment with is great fun.

BRUSHES

From a Brush perspective, I’ve always been partial to Princeton. When I first started, I bought a cheap set of theirs from Dick Bllck. Although a great starting point, I grew into their higher quality lines. Brushes come with either animal hair or synthetic fibers. I only use synthetic brushes because the animal lover in me cannot bare to think of hurting a living creature for my creations. It goes against every fiber of my being…and good synthetic brushes work perfectly. Especially those that you spend the extra money on.

My MOST favorite brushes are my Flat Brush, Rounds 6 and 12 and my Liners. My flat brush is perfect for washes and I use it also to do some wave textures when I paint bodies of water, as well. My rounds are typically used for just about everything. Larger rounds are great for larger areas and smaller rounds are great for details and smaller areas. My liners are my secret weapon when creating fine details, such as animal fur, feather textures or lines in rocks.

Paper

WOW. I learned so much with paper and it took me awhile. This is because I started my art career using Tombow Dual Brush Watercolor Markers and they worked really well on cheaper paper. When I began painting with real watercolors, however, the paper did not serve me well. When I made the leap from cellulose paper to 100% cotton, it was a game changer. I use Arches mostly, but have started experimenting with others. I use their Hot Press of fine detailed animals and their Cold Press for landscapes and abstracts. I personally don’t like using blocks, because I prefer to tape down my paper to either my desk or a subsurface for more flexibility.

If you are just starting out with watercolors and would like a more comprehensive guide on Watercolor Supplies, go to the link below to download my free Watercolor Supply Guide.

Keep Calm and Watercolor on,