As a Watercolor Beginner, choosing Art Supplies can be very confusing, especially in an age, where there is an abundant of choices both online & offline.
But it is very important to understand that when you start out in any medium & in this case, Watercolors, you have to get your goals straight, which is learn, evolve & then finally conquer the medium.
Here are a few insights item by item, explained to help you choose & create your own Watercolor Painting Kit
“Every choice you make has an end result”-Zig Ziglar
Paint:
Watercolor paints come in many varieties like tube, stick, cake etc. But the most widely used & convenient are the tube & cake. Tubes come in various sizes like 5ml, 15ml etc while cakes come basically in two sizes-half & full pan. Cakes are a bit hard & hence require quite a bit of water to get the pigments in the brush hairs. For me sometimes it’s frustrating, but at the same time, it’s more convenient to carry.
Tubes on the other hand is one of the best option. Tubes are easy to carry, restricts wastage & preserves the pigments well.
Now, If you can afford, it’s always good to get professional art supplies(atleast paint,paper & brush) from the beginning itself. But if that’s not possible then atleast try to get the best among the student grade art supplies. Winsor & Newton Cotman series watercolors is one good student grade Watercolors for beginners whose pigments are good to start with.
Brush:
In watercolor, they say, the level of an artist can be easily determined by the brush strokes & wash in a painting. And to both, brush plays a very important role. There is an abundant variety of brush types, sizes & quality. You will simply be confused with the good choices that you will have while choosing a watercolor brush.
Do I choose a flat or round brush?
A sable or a synthetic?
A size 6 or size 12?
Which brand do i choose?
If you ask me these questions as a person who has just started watercolors or about to start, I would simply recommend the following:
“ Buy a Round Escoda or Rosemary or Winsor & Newton brush of size 6, 8 & 12(sable or synthetic depends on your budget) & you are ready to start. As an alternative you can simply buy a readily available set of Escoda Travel Brushes(size-2,6 & 10) ”
I personally own quite a few brushes but end up using only these 3 sizes.
Even if you can afford, don’t spend a fortune on buying all kinds of brushes, or you will simply lose focus from the primary goal of painting.
Palette:
You will basically find three types of watercolor palettes-plastic, metal & ceramic, the 3rd being the least preferred in this case. Again there are studio palettes & travel palettes, the former being open in nature with no cover, while the latter would be with an option to fold like a pencil box so that you can take it with you wherever you travel.
My personal suggestion for the beginner watercolor would be to buy a folding palette(plastic or metal. Doesn’t matter much) & then pour your choice of paints in the wells from warm colors on one end to cool ones on the other. The advantage would be that you can use it in studio as well as outdoors while you travel & paint.
My personal favourite is Heritage Arts Paint Palette 18 wells
Paper:
Now, paper is a very individual choice. I cannot suggest you which paper to buy. Some might like cold pressed, while others love hot pressed. All variants provide different level of effects & would need different approach. But generally speaking, it would be ideal to start with a paper with thickness of minimum 200gsm, since you will be using quite a lot of waters & you don’t want cramps in the paper after a few washes.
Leaving the premium papers aside, I have tried the Art Essentials Watercolor Paper once & liked it. Its very economical for a beginner. One small tip: If you are not liking the paper directly, try dipping the whole paper in a bucket of water & let it dry & then paint. I liked it that way.
Brush Holder:
Buying a brush is one thing, but maintaining them is another task altogether. A good brush holder not only lets you keep the hairs in good shape, but it also helps you carry the brushes without damaging them while travelling somewhere.
Other important supplies:
A good paper tape to stretch your paper in the board
A good sheet of plyboard or acrylic board to tape the paper to paint it upon
An easel if possible
A plastic jar(easy to carry) of around 300-500ml volume
Some tissues
A pencil & an eraser(of course)
NB: Please be advised that this post is for anyone who is struggling to decide on what art supplies to buy before they start. Hence I have kept it very minimalist so that you remain focused on your job of painting & not be confused by a mountain of different kinds of art supplies. Atleast, not while you are starting out.
I hope this helps. Please feel free to comment what you think should be the right choice of art supplies for a Watercolor beginner.
I was thinking of trying out a new hobby now that I have more free time to spare from work, so I was thinking of learning how to paint with watercolor. I’m thankful for your tip when you told us to start with a paper with a minimum of 200 GSM for thickness since we might end up using a lot of water when watercolor painting. I’ll take note of this while I look for a nearby arts and crafts store to visit for supplies soon.