Recommended Supplies and Materials

Where Can I Buy That?

Please—Google it!  Retailers change their websites all the time; I can’t keep up.There is no need to buy all of this. I’m listing what I use in the videos so I don’t have to answer the same questions over and over. If you have a similar item or different brand, use what you already have. 

The essentials: 

• 100% cotton watercolor paper (other papers are typically not strong enough to tolerate all the water we will be using)
• some way of stretching your paper (either stretcher bars or Gatorboard and a light-duty staple gun)
• some sort of brush that carries lots of water (a hake is the least expensive option)
• some sort of round brush in a decent size (10 or larger)
• at least a few basic colors (you can always learn the techniques with whatever you already have and add more colors later)

Supplies for Stretching Paper:

• I recommended medium-duty stretchers for half-sheet or larger paper. “Standard” or light-duty stretchers are fine for quarter-sheet. For a quarter sheet, you need a pair of 10″ and and a pair of 14″ stretcher bars; for half-sheet, you need 14″ and 21″ (any brand is fine). I am using the Best Pro-Bar System in the videos, but I don’t recommend them. They’re expensive, very heavy and turned out to be overkill.
• If you decide to paint full-sheet or larger, I recommend heavy-duty stretchers (not necessary at all for this course). (Again, the Pro-Bar stretchers are overkill, even for oversize paintings. And, they would be extremely heavy in large sizes, too.)
• staple gun—light-duty, I use one that takes 1/4″ JT21 staples; heavy-duty staple guns just make it harder to remove the staples
• Gatorboard— 16 x 23″ will handle up to half-sheet watercolor paper, 23 x 31″ will handle up to full sheet watercolor paper)  (Beware! I have found that some online sources are using this term for foamcore board that is just thick foamboard and does NOT have a rigid waterproof surface. I recommend buying from an art supply store. I know it seems expensive, but it will last practically forever, no matter how much you staple on it.)

Brushes:

• hake (2- or 3-inch)—the 2″ one you may see in the videos is no longer being made;  I have one from Creative Mark makes one that works well, but I’ve honestly never run across one that doesn’t work fine for wetting the paper. Creative Mark also has a set with a 1″, 2″ and 3″ brush for about a dollar more than the 3″ or 2″ alone (go figure). They seem to all shed hairs; not an issue for us, just let the wash dry and then brush them away. 
• Silver Black Velvet Jumbo Round (Large)—This is the brush I prefer for large areas; I also have a Silver Black Velvet 1 1/2″ flat wash brush for times when I want a flat. 
• Silver Black Velvet Oval Wash (1-inch)—This is the “cat-tongue” brush you see me using when I want a point, but also a lot of water-carrying capacity.  
• The Princeton Neptune series is another great option instead of the Silver Black Velvet. The 2-inch mottler would be a good alternative to a hake. The size 8 quill is a bit smaller than the Silver Black Velvet Jumbo Round, but similar in behavior. They also have an oval wash brush. Prices tend to be similar to the Black Velvet overall, but vary a lot from one retailer to the next and over time. It’s worth shopping around for both the Silver Black Velvet and Princeton Neptune to see if anyone has a sale going.
• #12 and #16 Princeton SNAP Golden Taklon round—These relatively inexpensive synthetic brushes have become my go-to all around brushes. 
• The brush I am using to mix washes is a very worn-out Richeson 9000 #10. Don’t go buy that just for mixing washes! I use it to save my good brushes from being scrubbed around in the corners of my palette. Use whatever worn-out or very inexpensive brush you happen to have.
• 3/4″ flat brush (used for sailboat mast in Project 1) – Richeson series 7010 3/4″. I think this brush has been discontinued. If I had to replace it, I would probably go with the Princeton SNAP golden taklon 3/4″ stroke brush. Try any flat brushes you already have first, to see if they will make a crisp line. Nylon/taklon tends to work best, but many flat brushes will make this sort of mark.

Paper

• Arches bright white 140-lb cold-pressed or rough  There is usually a pretty good discount if you buy 5, 10 or 25 sheets at a time. Pandemic update: Arches has been expensive recently, probably because of supply chain problems. Cheap Joe’s Kilimanjaro, Saunders Waterford, Blick Premier (not their standard or student papers) and Fabriano Artistico are some others that work well for these techniques. Or try any 100% cotton paper you already have. 

It really makes a lot of sense to buy at least 5-10 sheets at a time if there is a discount, even if you are a beginner. You can paint on both sides, so if you tear it into quarter-sheets, that’s 40 paintings! Probably about the best investment you can make in your learning is to use really good paper. With the increase in online purchasing, many companies also now offer pre-cut quarter-sheets (or 16×20″ sheets) of some of these professional papers.

Do not buy blocks unless you run into some sort of super sale. You pay extra for the manufacture of the block, and you’re going to be taking the paper off the block to stretch it.

A lot of people pay hundreds of dollars for classes, books and DVDs and then sabotage themselves by trying to paint on wood pulp papers (e.g. Strathmore 300 or 400, Canson Montval, “multimedia” papers, etc). These papers are not strong or durable enough for the techniques in this course.

You can get by with inexpensive brushes (like the SNAP line), 3 or 4 colors of paint, and a plate from Goodwill for mixing colors, if you need to economize.  Do yourself a favor and buy 100% cotton paper. 

Paint/Pigments

I am listing the pigments I use in the projects more so that you can be aware of how your monitor might be showing colors differently from what I’m seeing; there is NO NEED to buy the same pigments I’m using! Everyone’s monitor is a little different. Don’t assume what you see on the video is an accurate representation of the color. I use color balanced lighting and calibrate everything on my end, but I can’t control how your device shows color!

• Project 1— M. Graham Azo Yellow, Holbein Bright Rose, M.Graham Phthalocyanine Blue, QoR Cobalt Blue.  I also used a tiny bit of M. Graham titanium white opaque watercolor to “sharpen” the horns of the crescent moon.
• Project 2—Same as above, plus Ultramarine Blue and either Burnt Sienna or Burnt Umber. (These colors are very consistent from brand to brand, so any brand should work just fine. 

If you happen to have student-grade paint, go ahead use it if you can get strong enough color from it. It’s cheaper because it has less pigment, but otherwise, it handles like any other watercolor paint. 

The main drawback to student-grade paint is that some colors (the expensive pigments) are rather weak, or cheaper pigments have been substituted. So it’s sometimes harder to mix strong, vibrant color. But, you can just save it for things where you want your washes to be rather pale. If you are struggling to get dark darks, consider adding professional versions of Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna. That should be enough for getting the darker colors you need in this course.

Miscellaneous

• Palettes—My studio palette was a ceramic Stephen Quiller palette. (Oops! Not anymore. Just broke my second ceramic palette. Not sure I’ll replace it.) Pricey and heavy and NOT good to cart back and forth, but I love ceramic to work on. (See below for what I’m using currently.) The workshop/travel palette you may see me using in some videos is a Cheap Joe’s Workhorse Palette. It’s a sturdy, high-impact plastic (many plastic palettes are a brittle plastic that is easily cracked in transport, especially the covers). And, it has a gasket around the lid to prevent drips, and an extra mixing tray that fits inside the lid for lots of mixing surfaces. For a lot of mixing area in a small space, I use the Mijello Fusion Palette, a small folding palette that also has a gasket seal and an extra mixing tray in the lid. I have the 18-well version, but there are a couple of larger ones, too. (Probably won’t see me use it in the Skies & Clouds videos, but I like it for travel sketching and classes. It is the palette I’m using in the Watercolor Jumpstart videos.)
• My current palette—I am now using a palette similar to the Mijello Fusion Palette as my studio palette, to replace both the ceramic palette and the Cheap Joe’s palette. (Paul Rubens 24-well palette, similar to the Mijello 33-well palette.) It’s not as well-made as the Mijello palette, and I don’t know if I’ll stick with it as a studio palette, but it would be a good palette for taking to classes or workshops. The wells are big enough for larger brushes and the palette wells and an insert lift out to reveal plenty of mixing area. I’m using it because I can rearrange the mixing surfaces in more ways to fit in the camera view on videos. 2024 update: Please see the article “My Palette on the Videos” for more info on my palettes.
• Ox Gall—I’m using QoR Synthetic Ox Gall (less stinky than the real stuff), but any brand works fine. (Not necessary; just sometimes helps to even out washes with some pigments. Try first without it; your paint may already contain enough.)
• Masking Fluid—I switched to Incredible White Mask because of problems I was having with all colored masking fluids staining certain papers. You can tint white mask with a color that is easy to lift—e.g. cobalt blue—and you won’t have to worry about staining. I have also used all of the following with no problems on Arches paper: Pebeo Drawing Gum, Blick Liquid Frisket, Utrecht Masking Fluid, Fineline Masque Pens, Holbein Masking Fluid, QoR Masking Fluid. (Again, not required unless you want to add moon or stars.)
• Fineline Masking Fluid Pen—This is the masking fluid “pen” you see me using in the video on masking the crescent moon. A dip pen also works.
• Mask Pickup (a.k.a. Rubber Cement Pickup)—the thing that looks like an eraser that you may see me using to remove dried masking fluid after painting over it; some retailers are starting to call it a masking fluid “eraser”, but it’s actually a block of latex (and does not work as an eraser).
• Plastic needlepoint canvas—pretty much any works; Cheap Joe’s has spatter screens made of window screen material as an alternative.
• covered custard cups—this is what I’m using in the videos to mix washes; I like them better than jars because I can get larger brushes into them easily, but any container that accommodates large brushes will work.
• puppy training pads—I buy Extra-Large ones to catch drips. They have a gel layer that traps liquids, so they can absorb quite a bit before any liquid remains on the surface. When one gets saturated, I hang it up to dry and then reuse it. I only throw away about 1 per month, so although they are “disposable”, I get a lot of use out of each one. A towel would work, too; you’ll just probably have to change it more often.
• studio towels—I save paper towels just for use when I’m lifting color (Viva Signature Cloth, because they don’t have an imprinted pattern); otherwise, I use (and re-use and re-use) inexpensive terry towels or flannel squares sold as eco-friendly paper towel alternatives (try the paint or cleaning department of home improvement stores). They absorb so much more than a paper towel! They get stained, but who cares?