The Best Watercolour Supplies For Beginners
It is the culmination of many years of experimentation and trying out different supplies before I settled on my current favourites. I want to save you the headache and trouble of researching each item and wondering if it fits your purpose. Everything I recommend here is an item that I personally use for all my work.
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WHAT PAINT DO I USE + HOW DO I ORGANIZE THEM
MY FAVOURITE PAINT BRUSHES
I use a mix of watercolour brands, and Holbein is one of my go-to. They make beautiful vibrant paints and I love their pastel range as well. I also use White Nights watercolour, it’s artist quality but very affordable for beginners and it’s a good place to start.
I use a generic tin box for my watercolours and fill them into half pans that I keep inside the box. It’s handy for travel as well if you love to do urban sketching or outdoor painting.
This is my go-to for brushes, and having tried a variety of brushes, I still love Princeton brushes the best. You can get the starter set of brushes to test it out first, it includes some round brushes in different sizes and a flat brush. My usual go-to sizes are the size 2, 4 and size 6 brush, which are a favourite of mine. The quality is top notch and I love that the brushes has so much snap. Amongst all the brands I have tried so far, Princeton brushes remains to be my favourite.
WATERCOLOUR PAPERS THAT WORK FOR YOU
As an avid paper tester, I have tried many brands of watercolour paper and I only use 100% cotton paper now. Khadi Papers is one of my favourite papers to use because the colours look super vibrant on this paper and I love the beautiful deckled edges.
Another one of my favourite is Arches. Arches is easily on the top of my list for good papers for painting. It is 100% cotton and it comes in various sizes. If you prefer pads, they have it as well, because it’s glued down on all sides it eliminates the issue of buckling while painting. You then use a pen knife and slide it under the opening and sort of go all around the pad to get the sheet loose from the pad. If you’re looking for a more budget alternative, I love Baohong Paper as well. It’s student grade, but it’s 100% cotton so it’s my first choice for practice sessions!
