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Watercolor Art Supplies and Resources for Beginners
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items It feels quite overwhelming to navigate through the endless offers and possibilities of art supplies, especially when you're just about to start your creative journey. Over the years I've tried and tested all kind of watercolor paints, papers and bru...
Sections
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Watercolor Paints
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Watercolor Paper
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Watercolor Brushes
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Watercolor Books, Tutorials and Courses
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Other useful Watercolor Supplies
Watercolor Paints
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The tube watercolors by Van Gogh are a great opportunity to get lots of good quality paint for a small price. They offer a wide range of single tubes in all kind of colors and sets to choose from. I especially loved their "dusk" colors - moody versio...
Van Gogh Watercolor Tubes and Sets
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This pretty palette by Winsor & Newton was one of the first sets I used. It's so handy with its small size and the travel brush included, perfect to take along when painting outside or if you only have a small space available. It has a lovely sel...
Winsor & Newton : Cotman : Watercolour : Sketchers Pocket Box Set : 12 Half Pans
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These watercolor paints from Japan are truly special: they come in a variety of perfectly curated sets for any taste (the Art Noveau colors are so pretty! Oh, and have you seen the shimmers?) and with their extra large pans it's so easy to use even b...
Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolor Paint Pans and Sets
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Another great value for money are the paints by Rosa Gallery from Ukraine. They are so vibrant and fun to paint with. Their range includes a lot of gorgeous special colors like Lavender, Mint and Black Green.
Rosa : Watercolour Paint
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If you're thinking about switching to more expensive brands and you're unsure which colors to choose (or if you like them at all), Dot Cards are an excellent way to test them before committing to pricey pans and tubes. Most big brands like Schmincke ...
Dot cards | Jackson's Art
Watercolor Paper
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One of the first papers I've ever used! It's great value for money, and works especially well for illustrative and sketchy techniques (but not the best for painting wet-on-wet). It's more of an off-white color which I really like to use for whimsy il...
Canson : XL : Watercolour : Spiral Pad : 300gsm : Cold Pressed
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Another favorite of mine is the Bockingford range, it comes in all kind of sizes and surfaces to choose from. Their cold-pressed, bright white paper is perfect for swatching! I usually buy their full sheets and cut them to my desired sizes, as they'r...
Bockingford : White Watercolour Paper Blocks and Pads
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This paper is fairly new to me, I've tried it only recently and loved the quality of it. Nicely textured and great for a daily practice.
SMLT Art Wirebound Watercolor Pads
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Amazing 100% Cotton paper pads - more affordable compared to other brands while still high quality!
MEEDEN Cold Press & Hot Press & Rough Watercolor Paper Pad
Watercolor Brushes
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Winsor & Newton has a great range of affordable high quality brush sets, perfect for beginners.
Winsor & Newton : Foundation Watercolour Brush Sets
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The brushes by Pro Arte are wonderful to use and they last surprisingly long (I still use the ones I bought 6 years ago). This set has the perfect selection of sizes if you need a variety to try out.
Pro Arte : Mastertouch : Aquamarine : Round : Watercolour & Gouache Brush Set
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My all time faves regarding value and precision. Their fine tips work great for illustrations.
Da Vinci : NOVA Synthetic Hair Brush : 170 / 1670 / 1870 / 1875
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While more on the expensive side, Princeton's excellent brushes are a joy to use. As soon as you're painting more, adding one or two of them (in your most used sizes) to your toolkit, is really worth it. My favorite ranges are the Velvet Touch and He...
Princeton Brushes | BLICK Art Materials
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If you like to paint with a lot of water in a loose way, you'll love mop brushes! They are softly gliding across the paper while holding a lot of paint. Jackson' s own brand of brushes are of great quality for quite a low price.
Jackson's : Raven : Synthetic Mop Brushes : Series 528
Watercolor Books, Tutorials and Courses
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When I first started with watercolors, Ana's courses and books were a tremendous help to learn about my new-found passion. With her modern approach and fun techniques, all of her books are worth a read!
Creative Watercolor: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners
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If you love flowers, this book is for you! Easy tutorials on how to paint loose florals.
DIY Watercolor Flowers: The beginner's guide to flower painting for journal pages, handmade stationery and more
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Oh I loved every of Ana's classes  I took! It helped me so much with learning different techniques and brush control as well as gaining confidence to paint any subject I didn't dare to paint before.
Ana Victoria Calderón - Skillshare
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Kolbie's classes were also my favorites to watch and learn from when I started my own watercolor journey. Her books are great for beginners, too!
Kolbie Blume - Skillshare
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Susan offers a lot of watercolor resources for beginners, like free guides and simple tutorials on Youtube as well as a lovely guided membership to paint and learn along with fellow watercolor lovers. Her monthly challenges helped me immensely to pai...
Susan Chiang
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Kateri's comprehensive beginner's class is perfect for learning all the basics about watercolors, including essential techniques.
Startup Library: Painting With Watercolors
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Great step-by-step tutorials and included watercolor paper pad with drawings, a truly fun way to learn painting!
Learn to Watercolor - (Watercolor This Book) by Lacey Walker (Paperback)
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Jenna's book is perfect for beginners, including all the basics you need to know to get started and building on these foundations to improve your skills over the course of 30 days.
Everyday Watercolor: Learn to Paint Watercolor in 30 Days
Other useful Watercolor Supplies
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Having a paint palette to mix your colors is so handy! I love ceramic/porcelain palettes as the paints mix so well and smoothly on them. These Meeden palettes are a real bargain and are available in many designs & sizes.
Ceramic Palettes
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With their fine tip, the Pigma Micron pens are perfect for adding small details to your painting or for drawing guiding lines. They're waterproof and work like a charm on watercolor paper and with watercolors.
3pk Micron Archival Ink Multi-Size Tip Pen Set - Black: Pigma Micron Drawing Pens, Fine 0.45mm, Porous Point, 3 Count