TOOLS

People always ask what supplies I use, so I put together a little list of some of my favorites.

Please note: By using the links below, you'll be directed to Amazon where you can buy these awesome tools for yourself. As an Amazon Associate, I get a small commission, at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support!

Paper

I love Arches Paper and have used it for years. I prefer the bight white variety because it makes color pop really well. It's a great all around paper and will work for most techniques. It handles mixed media really well. The link here is for the 190 lb. paper which will need to be stretched if you are really using a lot of water or heavy washes. I highly recommend this paper if you are starting out in watercolor

Arches Watercolor Paper 300 lb. cold press bright white 22 in. x 30 in. pack of 3

$33.50

Arches

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Paint

My palette is fairly small compared to other painters. Many times I will only use 3 or 4 colors max in a painting. This is the basic set that I highly recommend. You can make almost any color with them. I prefer M. Graham paints. They are affordable and very high quality. You don't find that combination too often with art supplies. They are easy to re-wet so you don't have to keep putting out new paint every time.

Here's a litttle about these colors:

Quinacridone Nickel: Beautiful warm transparent yellow that is a wonderful mixing color or used by itself. Great for glazing too.
Yellow Ochre: Opaque muted earth tone that is a workhorse of a paint for me. I use it a lot!
Burnt Sienna: This is a great color for mixing as it neutralizes many mixtures so your paintings don't get too saturated. I use burnt sienna combined with Ultramarine blue for most of my grey tones.
Permanent Alizarin Crimson: Cool red that mixes beautifully. Great for glazing and almost any application. Combined with Nickel Quinacridone will make a very saturated red similar to cadmium red. Regular Alizarin Crimson will fade so it's important to get the permanent version.
Ultramarine Blue: Warm blue that mixes well and leaves beautiful textures to washes
Cobalt Blue: Weak blue that is wonderful for subtle skies. Great glazing color too!
Indigo Blue: Very dark blue that I use to get really dark darks. Great for stormy skies
Permanent Rose: Weak transparent red that is great for glazing and subtle tones.