Watercolor, Art and Other Stuff
art is like therapy for me and here's my favorite things
Click each pic to view on Amazon
Join me in the fun! The classes I take are so super simple and easy to learn. I never ever thought I'd create anything close to what I've painted the past few months! Here's the classes I've been taking and yes, they're that good and yes, you get far more value than you can imagine! It's so calming, therapeutic and an easy way to explore creative expression. Use this link and please use my name as your referral when you checkout - Thank you!
Paint Basics - start with just these 3 primaries plus gray!
With just three primary colors you can mix a rainbow! I have fun making a color wheel and experimenting with how colors change with just a tiny addition of another pigment. It's such a calming and peaceful way to explore creativity. Happy painting!!
Nice sets for a quick start
All you need to start are the three primaries - yellow, red, blue. This set has a warm and cool of each for an amazing variety of color. More info on mixing below.
This brand is my budget favorite - good quality above student grade but below professional grade. This set has a great selection of colors in addition to the primaries.
This is a great set, gorgeous pigment and great price! I'm not terribly fond of using the metal for a mixing palette so I'd still recommend using just a plain ceramic plate you have on hand or ceramic palette
These sheets of dots are a great economic way to explore higher quality pigments. A tiny bit goes a long long way and I love this set so much!
Here's a little video I made on the colors I've enjoyed using getting started with watercolor
Favorite Papers
100% Cotton - This is the one I've used most so far - on Subscribe and Save it's pretty cost effective for final projects
This is wood pulp paper and great for beginners and practice and making cards. It doesn't respond to water and paint like cotton paper. This dries very quickly. It's cost effective for fun, play and practice. You can find it at most local craft stores or this bundle from Amazon is a super great value.
Not 100% cotton, stands up well to lots of water and pigment removal. Block is glued on 4 sides, slot for easy page removal when finished and no need to tape down. Splits in half to 5x7 size - tape the middle to make a nice clean edge on two 5x7 pieces.
100% Cotton This is my favorite and sometimes I prefer this over Arches
Favorite Books
My current favorite is the one with the blue flower on the label. I like it because it’s heavy grade, watercolor, paper standard GSM.
Here’s another one I’m using that is similar
My other favorite for watercolor play is this one because it's standard 140lb / 300gsm paper in a spiral bound book plus pages are perforated for easy removal if desired
This is not standard weight watercolor paper but the size is super cute for on the go sketching and can handle watercolor wash
These are thinner than standard watercolor paper and nice to create cards for sending - Smooth Finish and Rough Finish
Brushes
Great intro / starter brush series with great "snap" yet the belly of the brush opens nicely - these are the brushes I use for detail painting
Neptune series is designed to hold more water and opens fully, it's softer than Heritage or Artiste line so is great for loose florals and landscapes - I have a #4
Princeton Heritage is my favorite with a nice "snap" but the belly opens easy so is my default brush for most painting - size 4, 6, 8 are my favorite sizes
More to come I'm sure! If you have a favorite brush or other recommendations to add to this page message me!
Mixing Palettes
8 wells and variety of well size
This is great for putting the tube color into the small circles and then use all the others for mixing light to dark without watering the main pigment too much
Nice for creating a custom color wheel with a center for mixing
Miscellaneous
Great frames - they're plastic with glass and I like the front loading glass and minimalist edge. They're light for easy hanging portrait or landscape oriented.
These fit nicely into the plastic front loading frames
A very cost effective paper for practice and warm up. These are great for making cards, bookmarks and gift tags. Cotton is far better for finished pieces but this is a good enough paper for daily use.
"Every breathing thing - let it praise Jah"
Psalm 150
Brand I recommend: Aromatics International and here's why
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