Watercolor Painting Links

Standard equipment

Watercolor painting is perhaps the easiest activity to begin in terms of the equipment and materials you need. Buying just a few items will quickly get you started but make sure you buy good quality materials. Get the best you can afford, do not buy the inexpensive items that are produced for schoolchildren who will give up after the painting class is over. Investing in the best materials will help you to create more successful paintings as you will not be fighting to make them work. The essential pieces of equipment you will need are:

• watercolor paints
• watercolor paper
• watercolor brushes
• watercolor palette
• water carrier

Watercolor paints

Watercolor paints come in two varieties: cakes (small blocks or pans) and tubes. Cakes are easier to carry around and work with as they usually come in their own plastic tray, however they do dry out quickly. On the other hand you have to squeeze an amount of paint out of a tube so you may lose it if you do not use it in one sitting. Use cakes if you are doing small sketches or outdoor painting, and tubes if you are working on larger paintings in the studio.

There are different grades of watercolor paint, from “student” grade to “artist” grade. Buy a few of the higher quality paints rather than a lot of cheap ones. To get started you only need six colors: ultramarine blue and phtalo blue, cadmium yellow medium and cadmium yellow light, and cadmium red medium and alizarin crimson. This gives you a warm and cool variation of the three primary colors. Even with this limited palette you can create virtually any color you need. As you expand your skills you can expand your paint palette.

Watercolor paper

Watercolor paper comes in three grades: rough (a very textured surface), hot-pressed (a fine-grained, smooth surface), and cold-pressed (a slightly textured surface). The latter is used by most beginners. The weight of the paper indicates its thickness, and the thicker the paper the less you have to worry about it warping while you paint, so it is best to start with something 260lbs or over. With heavier paper you also do not have to worry about stretching it before you use it. A block is easier to use than sheets.

Watercolor brushes

The best watercolor brushes are made of pure sable because they have very fine hairs with a good point, they spring back into shape quickly, and they hold more paint. If you cannot afford pure sable, at least buy a sable and synthetic hair mix. Brushes come in several shapes (rounds, flats, filberts) and sizes from #0 on up. To start watercolor painting, get three round brushes in sizes 2, 6, and 8, and make sure they have a good fine point. Another good one to buy is a size 4 or 6 flat brush – you can use this to erase or remove paint from the watercolor paper. You should also have a large brush for doing washes. This can be any inexpensive large round brush.

Watercolor palette

If you are using cake watercolor paint, you can buy a palette that fits the cakes that are foldable so that they store in a small space. If you are using tube paint you can use cheap disposable plates or even an old white dinner plate. If you want to be able to store any unused tube paint, you can buy a palette with a plastic lid.

Water carrier

This does not have to be anything fancy – an old jar will do as long as it does not leak. You should have two, one for cleaning your brushes and one for mixing your paint. You can use plain tap water, but be aware that hard water decreases the paint solubility and flow, and soft water increases the paint solubility and flow. If in doubt, use bottled water.

Other materials

You should also have a pencil and kneaded eraser for sketching your composition, some tissues for blotting the paper (and removing mistakes!), and paper towels for wiping your brushes.