So you’d like to give watercolor a try and don’t know where to start? You’re in the right place! You can also check out my Watercolor Fundamentals YouTube video for all the essential basics for starting watercolor!
I’ll keep things simple for you by listing essentials that I would buy if I was starting from scratch today, along with some other “nice-to-have’s” if you have the interest or budget for them.
The Essentials:
You'll need paint, brushes, and paper to get started. If you want to skip all the info and just buy the right stuff... Get this paint, these brushes, and this paper and you're good to go!
Paint
The absolute best bang for your buck to start watercolor is with Winsor and Newton’s Cotman line of paints. They are student grade, but high quality and made for artists.
- The simplest way to get started is with a pre-made palette. THIS ONE has a great selection of colors and even comes with a small brush.
- If you want a little more flexibility, you can purchase a empty palette and squeeze tube paint into the wells. THIS SET of Cotman tube paints is great for that.
- Here are some palette options that I like:
- THIS PALETTE is very flexible and you can switch out the trays of color, so as you grow and discover other colors you like you can switch things out or rearrange it. It’s also nice and compact for traveling and still has lots of mixing space.
- THIS PALETTE keeps things simple and is the one that I use in the workshops I teach and that you see in my YouTube videos often. You can’t change things around very easily but if you set it up like mine you won’t really need to.
- THIS PALETTE is nice for a dedicated painting station as it’s not very portable, but ceramic is a lovely surface to mix on and this has lots of mixing space.
Brushes
It’s easy to get lost in brush options, but to start I would buy a couple of round brushes, and a flat “wash” brush from a reputable artist brand. I’ll list some good options:
- The most budget friendly option would be THIS SET from Princeton. They’re not my favorite brushes but they’re great value and you’ll be able to do a lot with them. They also have a good lifespan.
- If you have a little more to spend, I would go with THIS Heritage set, or THIS Aqua Elite set. Aqua Elite’s are a consistent favorite for me.
Paper
When it comes to paper, again it’s easy to get lost in the options, but here’s my recommendation:
- Hands down the best budget paper is Canson XL Watercolor Paper, the 140 lb option. THIS PAD is my favorite size. Versatile, there are no wires to worry about, and you can easily trim it down for different sized projects.
- Don’t worry about other papers until you have a little experience under your belt.
Other “Nice-to-Have” Supplies
- It’s useful to have tape to secure your paper down, especially if you want to paint landscapes or anything edge-to-edge on your paper. It helps keep your paper flat as you paint and gives that nice crisp edge to your painting. THIS is my favorite tape for a balance of good adhesion but won’t usually tear your paper.
- It’s also nice to have a board to tape your paper to instead of a table surface. That way you can work on multiple projects at once or move your painting project easily. You can use any flat surface (MDF board, foam board, etc). I like to use lapboard white boards so that the corners are rounded and they hold up really well to tape getting peeled off all the time. 11x14” is my favorite size so it fits my 9x12” paper. THIS board is a great option. I’d get a couple of them so I can be working on more than one piece at once.
- Micron pens are a favorite tool of mine. They are waterproof so you can use them before a painting without them bleeding once wet, and they have a nice fine tip if you want to add pen detailing after you’ve painted. THIS SET is a great starter set of the 01 size, which is my favorite. I also like the 005 size.
There you have it! All the supplies that you'll need to get started with watercolor. Well, these things and some water of course!