Watercolor Supplies

Current Update : May 30, 2022 | This page is about painting on location in watercolor. If you’re looking for a supplies list for sketchbook drawing check over here: Sketching Gear.

PAPER:

My preferred paper is Fabriano Artistico, 140lb cold press, cotton rag, which comes in 22×30″ sheets in both 140lb, or 200lb. I’ll buy whichever I can find on sale :) For field sketching, I’ll cut the sheet into 1/4 (11×15″) or 1/6 (10×11″) pieces.

These days I usually order in bulk (10 sheet packs) for a better price.

I prefer ‘cold press’ or medium surface texture which is the ‘normal’ texture for watercolor. I don’t think Fabriano comes in a rough surface, (I have used Arches for this) but you can get the smooth, which is called ‘hot press’. Some people prefer hot press for pen and ink +wash. It gives you a sharper look.

There are plenty of other brands (Arches, Strathmore, Hahnemühle), and I don’t think any particular brand is better than the other – ultimately, it’s best to just get used to one and stick with it. You start to know by heart how much water is ‘just right’ for your paper.

Students might like to practice on a cheaper cellulose paper. Canson Montval is an excellent brand, available in pre-cut pads. Cellulose papers are less durable, and prone to warping, so – they are best for tinting pen drawings or other ‘less wet-in-wet’ approaches. I use these pads whenever I’m doing a lot of rapid ‘reportage’ style drawing and I want to be able to burn through paper without feeling wasteful.

I do NOT recommend blocks, no matter how good the paper. These are pads gummed on all four sides, theoretically so you don’t have to stretch or tape. I find they don’t work. The top sheet often ripples up while your working and falls off. And they’re too heavy for field work. (You carry 20 sheets to use one). Plus, eventually the whole stack of paper pops off the backing board (if you’re carrying them around in a bag), and that’s a waste of an expensive block.

Sheets:

• Fabriano Artistico 140lb, Cold Press Extra White, 22×30″, 10-Sheet Pack
• Fabriano Studio (Student Grade), 140lb, Cold Press, 22×30″, 10-Sheet Pack
• Arches 140 lb Cold Press, Bright White, 22×30″, 5-Sheet Pack

Pads:

• Canson Montval 140lb Pad, 9×12″, 12 Sheets
• Canson Montval 140lb Pad, 18×24″, 12 Sheets

PLEASE NOTE: I don’t endorse any particular online vendor. These pages use Amazon Affiliate links for product descriptions. If you do order an item from these links, I get a small rebate from Amazon (starting at 4% of your order). So thanks for supporting my work on CitizenSketcher! But please support your local independent retailers too :)

DRAWING BOARDS:

I use pieces of Coroplast – a light weight corrugated plastic. You can get 4×8′ sheets from hardware stores and cut it down with a craft knife or razor blade. Or – get ready cut sizes from art supply shops at a higher square inch price.

I use a variety of sizes, most commonly used: 14×18″, to fit a 11×15″ quarter sheet (or a 12×16″ pad). Quarter sheet is a practical size for travel. These days I use a big open-top beach bag to carry all my drawing boards. I used to have fancy backpacks and shoulder bags, but now I just want to be able to put the bag down in the dirt and not care.

I might bring up to six sheets for a day, which is a thick stack of boards! (Thus – the light-weight coroplast, not wood or plexy). But that’s for a huge painting day. Most of the time I only honestly need two sheets. But I like to know I can just grab a new sheet and start fresh if I don’t like my first attempt. The faster you quit on a bad painting the more time you have for a redo! I’d rather waste paper than time when I only have a limited amount of time at a location.

You can also flip the paper over and use the back, which is a great way to get revenge on a bad sketch.

I’ve used coroplast for half sheets (15×22″), if you feel like carrying a giant sail under your arm. (I’m just tall enough to do this). When I go bigger I always use two sheets clipped together, for rigidity in the wind, and/or; coroplast will flex if you’re standing in hot sunlight, which can cause your tape to pop off.

PAINT BOX:

You’ll need a folding paint box with individual wells for colors.

Plastic is fine, but they break all the time. Some nicer brands have a rubber seal to keep the paint damp between sessions. These still break. The plastic hinges just don’t last.

So tin boxes are better, but they’re expensive.

I have in the past used a 2.5×3″ W&N Bijou Box which I found by chance in a high end art shop here in Montreal. The small box is shy on mixing space, but it’s so light it can be clipped right onto the drawing board or sketchbook. Currently I’m using a slightly larger 5″x8″ (open) folding W&N paint box, shown below.

My W&N set came with assorted half pan colors, which I have long since re-filled with tube pigments. You can buy empty half pans to expand and reorganize your color choices.

Here are some tin paintboxes on Amazon I found as of Sept 2015. Please note, I don’t know these vendors and don’t own these kits (yet), these links are just to help you see the products.

• Small 2.5×3.5″ paintbox, 8 half pans, (12 if modified), 2 tiny mixing areas
• Medium 3×5″ paintbox, 12 half pans ( 24 if modified), 3 mixing areas
• Large 3×6″, holds 24 half pans properly, 4 mixing areas”
• Empty Half Pan Refills
• “Blue Tack” reusable adhesive I use to stick in extra pans

Paints:

A small warning to people trying my palette; I change my color choices fairly often and you can’t blame me if  you bought I color I suggested and now you don’t see me using it :)

Also; you can learn a lot about color from Jane Blundell and Bruce MacEvoy.

My  Color Choices:

I’ve organized my 24 color paint box into warm on one side, cool on the other on the other.

I have three of each primary color. So – three reds, three blues, three yellows.

Why three of each important color?

One Light, Medium, and Dark! It’s easier to build color-contrast if you have ready made values.

Then within this, some are warmer or cooler.

So for instance – in RED; I have Pyrrol Orange (light/warm), Perlyne Maroon (medium/cool (it’s purplish which is cool as far as red goes), and Transparent Red Oxide (dark/neutralized).

in YELLOW: I have Nickle Titanite (light/cold) which actually I hate and I should just get a Cadmium Yellow Lemon but if you never use a color, you also never run out of it, dammit!. Then Naples Yellow which is my medium/warm and I carry Goethite which is a dark/neutral/opaque/sedimentary ‘yellow’. A great color for sand, tree bark, animal fur, etc. You could maybe use Raw Ocher or Raw Sienna, but I like the sediment in Goethite.

In GREEN: I have Green Gold (light/warm) / Olive Green (medium/warm) and Perlyne Green (super dark almost black/cool). Yes, green is not a primary, but I paint a lot of nature, and want to be able to (easily) paint greens at full strength.

BLUE is weird, as it’s sort of just for sky and water, so I have one cool bright blue – M. Graham’s Turquoise, which is one of my favorite hues for no reason, it just is – and then I carry Indigo and Neutral Tint and consider them to be my dark and darkest blues. I do use white! Some watercolorists don’t, but I use both warm and cool white with these blues for skies and clouds. I’ll also use white with reds for some skin tones. In urban situations I use whites and with blacks or earths to make concrete and plaster colors.

(Ed Note: Most recent update, May 2, 2018. This is the color selection I’ve been carrying for about a year, and, is a fairly close version of what I used in my third book, Direct Watercolor (2018)). There were minor changes; a color here and there, but this is the core concept.

I’ve listed the colors with pigment numbers – which should help you shop cross brands. The same pigments come under different brand names. (e.g. Iron Oxide = Indian Red, they are both PR 101).

In case of my weird pigments such as Bloodstone Genuine or Graphite Grey – no numbers required – ‘these are simply ground minerals with gum-arabic binder and maybe something special to make it disperse.

Tube vs. Pan:

I use tube colors because, sometimes, I want to be able to use pure pigment at full strength, with the full, opaque mass-tone. I like to pick up a gob of paint and let it blend on the paper, not in the palette.

Pan color is just too dry, too anemic, to allow this – even when using a misting spritzer. You’ll just never get a rich, dark, juicy color out of a pan. They tend to make your paintings look tentative, made of pastel shades and transparent washes.

I feel like pan colors are fine for tinting drawings, but I don’t use them for painting.

But – you do have to be careful not to tip your paint box. I pack my bag so the palette is weighted down in the bottom, and cant flip or tilt. You can get a disastrous leak if you don’t keep the box level.

So; if you need to take a paint box carry-on, or backpacking, or you’re travelling across country by bike – maybe pans are acceptable.

And also! If tube color fully dries out in the palette, it’s not much good anymore. I’m talking about dry as a rock, sandy pebbles rattling in the trays. At that point, you need to put the palette in the sink and soak it clean. Pans, on the other hand are made to rewet-from-dry. So if you’re going to leave a pallet for a year in a drawer, the pans will keep just fine.

With tube color, if it hasn’t been weeks between, you try misting your paints the night before, and then keeping them spritzed as you work. Even if I’m I’m working every day, I mist the whole box every night, and top-up with a dab of new paint on top of the old. (If there’s room in the tray). The old color will just blend in with the new. But if it’s been a while, (months), you’ll have wash out the pans and start fresh.

So – tubes vs. pans depends mostly on your style, and how often you paint with a particular kit, and whether convenience is more important vs. thick juicy color.

Brand Names:

Color is more important than brands. And availability. You want to get used to the strength and dispersion of a given paint. So, go with whatever you can get in your city, and stick with it. Just as with paper, you will get used to a certain color from a certain brand, and if you’re force to switch, if feels weird for a while.

I use M. Graham and Daniel Smith, and a few Holbein colors. The only brand I won’t buy is Winsor and Newton. I find their paints don’t rewet very well. It’s like you have to put out fresh W&N every time you work. Also, I used their Cotman brand in school and still resent the whole idea. Student grade paints seem designed to frustrate students!

BRUSHES:

SABLES:

I’ve around mid 2014, I got serious and went all natural sable brushes. And then, around 2020 I switched back to synthetics (by and large). It’s getting hard to get good quality sable for money, and, synthetics are getting better all the time.

I’ve also started using Chinese calligraphy brushes. They have excellent long-pointed rounds that come in some huge sizes! But, it’s hard to know what you’re buying with Chinese brushes. Well, it’s hard for me as I don’t read Chinese. They will tell you it’s ‘wolf’ hair. Somehow I doubt it?

My workhorse brushes right now are the:

• #7/8 Winsor and Newton Artist’s Watercolor Sable Pointed Round. These seem to come in long hair (my choice) and shorter hair, with no visible difference in the labeling on the brush! So you just have to compare in the store. I have no idea why they do that. The long hair is almost a rigger in length. It’s great for sharp details and linear work (tree branches, wires, etc).
• #3/4 DaVinci Artissimo Sable, (or Princeton Neptune, or Velvetouch in synthetic). These are Mops. (Mops have strange numbering. A #3-4 mop seems to be the same size as a #14-18 pointed round). I generally use these for skies.

For special effects and larger areas I have:

• #5 DaVinci Series 803 Blue Squirrel Oval Wash/Filbert/Cat’s Tongue – whatever this is, it’s a spade-shaped brush with soft hair, very nice for clouds and water.
• I also keep all my old W&N Artist Watercolor Sables and use them for harsh scrubbing, and splaying out for dry-brushing. I mark the handles with tape, so I know which ones I’m allowed to abuse.
• I used to like W&N Series7 brushes, but have come to feel they are over-rated. The prices on these skyrocketed somewhere around 2020 and I had to say, I can’t really justify it.

SYNTHETICS:

Current thinking: (2020) I have recently tested the Princeton Elite synthetic sable, and Princeton Neptune synthetic squirrel, and can say both of these higher end synthetics are suitable replacements for natural hair. They’re not going to behave exactly like their natural counterpart – but they have their own strengths.

Also, If you’re vegan, or at all concerned about the use of animal products, then these are your best option.

If it’s just about cost – you’ll find price savings vary. In general, these will be about 25% cheaper? But the savings go up as you go larger. And you’ll find larger brushes in synthetics than you ever find in natural hair.

2″ flats would be out of the question in natural hair.

I have not used the Elite or Neptune long enough to comment on their durability, but previous testing with other brands of synthetics suggest they will last about a 6 months to a year of my heavy handed-use.

If that remains true, then they end up costing the same as natural hair over the long term.

TRAVEL BRUSHES:

A travel brush has a hollow handle that reverses to enclose the brush, protecting the point when it’s tossed into your bag.

Personally, these days, I carry conventional brushes in a zippered brush case. But for years I had a travel brush in my shoulder bag everywhere I went. If you are trying to build a minimal kit for everyday carry, these are the most portable solution.

I’m currently recommending Rosemary and Co pocket/reversible, or – the Raphael Escoda travel brushes. Both come in sable hair. Both use a tin handle for self-enclosing. The Rosemary have more range of styles, but the Escoda come larger. So I have some of both.

I used to recommend the DaVinci Maestro travel brush. These are made of the Kolinsky Sable, and have a very sturdy PVC handle – BUT – they have become quite costly. For the price, you can buy three conventional brushes! That doesn’t seem right, as they don’t last forever – eventually the points wear out – so I have stopped replacing these.

COLLAPSIBLE TRIPOD:

I don’t always use an easel. This is the most optional part of the kit. It adds a lot of weight, so I’ll only bring it if I’m on a serious painting day.

I don’t bother carrying it if I’m only doing 20 min sketches. In that case I’ll just use my Coroplast drawing boards and work standing up, or leaning on whatever convenient temporary support I can find. (Trash bins and lamp-posts).

If you’re doing a slower sketch, where you might be taking an hour or more, an easel helps you keep your work up at eye level – near your natural sight line, and lets you keep all your brushes and paints in easy reach.

I’m currently using a collapsible Sirui T-005X 54.5″ Aluminum Tripod (12″ when folded down), paired with a plastic tray called an: Eric Michaels En Plein Air Traveller, which is designed to attach to the threaded screw that holds the camera.

You might also find accessory trays marketed to digital photographers. For smaller works I have used an iPad holder, inserting a drawing board in the clamp meant for the device.

If you’re handy with tools, you might make your own tray. The threaded female screw you need to connect to the camera mount is called a ‘tee-nut’. They’re only a few cents – allowing you to create a panel that attaches to any standard camera gear.

Sometimes I just clip a travel palette right onto the Coroplast boards, so I can pick the whole thing up and walk around with it on location. You can use a single Coroplast panel, or two or three clipped together as shown above.  Or, clip an entire sketchbook onto the boards, as below:

COLLAPSIBLE CHAIR:

I don’t always use a folding chair. For a while I was using a WalkStool . They’re nice for sitting in front of an easel (as they have you sitting upright). But more recently I’ve starting using this Helinox Chair One. It’s the lightest I’ve used, (great for carrying all day), is very comfortable on my aging lower back, and is close to the ground, so you can have a drawing board in your lap, but extra gear just on the ground next to you.

GENERAL PURPOSE STUFF:

• Nalgene Bottles: I bring three or four 125ml bottles. I don’t carry too much water (it’s heavy!) so I bring many smaller bottles instead of one large one. It’s lighter over all, and I only dirty one bottle at time. Refill water every chance you get. (e.g. lunch breaks).I get these at camping supply stores.
• Zippered Nylon Bush Case: The kind with little slots for each brush. Keep your sables point’s protected. Store it upright in your bag.
• A Misting Spray Bottle: To dampen your paints in the palette. It gets them ready to release color. I mist my paints frequently when working unless it’s 100% humidity wherever I am.
• Paper towels: For quickly blotting mistakes, removing excess water from brushes, handling spills.