Get started with watercolour painting with the right supplies! Choosing your paint, paper and brushes can seem overwhelming, especially when you walk into an art store and you’re greeted with walls of options.
I mean, how is anyone supposed to know what watercolour supplies to buy? How can you tell what is good and worth the money?
Watercolour supplies are expensive too, which means that mistakes can be costly. I’ve wasted a lot of time and money buying the wrong supplies, but you don’t need to! Below you’ll find everything I know about watercolour paint, paper and brushes, so you can get it right the first time.
Disclaimer: I’ve been a watercolour artist for many years and all of these recommendations are my own reviews. I don’t accept payment or gifts from brands and don’t earn commission. I and have paid for these with my own money and only recommend brands and products I use and love within my own work.
Contents
- Guide to the best watercolour paints
- Guide to the best watercolour paper
- Guide to the best watercolour brushes
- The best watercolour supplies for beginners
- Watercolour palettes guide
- Download my full watercolour supply list!
- Supplies for travel and painting outside
- How to make your supplies last longer
- The best watercolour sketchbooks
Guide to the best watercolour paints
The first thing you’ll want to start with is the watercolour paint. Walk into any art store and you’ll see a whole wall of different types, brands and colours. So overwhelming, right?
It helps to understand what exactly is in your paint. Watercolours are made up of pigment, binders and other additives. In cheaper paints, you get less pigment and the bulk is made up of binders and additives – that’s what makes paints cheaper but it can also give them a dull and chalky look.
Then you need to decide if you want pans or tubes, and what colours are best – it’s a lot to consider!
>> Read my guide to buying the best watercolour paints for you.
Bonus guides to watercolour paints
Guide to the best watercolour paper
Paper is arguably the most important watercolour supply to get right. The same paints used on different paper can have dramatically different results.
It’s important to use paper that is designed for watercolour. If you use regular printer paper, or sketchbooks for drawing, you’ll notice that the results look flat, patchy and dull.
The reason for this is sizing. It’s a type of glue used to bind watercolour paper, and it creates a slight barrier on top of the paper, holding the water and pigment on the paper’s surface.
Without sizing, the watercolour would be absorbed straight into the paper, and you wouldn’t get cool effects like wet on wet bleeds or colour gradients.
The sizing keeps the water and pigment on the surface. This allows for blending and even drying, avoiding patches of colour with hard edges. It also stops the pigment getting lost in the paper fibres, keeping colours strong and vibrant.
>> Read my guide to choosing the best watercolour paper for you.
Bonus guides to watercolour paper
Guide to the best watercolour brushes
Watercolour brushes are the final piece of kit that you need. Many beginners buy lots of different brushes, but in truth you only need a few to get started. The huge sets often mean you don’t use that many of them.
It’s best to buy brushes that are meant for watercolour – they’re designed to hold plenty of water so they don’t dry out midway through a stroke. They also have soft, delicate bristles that can be easily moved around the page.
Oil and acrylic brushes have thick, tough bristles to move the thicker paint, which is not ideal for delicate watercolour pigment.
>> Read my full guide to buying the best watercolour brushes for you.
Bonus watercolour brush guides
The best watercolour supplies for beginners
Looking for affordable brands ideal for new painters? These are my recommendations for the best quality watercolour supplies for when you’re starting out, including brands that I use and love.
>> Read the full guide for watercolour supplies for beginners.
How to choose the best watercolour palette
Watercolour palettes are a core part of your watercolour supplies. But if you go into an art shop, or on a supplies website, there are dozens of options! How do you know what to look for, and what are the alternatives to traditional palettes?
Whether you choose a metal, plastic or ceramic palette, you need to ensure you have enough space for all your paints and plenty of room for mixing.
>> Read my guide to choosing the best watercolour palettes for you.
Download my free watercolour supply guide
Feeling overwhelmed and confused by watercolour paints, papers and brushes? Download my free guide filled with insider info, including a list of good supplies for every budget, and my complete supply list!
The best supplies for travelling
Outdoor or plein air painting is a wonderful way to practise your creativity! It’s great for urban sketching and landscapes, as well as painting plants and flowers on location. I love to set up in a park or green space and paint the beautiful inspiration around me.
But I found that not all my favourite watercolour supplies are ideal for outdoor painting, and I didn’t want to lug all my equipment around, so I found myself back at the art shop looking for plein air painting supplies. Buying a few watercolour paints, brushes and other supplies meant for travelling made me more likely to take my paints out and about.
>> Read my full guide to the best watercolour supplies for travelling
The best watercolour sketchbooks
They can be handy small-format book for painting while travelling, or a space to keep a creative diary. Sketchbooks made with watercolour paper are a must-have supply.
>> Read my guide to watercolour sketchbooks.
How to make your watercolour supplies last longer
Watercolour supplies are really expensive! Those tiny tubes of paint can be pricey, and don’t even get me started on the paper. I find that many artists, especially beginner painters, are so reluctant to waste supplies that they put off even opening them.
But supplies that aren’t being used are the biggest waste of all. So how can you get the most out of your supplies and make them last longer?
>> Read my guide to making your supplies last longer.
More creative watercolour supplies
Download my free watercolour supply guide
Feeling overwhelmed and confused by watercolour paints, papers and brushes? Download my free guide filled with insider info, including a list of good supplies for every budget, and my complete supply list!