Welcome to Watercolor!
This guide will cover the essential materials you’ll need to start exploring the medium with confidence. Remember, as you begin, the goal isn’t to create a perfect painting. It’s to learn and enjoy the process – mistakes are all a part of the adventure!
Photo by Nik
A Beginner’s Guide to Materials
Paint
Watercolor paint comes in two main forms: tubes and pans. If you’re just getting started, I recommend pans. But as you learn, start trying tubes. If you are on a very tight budget, but eager to start, purchase 1-2 tubes of Van Gogh paints. You won’t get to explore the number of colors in a pan, but you can practice the techniques. I do NOT recommend lower quality watercolor paints like Amazon brand.
Watercolor Pans come in small, solid blocks of pigment housed in trays, making them portable and easy to store. To use pans, you simply add water to the pan, allow it to sit with the paint for a bit, and mix with your brush. Pans are great for travel.
Watercolor Tubes: contain moist, concentrated pigment. Tubes are squeezed onto a palette. Freshly squeezed tube paint is great for getting bold, vibrant colors, more intense than that in pans. Tubes are also great for doing large paintings. Once the squeezed paint dries, you can simply recharge it by adding water; however, once dried, the color intensity is reduced to that of pans. If you plan to paint a lot …and I hope you do 😉…, tubes will generally be more cost-effective.
Brands: Some quality, affordable brands for beginners are Windsor & Newton, Schmincke, and Van Gogh.
Photo by Steve Johnson
Brushes
A good starter brush is a size 10 round. The Princeton Neptune series is my favorite. Here’s a link to a recommended brush on Amazon. Although not as good, the Princeton Snap! series is a less expensive option. If you are looking for ways to save money, brushes are the least important of the 3 essentials (paint, brushes, paper). Brushes are your tool, and you can use many different tools (even a twig from your yard) to make art!
Photo by Kseniya Lapteva
Paper
Quality paper is just as important as quality paints. It will greatly affect how your brushstrokes behave. The paper I recommend to beginner’s is an 18x24 pad of 140 lb Canson watercolor paper. You will save money by cutting the 18 x 24 sheets down to smaller sizes.
Watercolor paper comes in different types:
Hot-pressed: this paper is smooth with little texture, which allows for fine details and clean lines.
Cold-pressed: slightly textured surface. Most popular type because it’s a good balance between texture and detail.
Rough: rough paper has a pronounced texture, which can add a lot of character to your work.
As you play and experiment, I encourage you to try different types and brands of watercolor paper. Arches Rough is my personal favorite.
Securing your paper:
Using a sturdy surface to tape or secure your watercolor paper is essential for maintain control over your painting, especially when using lots of water.
Gator Board: a lightweight, water-resistant, rigid board. This is the most common; however, I have never purchased one. I’ve used more creative, economical options below. Disadvantage: more expensive option
Glass table top: you can tape your painting directly onto it. Watercolor paint can easily be wiped away. Disadvantage: you can not work at an angle.
Plastic table cover: You can lay your painting directly onto this in the same way you would a glass table top. This has the same disadvantage to that of a glass table top - you can not work at an angle.
Plastic Clipboard: this is a lightweight, portable option, and give you a place to clip your paper. Great for carrying on your hikes. Disadvantage: it only works well for small paintings.
Plastic Dog Kennel Tray: Yes, you read that right! A smooth surface plastic dog kennel tray. This is what I use currently. Because I use an XL tray, I can paint very large pieces, I can angle it however I want, and it was very economical. Disadvantage: the disadvantage is the size you choose. The larger in size, the less portable it becomes. The smaller the size, the smaller your painting.
Palette
If you purchase watercolor pans, a palette is included in the set
If you purchase tubes, you’ll want a palette. I use a porcelain dinner plate.
Photo by Veronika Scherbik
To tape or not to tape?
This depends on your approach. You will want tape for our initial lessons. Tape is used along the border of the paper to prevent warping while painting… and the act of removing this tape once the painting is finished will be one of the most satisfying experiences as it leaves you with a beautiful white border that complements even the worst of paintings. As we learn new techniques, I’ll teach you how to move away from tape. As you become more advanced, you will likely switch between the two.
Masking tape: I have never had luck with masking tape as it ripped the paper off. I tried various approaches, but never found one that worked for me.
Painter’s tape: Blue painter’s tape is what I’ve used for years and I have always been happy with it.
Photo by Sixteen Miles Out