If you know me, you know that I don’t hesitate spending money on perfume, food, travels and, you guessed it, art materials! (ok, maybe also occasionally on bags, after all, shoes and bags can make or break the outfit, and I am all about aesthetics). OK, I feel like this is now going into shopaholic territory, but I promise you I am very picky about where my money goes!

That being said, good quality art supplies matter! I mainly work with watercolor, and it is a tricky medium to master (I am not there  yet but enjoying every bit of the journey to get there). You can guide the watercolor, but you cannot fully control it, and that is the beauty of it, however, it can get frustrating and good supplies can make or break your learning experience.

So, here is the roundup of my favorite supplies.

WATERCOLOR PAINT

I currently have 4 favorite paint palettes from Daniel Smith, Van Gogh, Sennelier and White Nights Watercolors. I prefer professional or artists grade paints as their pigments are more vibrant, they mix well together and retain their vibrancy once they dry (as a rule, watercolor dries lighter then when you first apply it). I mainly use watercolor in half pans.

I have also added an introductory set of Ecoline liquid watercolor to my supplies and I’m loving experimenting with it. It’s a perfect medium to create very vibrant and colorful work. I used it to create the series of northern lights illustrations after our trip to Tromso, Norway, where we were able to witness the magic of it with our own eyes. However, Ecoline is based on dyes, not pigments, so it is prone to fading. I usually digitize my work, so the fading aspect is not as crucial for me.

PAPER

Paper, just like the paints you use, can make, or break your learning experience, especially depending on which technique you are using. It is certainly possible to create beautiful work on low quality paper, but the experience won’t be the same. Watercolor paper comes in different weights (I recommend minimum of 140lb (300 gsm) and can be either cellulose, cotton, or a mix of both. I prefer to use 100% cotton or a mix, but I have also created beautiful work on 100% cellulose. That being said, I certainly noticed positive changes in my work once I switched to a better-quality paper. The paper can be either hot pressed or cold pressed, I mainly work with cold pressed.

Quality paper can get expensive, but I have found academy grade Baohong cotton paper to be relatively inexpensive that allows to get beautiful results.

BRUSHES

I have quite a collection of brushes, as it took me some time to experiment and find the one that works the best with my technique. My current favorite is number 6 Princeton Neptune round brush. Most of my work is done with that brush, and you absolutely don’t need tiny brushes for tiny details, a good brush with a Iong pointed tip is perfect for that. I also occasionally use Escoda Ultimo brushes and some no name brushes.

MIXING PALETTES

I love ceramic palettes, and a little confession over here, most of my favorites are not from art stores but from lifestyle and home good stores. I don’t like using plastic palettes, as they get stained easily and also make water paddles when I mix the colors. My favorite one at the moment is the artichoke one I bought from a ceramic store in Lisbon, Portugal.