Essential Supplies for Watercolor Landscape Paintings
There are so many options that it can be daunting to figure out which supplies to buy and where to start. My suggestion is to keep it simple so that it's not overwhelming.
I've curated a list of essential watercolor supplies geared towards the extreme beginner.
If you already have your own supplies, feel free to use those. Just keep in mind that if you are using different colors from the ones I am using, your results might be slightly different.
This list is purposely designed to be minimal to avoid confusion but also complete enough that you will be able to perform most common watercolor techniques.
The great thing with watercolors is that you don't need a lot of things to start. If you get good quality materials that you take care of properly, they should last you a long time.
It's easy to get carried away buying ALL. THE. THINGS! Remember that collecting paint supplies and painting are two distinct and separate hobbies.
Download the free printable essential watercolor supplies checklist: https://www.honeysilvas.com/learn
The main things you need are paint, brushes, and paper.
Paint
You don't need a lot of paint colors to start. You really only need a set of primary colors and you can mix most other colors from there. I recommend skipping the student-grade paints and just buying the artist-grade paints right away. Buying it in tubes versus pans is more economical, and the small tubes can last months or even years depending on how often you paint. I squeeze the tubes onto a palette and let them dry overnight and they pretty much behave like pans.
PRIMARY COLORS
For the paints, you will need 3 cool and 3 warm primary colors.
I am using the Daniel Smith Watercolor Essentials Set which consists of six tubes:
a warm red, a warm yellow, and a warm blue
a cool red, a cool yellow, and a cool blue.
This makes it a fantastic mixing set.
I prefer the Daniel Smith brand because they are vibrant, artist-grade, and lightfast. Daniel Smith offers sets that are great for beginners, as well as more advanced watercolorists.
Feel free to use any 3 cool and 3 warm primaries you have on hand. The concepts should be the same, but your mixed colors might be slightly different depending on the actual pigment you use.
If you want to use a different brand, most brands have an equivalent color. Just make sure that the paint is artist-grade so you can get the the best color possible. I've included the pigment numbers so you can find substitutions in other brands. You can also refer to the substitution list at the back of this book.
BLACK
Neutral Tint by Daniel Smith serves as black paint. You can also substitute any black that you prefer, such as Mars Black or Ivory Black.
Black can also be mixed from the primary colors so you don't need to get this if you prefer mixing it yourself. Mixing it yourself creates more interesting blacks, however, if you're just starting out, black can be the trickiest to mix so I recommend getting a tube of a convenience black like this so you don't have to mix it every time.
The great thing about Neutral Tint is that it's neutral, meaning it doesn't have a cool or warm temperature bias. That makes it a great black for mixing since it doesn't change the color temperature of the mix.
WHITE
For white areas, I prefer leaving the white of the paper as the white of the painting. You can paint around the paper to leave a white area or you can use different masking techniques which we'll discuss later on in the book.
Whenever that is not practical, I use Dr. Ph Martin's Bleed Proof White which is an opaque paint that comes in a jar.
* DANIEL SMITH Essentials Mixing Set Watercolor Paint: https://amzn.to/3wx0u7h
* Dr. Ph. Martin's Bleed Proof White: https://amzn.to/3LQVnTX - use for white areas
* (Optional) DANIEL SMITH Extra Fine Secondary Watercolor Set: https://amzn.to/3LWPXHP
* (Optional) DANIEL SMITH Neutral Tint: https://amzn.to/3yoqPWx - use as black
BRUSHES
For brushes, I mainly use the round brushes from the Princeton Heritage 4050 line. They keep to a fine point and are very versatile.
* Round 2, Princeton Heritage, Series 4050, Synthetic Sable Paint Brush for Watercolor: https://amzn.to/3NlEEZR - for small details
* Round 6, Princeton Heritage, Series 4050, Synthetic Sable Paint Brush for Watercolor: https://amzn.to/3sGn63O - general, all purpose brush
* (Optional) Round 12, Princeton Heritage, Series 4050, Synthetic Sable Paint Brush for Watercolor: https://amzn.to/3N7R1sD - for large areas
* (Optional) Princeton Heritage, Series 4050, Synthetic Sable Brush Set: https://amzn.to/3DIB3Do
* (Optional) Mottler, 1-1/2 inch, Princeton Aqua Elite, Series 4850, Synthetic Kolinsky Watercolor Paint Brush: https://amzn.to/3lKUmC6 - for large washes
PAPER
For final projects, I recommend getting Arches 140 lb. Cold-pressed paper in a 9 x 12 inch pad.
This is 100% cotton paper so it can be more expensive, but the results are great since cotton absorbs so much better than pulp.
For practice, I am using Canson XL watercolor paper.
This paper is made from pulp so it will react
differently than cotton but is much less expensive so it is great for practice, drills, and swatches.
* Arches, 9x12 inches 100% Cotton Watercolor paper, Cold Pressed, 140 lb: https://amzn.to/3L03rkL
* (Optional) Canson XL, 9x12 inches Watercolor Pad, 140 lb - for practice: https://amzn.to/3lNWrgB
OTHER ESSENTIAL SUPPLIES
3 cups with clean water
Most artists use 2 cups of water but I like to use 3. One for warm colors, one for cool colors, and another one for picking up clean water.Palette
I prefer this plastic folding travel palette. If you don't have one, you can also use a white paper plate or a white porcelain or ceramic plate.
Folding Travel Palette: https://amzn.to/38pGTNcArtist tape or masking tape
I use masking tape to adhere the paper to a hard surface to keep the paper from buckling. I also use a skinnier tape like this to make swatches and charts.
Scotch Painters tape: https://amzn.to/3wadZtC or Artist tape (optional): https://amzn.to/3l3htrdIf you don't have a hard surface to tape your paper to, you can tape your paper to your table instead. The advantage of taping it to a separate hard surface is that you can tilt the surface if you need to.
I use this 11x14 Wood Panel or this 11x14 Gator Board which come in many different sizes.
This is used to preserve white areas in your painting. DO NOT use your regular brush to apply masking fluid because it will ruin your brush. Make sure the masking fluid is completely dry before going over it with your regular brush.
Paper towel or cloth