What you need to know about materials

Have you been thinking about picking up watercolour paints? Do you find that there are too many choices and you don’t know where to start? Are looking for tips and tricks? Regardless, this is the place for you. Here you can find information on the minimum supplies you’ll need for watercolour painting, and what to look for to get better results.

As a minimum, what you need to get started is:

• Watercolour paint

• Watercolour paper

• A soft paint brush

• A glass of water

Now, on to the nitty gritty details.

Paint

When it comes to watercolour paint, you have a wide variety to choose from. This can become quite overwhelming, but knowing what to look for will help you in narrowing down the choices.

Pan vs tube

One of the great things about watercolour is that you can just reactivate it with a wet brush and you’re good to go again. This means that the classic tube of paint is not your only option in this medium. Several manufacturers have taken advantage of this and offer pans, half pans and other forms of dry paint.

There is no quality difference between pans and tubes, though there are some pros and cons. It all comes down to preference.

	Positives	Negatives
Pans	Compact No preparation Easy to travel with	Potential brush damage Difficult to get a lot of paint ready Big brushes do not fit
Tubes	​Get a lot of paint, fast Squeeze on a plate for easy access with big brush Can squeeze into pans	Takes more space Need a separate surface to put paint on Difficult to get to the last paint

Quality - Is cheapest good enough?

In general, cheap watercolour paints are cheap due to compromises made by the manufacturer. Most likely the paint will have been diluted with fillers. This means they can make a larger volume cheaper. Additionally, a lower quality of dye may have been used instead of pigments. This results in a different behaviour, difficulty getting strong colour and poor lightfastness. You are better off avoiding these and go for either student grade or artist grade paint.

Student grade watercolour paint is generally a decent compromise on quality and price. However, these usually come in bigger sets with colours you might not want or need.

Depending on your requirements it can be worth considering getting fewer colours of better quality. This gives a more accurate experience and you will not have to adjust your techniques as you upgrade your paints. Depending on how few colours you can limit your palette to, this may also be a cheaper option for better quality.

Tips for limiting colour palette

For a limited colour palette, one option is to go for one single colour with a wide tonal range like indigo or dioxazine purple. Alternatively, a primary or split primary palette will give you lots of colour options as you learn to mix colours. A good example on a primary palette that can be used to mix vibrant purples and oranges and muted greens, is phthalo blue, quinacridone magenta and lemon yellow or hansa yellow. Hansa leans more towards orange and will be wonderful for orange but you’ll lose the bright yellow lemon can offer. More on colour theory in a later article.

Paint summary

Cheap watercolour paints are rarely recommended. If you plan to use a lot of different colours, then a set of student grade paints might be right for you. Alternatively, look for individual artist (or student) grade paints. This can also work out cheaper for starting out and still give you a higher quality material.

Paper

Watercolour paper comes in different weights (thicknesses) and two materials; cellulose and cotton. Additionally there are three different surface textures, which are hot press, cold press (sometimes referred to as NOT) and rough. You can buy the paper as loose sheets, blocks or pads. Rolls of paper are also available for larger paintings.

The weight of the paper is important, It is not recommended to go lighter than 300 gsm (140 lbs). Thickness prevents the paper from deforming too much when applying water making it easier to work with than an uneven sheet of paper.

The material is important. Regular paper is made from cellulose, and this is the cheapest option for watercolour paper material. However, cellulose paper becomes fragile when wet, takes fewer layers and can dry faster and unevenly. This limits the usefulness of cellulose paper in watercolour painting. Cotton paper is stronger and will keep moisture for longer, giving you more time to work. Cotton is superior, but for a beginner a good quality cellulose is a viable alternative. Cotton and cellulose are noticeably different in their behaviour and you will need to adjust your techniques accordingly. Keep away from the cheapest cellulose paper, it will only cause frustration.

Note: if material is not listed, it is cellulose

The three textures have nothing to do with quality, but preference. If you can, try all three and decide for yourself.

• Hot press paper is the smoothest of all of them, so it is great for line art and smooth brush strokes. However, it does dry faster than textured paper as it does not trap water the same way.

• Cold press paper has a fine sandpaper texture and allows the paint to spread a little less evenly. It is also possible to use the texture as an effect. However, it might be a little challenging to get clean brush strokes on dry paper.

• Rough paper has a courser texture than cold pressed. A thing to keep in mind is that this tends to differ between manufacturers. Rough paper is great for abstract art and expressive painting.

Choosing format can be confusing.

• A block is a stack of paper that is glued on all four sides with a little opening for you to separate the sheet with a thin object like a bone folder or palette knife. This is great for beginners or to use on travels as the block itself keeps the paper flat when drying. Make sure to wait for the painting to fully dry before removing it from the block.

• A pad is a stack of paper that is only glued on one side. This means that it behaves the same as a loose sheet of paper. You should tape them down to a surface using masking tape or a good quality washi tape to avoid buckling and deformation.

You can still use masking tape or washi tape on blocks if you want a white, straight border or to divide the paper into sections. To reduce the chance of tearing when you remove the tape, you should wait until the paper is completely dry. It is recommended to peel the tape outwards from your painting. If your tape is particularly sticky, heat up the glue in the tape gently with a hair dryer or heat gun.

Paper summary

Avoid bad quality cellulose paper, keep to 300 gsm (140 lbs) or higher and try different textures to find your favourite.

Brushes - how many do I need?

In short: One medium, round brush with a good, pointy tip.

You might already have a brush at home, and if the bristles do not look like they just got out of bed and/or have lots of dried paint on them, you can start with this. If you need to go buy one, look for a round, smooth, synthetic brush in a size between 6 and 10 that has a pointy tip. This will be a very versatile brush as you will be able to cover larger areas with paint but also, with some practice, use the same brush for fine details. It does not have to be a fancy, expensive one for your first brush. After painting for a while you will find out what you need to expand with

Water - nothing special

The last necessity is a jar of water. Plain tap water. If you have multiple colours you might want to increase to two jars, to keep both your palette/pans/mixing area clean. This way you can use one for rinsing off paint, and the other to get new, clean water. Watercolour paint is easy to wash off porcelain and glass, give it a good rinse and you will be ready for the next project.

Extras

Other things to consider:

Mixing plate: A ceramic plate can be used to mix colours and you can put tube paint around the sides.

Tape: To keep a sheet of paper still and to dry flat you will need masking tape or a good washi tape. If the tape is not tacky enough, it will loosen from the paper and not help, but if it is too tacky it might tare the paper.

Paper towel/cloth: Something to blot off excess water off your brush is always handy. This can also be used to lighten colour on paper or absorb any spills or mistakes.

Summary

You get what you pay for, or more accurately: you don’t get what you don’t pay for. Do not go for the cheapest watercolour sets - chances are you will not have a good time. Student grade paints, either separately or in sets are a good price/quality compromise. Consider limiting your palette to a good set of primary colours. This will be better than a cheap set of all colours in the rainbow.

With regards to paper, a good quality 300 gsm (140 lbs) cellulose paper will go a long way without breaking the bank. Even better, but more expensive is cotton paper. Cold pressed paper is a good in between texture for starting out, but do not be afraid to experiment with other types when you have a chance.

For brushes, a fairly cheap, round, synthetic brush size 6 to 10 is all you really need. It allows you a large variety of brush strokes. If it has a pointy tip you can get fine details too when you develop good pressure control.

Keep in mind that different quality materials usually will behave and act differently. Paints might be brighter or more concentrated. Paper might encourage the paint to spread more, or dry slower. These are behaviours that may catch you out at first but you’ll get the hang of quickly with use, techniques, and a better understanding of the medium.

I didn’t want this to become a “buy this exact thing” because, although it might make it easier to go out and get, you get a better understanding what suits your needs best. Additionally specific items may not be available in your area. I will go through paints, paper, and brushes in more detail in future posts, as well as comparisons on different brands and materials that can be found. If you are interested in this, you can sign up to the mailing list on the link below and you will get a monthly update on what is new.