Recommended Starter Supplies
Watercolor & Plein Air (Watercolor & Gouache)
This is a compilation of supplies to get started with watercolor and gouache painting. There are different options for every budget and different preference options! This is a working list that I am compiling and editing.
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Palette Only
Aluminum Watercolor Folding Palette - my personal palette / current favorite
Mr. Pen Plastic Watercolor Palette - good budget option(Similar to the ones in class)
Portable Painter Palette w/ Pans & Water Cup integrated - I own one of these and love it for a super compact palette, paint not included.
Wooden Clip Watercolor Palette - Love this super compact palette for plein air!
Watercolor Paint Only
Daniel Smith Essentials Watercolor Mixing Set (just paints, but fabulous paints)
Winsor and Newton Cotman Tube Watercolor Set (great student grade tube set to play with, will last a long time)
Sennelier Mini Set Watercolors - Fabulous mini pan set!
Watercolor Palette & Paints
Sennelier Half Pan Tin Palette Set - Larger set with half pan paints and tin palette
Winsor and Newton Cotman Tin Palette (with paints included)
Gouache
Arteza Gouache Set - 24 Colors - I own this set, it is fantastic for the price with tons of colors to play with.
M Graham Gouache Set (Primary Set) - Bit pricy but fabulous set! (I own this set)
M. Graham Titanium White Gouache - white gouache for mixing and highlights on watercolors
*Gouache can be used with any of the empty watercolor palettes listed above.*
Paper
Better
Arches Watercolor Paper 140lb Cold Press - 9X12 Pad (highly recommend, my personal choice, a touch on the pricier side but worth it, especially for finished paintings) 10/10
Bee Watercolor Paper - 6X9" Sheets 50count - Great beginner/intermediate paper and great value for 50 sheets!
Budget
Fluid 9x12 140lb cold press block (great for beginner watercolor blocks, budget-friendly, great for experimenting and traveling)
Canson Montreal 9X12 Pad - A great budget paper!
Canson XL Watercolor Paper - one of the papers we will use in class
Strathmore Watercolor Paper Pad 9X12 (budget friendly)
Tape
Artist Masking Tape - Great masking tape for painting, doesn’t tear good watercolor paper
Sponges & Spray Bottles
Sponges Multi color - Secret weapon for watercolor!
Fine Mister Bottle Small - great compact spray bottle
Brushes
Simply Simmons Round Brush Size 10 -
Silver Black Velvet Round Size 8 - is a natural/synthetic blend
Princeton Aqua Elite Synthetic Kolinsky Round Size 8 - Nicer synthetic brush
Natural Mop Brush Set - natural hair mop brushes, fantastic for washes/painting larger/skies/etc.
Natural Round Brush Set - natural hair blend round brush set
Brush Cleaners
Paint Puck Mini Multi Pack - Mini Paint Pucks - suction cup silicone pieces that stick into water cups to help clean your brushes- love these!
Sketchbooks
Drawing
Moleskin Art Sketchbook - great hardcover sketchbook
Strathmore Sketchbook Small - Great inexpensive sketchbooks
Strathmore Pocket Sketchbook - Super fun small sketchbook, great for thumbnail sketches
Mixed Media
Canson XL Mixed Media Sketchbook 9X12 - fantastic all-around mixed media sketchbook. Can use watercolor, or middle-of-the-road paper.
Watercolor/Heavy Ink
Strathmore Travel Journal Watercolor - fabulous and great paper!
Hahnemuhle WC A6 Sketchbook - Great little sketchbook.
6X10" Arches Watercolor Spiral Bound Sketchbook - My personal favorite watercolor paper in a very nice convenient spiral bound form
Canson Watercolor Small Sketchbook - Decent budget paper, great small size
Drawing Supplies
Blackwing 602 - all-time favorite graphic pencils! Comes with rectangular erasers. 10/10
Blackwing 2 Step Sharpener - favorite sharpener
Masking Supplies
Long Ruling Pen - Ruling pen for masking fluid, thicker paint, and ink
Winsor and Newton Masking Fluid - Colored masking fluid
Drawing Gum Masking Marker - Masking fluid marker (if you don’t like using a ruling pen/liquid masking)
https://amzn.to/46CHXq9 - gum rubber for removing masking fluid
Special Effects Supplies
Winsor and Newton Granulation Medium - Granulation medium (to help the paint pigment separate)
Winsor and Newton Gum Arabic - Gum arabic liquid
Winsor and Newton Iridescent Medium - iridescent medium
Additional Plein Air Supplies
Artist Lanyard - Fabulous tool!
View Catcher - 10/10 best plein air tool
Proportion Tool - very underrated tool, great for proportion/scale
Black Brush Pen - Super fun for sketching
Art Supply Storage Tote - Great small storage tote