Watercolours

There is a school of thought that suggests beginners buy and use any cheap watercolour materials to get started.  Having taught watercolour painting for many years, I do not agree with this.  I see so many people struggling to get good results as their chosen materials are substandard.  It just makes life hard.  The results are poor and people want to give up. I suggest you purchase the best quality art materials you can possibly afford.  You will save money in the long run and you will make progress faster.

Brushes

You only need about three or four brushes.  A large size, a medium and a small round. Maybe a 1/2 or 3/4 inch flat.  A little rigger brush is useful for details.

The  Escoda Signature seties  is the set I use all the time.  I also have an Escoda flat brush and a rigger/script liner but that is all I use for most of my work.  The silver black velvets are also superb brushesr. They have a huge selection of shapes and sizes but I uge you to only buy three or four.  The Hake starter set will encourage you to paint in a loose way and not to worry about fine details.

Don't purchase little brushes (except the rigger).  They will force you to produce fussy, fiddly paintings.  Buy the biggest brushes you dare!  Your work will improve over night!

Paper

This is the most important of all your watercolour materials.  If you need to save money do not cut back on the quality of your watercolour paper.

The best papers on the market are 100% cotton (or cotton rag)

Yes, they are more expensive but 100% cotton paper makes an unbelievable difference to your work. The reason most people give up on watercolour is because they have used inferiour quality paper.  I have been painting in watercolour for many years and I am still unable to get good results on cheap paper.  Don't do it! 

Any brand of watercolour paper that is 100% cotton will be good.  However, my personal choices are Saunders Waterford and Arches. 

Watercolour paper can be purchased in various surfaces and weights. Don't purchase anything thinner than 140lb/300gsm

200lb/425gsm or 300lb/640gsm are my preferences.  They don't need stretching before you use them.  Stretching is a process where the paper is soaked in water, then secured on all four sides to a board using gummed brown tape. The paper is very flat and tight when dry.  However, using heavier paper does away with all that.  I have never stretched paper in 30 years!

The different types of paper surface are:

• HP (hot pressed) This is a smooth surface, used for detailed paintings, calligraphy, pen and wash
• NOT/CP (cold pressed)  This has a slightly textured surface and is used by the majority of artists

Rough or Extra Rough  Much heavier feel to the surface, great for dry brush work and showing texture

If you are new to watercolour painting, I suggest you start with NOT (cold pressed) paper)

It is much cheaper to buy your paper in individual sheets and cut them down.  You can buy sheets in full imperial size.

Palette

Don't rush out and buy one of the fancy palettes out there.  A white plastic or enamel tray or a white dinner plate is quite sufficient.  However, if you want a palette that you can carry around with you, go for something like the one that has a lid.  There are lots like this one on the market.  Any one that has a large mixing area will be fine. Those palettes with the little individual mixing compartments are useless.  You need space to mix your paints when you are using big brushes.

Paints

There are two types of watercolour paint - professional and student quality.

The difference is very noticable when you put two pieces of work side by side that have been done with different quality paints. Once again, purchase the best quality you can afford. How do you know which are professional and which are student grade?, you may ask.  A good guide is the price. Good quality paints are made of minerals with other additives.  Some minerals are cheap to mine and some are costly.  This will be reflected in the price of your paints.  If all the colours in the range are the same price, you can almost guarantee they are student quality and contain little or no real minerals.  A range of paints that has different prices for different colours is almost certainly good quality professional paint.

For a professional range of watercolour paints, I always use and can highly recommend the Daniel Smith range.  Royal Talens Rembrandt paints are also an excellent choice  For a more economical selection, Royal Talens Van Gogh paints are superb. 

I hope this introduction to watercolour painting has helped you in narrowing down the products you need to get started.  Don't believe anyone when they tell you that watercolour is the most difficult medium.  That is total rubbish!  It will be the most difficult medium to use if you work on cheap paper though!  Watercolour sometimes has a mind of its own and you have to be able to embrace that.  If you can, then you are in for some very exciting times -enjoy!

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