Painting with Watercolors – How Do I Get Started?

If you have never painted with Watercolors before you probably have a few questions. What paints should I be using? What type of brushes? What kind of paper works best? My suggestion for a beginner is to keep things simple and start with just a few supplies. When you become more experienced you can always add more tools to your arsenal. Be sure to invest in some quality materials however they will certainly help you obtain great results. But for now, just relax and focus on learning something new while having a lot of fun along the way.

Here is a list of supplies to help you get started with watercolors:

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Watercolor Paper

140 lb cold press paper

There are many brands of paper. Arches - Strathmore – Canson just to name a few.

Canson is my preferred brand because it is relatively inexpensive and produces great results.

Watercolor Paints

Tube Paint or Watercolor Pans

I prefer Watercolor tubes they are more economical, and you can buy them individually or in sets. I like to make my own palette of colors by squeezing the tube paints into an empty palette. Be sure your palette has plenty of wells to mix your colors.

There are different grades of watercolors. Artist – Student – Academic

You may want to begin with Student or Academic grade. The Artist grade paints are a bit more expensive. Start with a limited palette you really need just a few colors to create with. As you continue to explore the fun of painting with Watercolors start to add more colors.

Here are some good choices for colors and brands of paint to get you going:

Lemon Yellow – Yellow Ochre - Crimson – Ultramarine Blue – Cobalt Blue - Burnt Sienna – Burnt Umber – Hooker’s Green or Sap Green – Viridian – Violet – Paynes Grey

Brands I suggest:

Sennelier Winsor & Newton’s Cotman

Daniel Smith Grumbacher Academy

Reeves Artist Loft

Watercolor Brushes

Watercolor brushes can be quite expensive. To keep costs down start out with a good synthetic brush.

#8 or #10 Round Brush

#4 or #6 Round Brush

½ “ or 1” Flat Brush

Here are a couple of brands I suggest:

Princeton Neptune Series 4750 Synthetic Squirrel Brushes Silver Brush Black Velvet Brushes

Miscellaneous Supplies

Two Containers for water

Palette Paper towels

Mounting Board Masking Tape

Experience the Joy and Magic of Watercolor Painting and Start Having Fun!