Materials list for Beginners Watercolour Class

PAINT

Paint comes in two grades: student or professional. If you can afford it, buy a small set of professional paints. Then build your supplies gradually. You should shop around for the best price. Online Art Stores have special offers from time to time, it can save a lot of money to compare prices online. You can also buy art materials from Broad Canvas in Oxford, and Hobbycraft in Botley.

  • Daniel Smith : Watercolour Paint : Essentials Set : 5ml : Set of 6 - This is a good starter set, offering the 2-primary system (a warm and cool yellow, warm and cool blue, warm and cool red). The tubes are small but will last a long time.

  • A very useful colour to add to the Daniel Smith Essentials set, is Burnt Sienna. You can use mix Burnt Sienna with French Ultramarine to create beautiful greys similar to Payne’s Grey.

  • Another useful colour is Pthalo Green (Blue Shade) - if you mix this with your cool red, you get a good black.

  • Another useful paint to add is Neutral Tint (this is like black, you use it to darken your hues without muddying them).

  • Another non-essential but lovely colour to have (if you like pinks) is Opera Pink. (5ml)

  • If you can push the boat out a bit further, then instead of Daniel Smith Essentials Set of 6, you could buy Golden : Qor : Watercolour Paint : Introductory Set of 12 Colours : 5ml Tubes. These are wonderful paints and will set you up well. This set includes Payne’s Grey, Burnt Sienna and Pthalo Green (Blue Shade). It does not include Opera Pink or Neutral Tint.

PAper

You will need cheap paper for warmups, and good quality paper for paintings. 100% cotton paper will give you the best results. “Blocks” (gummed on all sides) give you the best painting experience, but are a little more expensive than pads (gummed one end only). You may also want to buy an “inbetween” quality of paper, I recommend Bockingford (item 3 below). If you already have Daler Rowney Aquafine, this will be your inbetween paper.

1) This cheaper paper for warmups: Goldline : Watercolour Studio Pad : 200gsm 100 sheets : 24x32cm

2) 100% cotton paper. Please buy COLD PRESSED (also called “NOT”), 300gsm (140lb), 9x12 inches. You can buy any brand, but I recommend:
• Bauhong Master’s Choice, or
• Fabriano Acquarello Artistico

3) Inbetween quality: Bockingford Cold pressed 300gsm, 9x12 inches, or 10x14 inches if you want to work bigger!

Brushes

1) You will need this brush, you can do most things with it: Jackson's : Icon : Synthetic Sable : Watercolour Brush : Quill : No.2

2) You will also need a Hake Brush, 1 inch (24mm), for skies and washes: https://www.jacksonsart.com/jackson-s-artist-hake-white-goat-hair-brush-flat-1in-24mm

3) You may want to add a size 6 round brush. Any brand is fine, the link I’ve suggested is Pro Arte Synthetic Sable, a mid-range brush. If you purchased the size 2 Artway brush from me, then you won’t need to get a size 6 brush.

4) You may want to add a Rigger Brush to your toolkit, for fine lines. Size 1 or 2 should do fine. You want something with long bristles, about 1.5cm long.

Palette

A ceramic palette is better than a plastic one.

This would be a great one to have (they also do a bigger version, you never have enough mixing space!): Jackson's : Porcelain Palette With Cover : 19 Well : 25x33x4cm

This one is cheaper and smaller, less of an investment. Later on you could buy another one if you need more mixing space: MEEDEN Ceramic Tray Palette.

OTHER ITEMS

  • Two water jars

  • Kitchen Towel

  • Toilet paper

  • Masking tape: low tack tape works best.

  • Some rags are useful (eg an old T-shirt cut up) and can save on wasting kitchen towel and toilet paper

  • A hard pencil (something in the “H” range)

  • A soft eraser

  • A cutting mat, ruler and craft knife are useful

  • Spray bottle of water (you can use an old household spray bottle, just clean it out very well first)

  • White gouache paint.

  • Unless you are working on watercolour blocks, you will need a board to tape your paper to.