Why I Love Watercolor
When I was 9, I fell in love with drawing sharks, dolphins, and other sea creatures. After a while it eventually branched into drawing random animals. I continued to draw up until the end of middle school. When I finally attended high school, everything changed. I got introduced to watercolor for the first time in my life. After that, it became my main medium. It’s just so unpredictable and that’s the beauty of it. However, when I first started, I didn’t really know anything about what supplies to get. In this article, I’m going to be going over the items that I wish I had sooner to start my watercolor journey and to save you time so you can start as well!
The Items We'll Be Discussing
- Watercolor
- Watercolor Paper
- Watercolor Brush
- Palette
We will only be discussing these items as I believe this are the most important materials you will need to start. There are more items to further improve your experience but we’re not going to focus on that for now.
Beginner Watercolor Sets
Watercolor Tubes
Watercolor Pans
Let’s start with the most obvious item which is watercolor. Watercolor mainly comes in tubes and pans. They also come in other forms, but just to keep it cool and short, we’ll just talk about these two. So what’s the difference between the two?
The tubes will be slightly more watery than the pans. This means that you won’t need as much water when you pour the paint out and you can use it directly fresh out of the tube if you want. You can also pour the paint out in pans or in a palette and let it dry. Then, you can reactivate it with water.
Also, you can make your own selection of colors as you can buy tubes individually. This gives you complete control over your watercolor palette. However, this make them more expensive so take that into consideration.
The best watercolor tubes in my opinion is the Daniel Smith Essentials Mixing Watercolor Paint. I really like these because these tubes last a good while. They’re my go-to paint brands as well. The paint is just so vibrant and it’s high quality.
Now it’s pretty expensive considering that it has only 6 tubes for roughly $40 dollars, but you’d be surprised that it’s a really good deal.
Watercolor pans are less moist than the tubes so you’re going to be needing just a tiny bit more water. Pans are also more restrictive because you can’t customize your palette.
However, this makes them cheaper and you don’t have to wait to pour each and every single color of paint and wait for it to dry as pans are ready to be used as soon as you buy it. They’re also more portable as they already come in a case in which the palette is stored.
I recommend the Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolors Sketchers’ Pocket Box. Twelve colors for about $35?! Yeah that’s a no brainer.
What should I use?
So which watercolor supplies should you pick? Although watercolor pans are cheaper than tubes, honestly just go for the tubes if you can. Just go for tubes because you have more control over your paint and palette. Yes you’ll pay more, but honestly you get more variety and flexibility. Now I will say this. If you have children wanting to start with watercolor, go for pans. They’re very low-maintenance and they’re ready to be used directly from the case. And since they’re more affordable, you can get many sets for a pretty affordable price.
Beginner Watercolor Brushes
Brushes are based on personal preference. Many artists find a specific brand that they want. You’ll also find that certain types of brushes and shapes produce different results that can be used in specific applications.
Most artists prefer softer brushes. Bristle and goat hair brushes are very soft and both are popular choices. Sable hair has a little more “spring” than goat hair, giving the artist a little more control. Many artists prefer soft nylon brushes because of their superior spring and stroke control. In fact, I prefer to use nylon brushes for most applications.
Stiffer hairs like boar bristles are mostly avoided. In some cases, stiffer bristles are used for a special textural effect.
I would go for round brushes because they’re so versatile and they’re usually cheap.
Brushes I recommend are the Princeton Series 3750 Select Synthetic and the Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolor Brushes.
Princeton Series 3750 Select Synthetic
Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolor Brushes
Beginner Watercolor Papers
Paper Difference
Watercolor paper is equally as important as the paint and brushes. Watercolor paper can be made of either cotton fibers or wood pulp, commonly called cellulose. You can also buy a 50-50 mix of cotton and cellulose. Cellulose is cheaper to produce but creates a lower quality paper, as the wood fibers are not as fine and smooth as cotton. Watercolor paper is heavier and thicker than normal paper. They usually come in three forms: cold press, hot press, and rough.
Cold press: Perhaps the most popular form of watercolor paper is cold press paper. It is referred to as “cold press” since the paper is rolled on cold cylinders during the manufacturing process. This process produces an irregular dimple pattern in the paper.
Hot press: Hot press papers are a bit smoother in texture since the paper is rolled on hot cylinders during the manufacturing process. Brush strokes are usually visible on hot press papers.
Rough: Unlike hot press and cold press papers, rough papers are not rolled on cylinders at all. Instead, they are hard pressed, or not pressed at all. The resulting texture is a heavy tooth of an irregular pattern.
Watercolor paper will usually also come in three different weights
- 90 lb (180 gsm) – Thick enough to absorb wet applications.
- 140 lb (300 gsm) – Thicker paper capable of absorbing multiple applications with little buckling.
- 300 lb (640 gsm) – Very thick paper capable of absorbing multiple applications without any buckling
There are many types of brands for watercolor paper but there a few I recommend. The Canson XL is a great brand for affordable cellulose papers and a good choice for beginners. Another good watercolor paper brand with a wide range of options is the Strathmore. If you have the budget, get Arches paper. Considered one of the most premium brands, these cotton watercolor papers are popular and great. They are a bit expensive with almost a dollar per sheet, but it’s really worth it.
Beginner Watercolor Palette
If tube paints are used, then a good palette is essential. Disposable palettes, such as palette paper, can be used but tend to be a bit wasteful. Dried watercolor can be reactivated with water, so it doesn’t make sense to use a disposable palette in most circumstances.
Manufacturers produce a variety of palette solutions for the watercolor artist. I prefer to use a plastic palette that is sealable. Palettes that can be sealed keep the paint wet for a much longer period of time. But as I just mentioned, this is not always necessary with watercolors. Plastic palettes allow for easy removal of the paint when dry and are water resistant.
The palette that I prefer to use features a tray of sections that surround a flat area for mixing. I don’t have a recommendation cause there isn’t a best tray and it comes down to preference. I would check the Plastic 10-Well Paint Tray.
Now Go Create Something!
Now you have all of the supplies to start your journey. Now go and don’t be afraid to try something new. It’s all about having fun.