Essential Tools for Watercolour
So, I’ve convinced you that watercolour painting is indeed for you - yay! Let me share some of my tools…. and some of my process as well, since I found it difficult to describe the tool without explaining why it is important :)
My supplies for making watercolour art. Pictured from left to right (and top to bottom): masking tape, pencil sharpener, kneadable eraser, reference photo, clean water, sketch paper, ruler, pencils, fine tipped pen, paint brushes, watercolour paper, mixing palette, and paint.
The options are endless when it comes to watercolour supplies, and I definitely have shiny object syndrome where I want to buy EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW! I’ve compiled a list of my favourite and most used items in my regular watercolour practice as a jumping off point in your art journey.
Drawing Essentials
Graphite Pencils: you’re average HB pencil is fine to get started! HB not too hard and not too soft. If you want something more nuanced, you can buy a set of pencils that range from hard (H) to soft (B). Soft pencils are great for shading and smudging, while hard pencils are great for fine lines and small details. It depends whether you want to include the pencil drawing in your final piece or not. If you don’t, the sketch should be lightly done so it disappears under the paint. I often do this for simpler artwork. However, I spend time making a detailed pencil drawing with a full spectrum of shades for something like a pet portrait.
Erasers: again, any eraser will do the trick at the start, just have a look through your office supplies! I would recommend trying the eraser on a scrap piece of paper first, both on it’s own and also with the pencil you intend to use. An older eraser may be hardened and smudge your pencil rather than erasing it, which will be difficult to remove on your watercolour paper (and subsequently may show through the paint). I also use a kneaded eraser to lighten my drawing after making it so any dark lines will not stand out in the final piece. I simply roll it over the painting and it pulls up some of the graphite. It can also be molded into small points that are useful in more detailed work.
Tracing Paper: I use a regular sheet of computer paper for this purpose, but some day I may upgrade to real tracing paper (**puts tracing paper into Amazon shopping cart…). If you’re making any kind of portrait, tracing the key elements is a huge time saver and improves the likeness of your final work to the reference (even for skilled artists). If you don’t have tracing paper - like me - I tape a piece of computer paper to my tablet, go to a dark room, and outline each shape. Then I use my soft pencil (B) to shade the reverse side of the page (only under the drawing, save yourself some time and effort). You can overlay this sheet on your watercolour paper and use one of your hard pencils (H) to transfer the drawing onto your painting paper. Trace the lines again on your computer paper, the pressure from your pencil will transfer the graphite from the reverse side onto your watercolour page. You will want to press down firmly, but not so hard as to make wells and indents into your paper that may cause paint to pool.
Drawing supplies: a selection of graphite pencils, erasers, tracing paper
Watercolor Materials
Watercolor Paper: I used to think all watercolour paper was created equally until I splurged on pure cotton paper - it ruined me! (in the best way). Any watercolour paper is good for playing with colour and techniques - it must be watercolour - paper labeled as mixed media, sketch, acrylic, etc. will not do. So if you’re just starting out, pick a beginner pad from your local art store. When you are ready to try something new and spend more money, then look for 300gsm 140lb cotton paper. You can also choose between hot press (smoother) and cold press (rougher). It’s fun to try a couple types side by side so you can see the differences for yourself! I personally love the Arches paper blocks, where the pages are glued together in a block so you don’t need to tape the page down to a hard surface.
Arches paper is my current favourite, specifically the blocks that are bound on all four edges, though I like the travel journal as well (on top).
Paints: like I noticed with paper, any paints worked great to get me started! And then I started to refine my tastes. A good place to start is a pan set, where the colours are dried and in a plastic case or tin that is easy to pack away. The colours become “activated” when you add water. It’s not as easy to get vivid colours with a pan set, but it is possible with practice! Alternatively (and this will be my next set), you can get tubes of paint and fill your own palette (so you’d need a palate too, anything with a bunch of little wells and a few large areas for mixing). Simply squeeze a pea-sized dollop onto the palette and start painting.
I had a beginner set of tubes in the past and tended to use it almost like a dry pan set - I filled my palette and then continued to paint from it long after the paints were dry. It worked fine - I activated the paints with water every time I painted - however; the colours are more vivid when you use them straight from the tube while still wet simply because they are the least diluted by water. I’ve heard of other artists washing off their palette every time they are done a piece and starting over, but I’m so frugal that I’d be worried about wasting the paints! Eventually my tube set dried up before I used it all so clearly I could have been more cavalier with my paints!
I am currently using a half-pan set (half-pan just refers to the size of each pan, or colour of paint) with a wide variety of colours to choose from.
Brushes: Man, this seems like a lot of information! Are you still with me? Maybe we should take a snack break. On to brushes. You’ll notice a trend: I started with beginner brushes and they did me just fine, until I eventually upgraded and realized what I had been missing. The beginner brushes were fine for playing, but higher quality brushes will hold more water and hold their shape better. As always, the best way to find out what you like is to try some. There are different types of brushes that range in size (denoted with a number, e.g. size 4, 1/2 inch, etc.) and a shape (e.g., round, flat, angled, mop, etc.).
I most often use round brushes, and the tiny little “rigger”, which has long bristles for holding more paint, but allows for long thin lines (perfect for whiskers on a cat for example). It’s nice to have one of each: medium round (e.g., size 4), large round (size 10), large mop brush (for large areas), and a liner. There’s not much I can’t make with these four brushes. Everything else is just gravy. That said, a small round size 1 or 2 is nice, as well as a range of flat brushes if you are making something with straight edges (e.g., bricks on a house), but again, I don’t use these all that often and I could make do without if I needed to.
I have many more brushes, but pictured are the four I would need to get started: a liner, small round, large round, and flat brush.
Other Helpful Tools
Palette: I mentioned this above (in the paints section), but a palette can be very handy. The lid of my paint pan has some shallow wells for mixing, but they aren’t that big and it’s not as easy to clean it out since it’s attached to the paints. So I bought a ceramic palette that has seven large, deep wells. That’s often enough for any piece I’m making, but there have been times where I could have used more space. It just depends how much you mix your paint to make custom colours, rather than using the colours directly from the pan/tube. That said, even if you aren’t mixing colours, it’s useful to have mixing space where you can dilute the paint evenly with water. Without mixing the paint on the bush into water on a palatte, the paint on your brush will be uneven: more vibrant in some places and more watery in other places. That might be perfect for some parts of your work, but it will become a problem if you are trying to make an even wash.
Masking Tape: I always love the crisp lines bordering a painting after I’ve taped it! You don’t need to do this, especially if you are just playing around on a lose sheet of paper, but taping the page down can be very useful. You can tape all four edges down to your work surface to hold it in place and prevent buckling (the page warps when it gets wet… more on that later). Because I use a watercolour block, I don’t need to tape my work to a surface. I use the tape on commissioned work to make the final product look more clean and professional. If you don’t use a block, you’ll need to stretch your paper by submerging it briefly into water, smoothing it on to your work surface, and then taping it in place. For my purposes, I use painters tape or washi tape because I’m confident it will come off well. If you are stretching your paper and taping it on to your surface, you’ll need something more sticky.
Ruler: I mostly use a ruler to measure out the margins of the page, which I will tape over with masking tape to make a clean edge. Taping is not necessary - you could simply cut out your work from the larger page once you are finished - I just like how the white edge looks around the final piece! It is necessary to know what part of the page will be within your frame if you hope to use it some day. It would be a shame if you spent your time and effort on something that was going to get cropped out!
Fine Tipped Pens: love mixed media and always have. If that’s not your thing, feel free to skip this part. I like to do a light outline of key features with a 01 Micron before painting. I usually erase the underlying pencil after that so I have a nice clean surface to paint over. The black lines help the focal point stand out more from the background. It’s two of the elements of design: features that are more detailed and that appear darker catch they eye of the viewer. I want them to look at all the details on the house I just pained, so I use my Micron to make that happen. Conversely, I do not draw details on the foliage behind the home as that would make the painting too busy and distract from the focal point. Play around and see what you like!
Additional materials: a palette, roll of painters tape, ruler, and fine tipped pen.
Conclusion
I didn’t mention anywhere that you need lots of clean water. It didn’t seem like a “tool” to list, though it is necessary. It’s a good idea to use a large clear glass or jar, so you can see how clean your water is as you go. If you can’t see through the water, it’s time to dump it and get a fresh glass. You could even have two glasses, one for the first rinse to get the majority of paint out of your brush, and one for a clean rinse. I personally don’t do that, but I’ve heard others do. So you try out both and see what works.
With these tools in hand, you're well on your way to having fun with watercolour! Next time, we’ll discuss how to choose the perfect reference photo for a portrait! In the meantime, be sure to check out my other post about creating light and dark values to make your artwork pop. Happy painting!
