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Everything you need to get started with watercolor and mixed media
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items I've been painting for five years and I'm well-versed in all of the supplies that work best for my practice. I am certain these options would help you too!
Sections
4
Favorite Paper
Fav Brushes
Watercolor Paints
Fav Crayons, Pencils, Pens, and mixed media tools
Favorite Paper
One of my favorites! Middle of the pack affordability Cold and hot press paper. Perfect for illustrations and watercolor/mixed media artwork.
MEEDEN Cold Press & Hot Press & Rough Watercolor Paper Pad
I love these cards so much. I don’t use the hot press because I am a cold press girl but to get 24 postcards with rounded edges for sometimes less than $10 that is a deal and the paper is great especially for the holidays.
PATIKIL 24 Sheets 4x6 Watercolor Postcards
Some of the best watercolor postcards on the market. Perfect for holiday cards, I use these for a lot of my card tutorials
Funto Blank Watercolor Paper Postcards, 28 Cards
Great low budget watercolor paper. 100% cotton. Often use it for practice!
BEE-1153 Series | 100% Cotton Watercolor Paper – 140 lb.
Spiral watercolor sketchbook are my preference. I don't have to worry about holding it open with my left hand. And as with the individual paper from Bee Paper company... it's a great practice paper because of its affordability .
Bee Creative Series | Watercolor Art Journal
Same vibe as Meeden. Very textured. Middle of the pack affordability. Love painting on this paper.
BAOHONG Artists' Watercolor Paper Block, 20 Sheets
Admittedly Bindi is a friend, but you will not find a more unique and lovely paper to create in. Cold press on one side, hot press on the other. Spiral sketchbook. Cost is on the higher end but entirely worth the price. Comes in two sizes. 5x7 and 9x...
Buy Desai Art Watercolor Sketchbook | Premium Artist Paper
Higher end cost but a great lightly textured cold press. Also it is easier to remove from the pad with a corner lift instead of on the middle of side
Paper
My favorite hot press paper. I’m generally not a hot pressed girly because I don’t like the puddles that sit on the top of the page but my first time painting on this hot press was lovely. I would absolutely buy this paper again.
Hahnemuhle Watercolor 300 Block Hot Pressed 14.2x18.9
A wonderful eco-friendly option. Feels like cold press paper.
Hahnemühle Sugar Cane Watercolor Block 11.8x15.7
Another wonderful eco-friendly option if you don’t want to use 100% cotton paper, but still want to have the same feeling underneath your brush. texture is a little bit different from sugarcane but still similar to cold press in soak.
Hahnemuhle Agave Watercolour Block 24x32cm
I love a square sketchbook, and this one is beyond wonderful. You can paint on both sides of the page without much buckling if you’re looking to gift a friend, a watercolor sketchbook by the 2pack and you can keep one for yourself.
Funto Watercolor Journal, Square 5.5x5.5, 2-Pack
If you’re looking for tiny in pocket sized, these are great set of watercolor sketch books that I like to use when I’m on the go. I especially love how thick the pages are. You never have to worry about the watercolor bleeding through.
Funto Watercolor Journal, Square 5.5x5.5, 2-Pack
Fav Brushes
Favorite batch of brushes! Kristy introduced me to daggers and they are unbeaten in this collection. To this day I will claim my style was influenced by this collection.
The Art for Joy's Sake Brush Collection - Unique Shopping for Artistic Gifts
Great set for beginners! Lots of different brush heads for various tutorials.
ARTIFY 9 PCS Travel Watercolor Brushes for Beginners & Pros
Love the size and snap of Kingart dagger brushes. Affordable. Great ergonomic handling. Enjoy painting with these ones.
By Brush Shape- Daggers (Stripers)
Very nice high-end brushes. Smooth and hold a lot of water. I’ve used that needlepoint brushes and the travel set brushes. Both are excellent. Don’t recommend for beginners as it is an unnecessary amount of money to spend on new brushes when you’re j...
Artist-Designed Paint Brushes & Art Supplies | FUUMUUI – fuumuuiart
The best set of detail watercolor brushes I have worked with yet. I think I’m most in love with the fact that there’s so many daggers inside this set.
Detailing Paint Brush Set-Golden Maple 13pcs
A great set for new painters and intermediate painters. It’s reliable has great sizes for the style of art that I do. I often reach for this set when I’m painting.
MEEDEN Watercolor Paint Brush Set: 10 Pcs Art ...
Watercolor Paints
A great set for beginners and intermediate artists. Many of my art friends love painting with this set. Need to get some tubes soon as I'm running out of certain colors on the palette! 🎨 🤣
MEEDEN 48-Color Solid Watercolor Set
Looking for all the paints? Regular, shimmers, pastels, and neons... this is the one that hits all the marks! Such a fun set for those of us intimidated or frustrated with mixing.
Artecho Watercolor Paint Set 128 Colors
These handmade high-end paints are fabulous if you’re looking for a creamy milky paint texture. You can’t go wrong with their neutrals, especially if you’re trying to paint white watercolor flowers.
Watercolor Sets
My favorite all-time watercolor paint. They are handmade, very granulated and highly pigmented. If you were to ask me to pick only five, I would tell you to grab iron blue, dragon blood, bright yellow, dark shadow, green, and ultramarine magenta. Gre...
MashasWatercolors
A top-notch watercolor in tubes that very rarely disappoint I’ve been using these since I started painting and still go back to some of my favorite tubes from time to time, even though I lean more into handmade paint now.
Top three favorite colors i...
Daniel Smith Extra Fine™ Watercolor, 5mL
One of the most affordable and beautiful shimmer and glitter paint makers on Etsy and the owner Laura is lovely and kind and helpful. My favorite paints include pure gold, rusulka, and 925 metallic
CozmickCreations
The Fuumuui Opaque Watercolor Set in warm grey tones is unlike anything else on the market. The pigments are rich, smooth, and a dream to paint with—perfect for moody washes, delicate shadows, and layering with depth. Use my code Kristine10 if you ne...
24-Color Watercolor Paint Set | Muted Tones for Artists
You won’t find a more affordable set of tubes they give off all the vibrancy of an artist set. I would buy this set multiple times just to give it to my friends so I had more friends to paint with haha
MEEDEN Watercolor Paint Tubes Set 48x12ml
One of my favorite all-time blacks because of how it dries it looks just like the surface of the moon. Very cool.
Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolor Paint 15ml Lunar Black
Fav Crayons, Pencils, Pens, and mixed media tools
Color with watercolor crayons! 🖍️ These go down dry but can manipulated with water. Love the texture these create on cold press paper. Also way more affordable that neo 2s.
iCrayon Watercolor crayon review (watersoluble wax pastels)
My favorite crayons. You can blend with your finger. You can add water and blend them out. Such a versatile little tool… and also… marketed to toddlers. 🤣
JUPITEARTH 24 Color Twist Crayons for Kids
One of my favorite all-time pencils for final marks on my paintings. It is water soluble and incredibly pigmented, so be careful and adding water near wherever you have added the pencil.
Colored pencil for almost all surfaces STABILO All
Made for kids fun for adults. These crayons are water soluble. Which means you can add water and move the sketch and doodles around like it’s paint.
Multi-talented pencil STABILO woody 3 in 1
I haven’t met a gel pen from shuttle art that I didn’t like. I’m tough on my pens. I use them on cold press paper, which is very textured and they do very well on it.
Shuttle Art: PENS
You won’t find a better white watercolor that is this opaque like bleed proof white. You can use it over pretty much any watercolor painting, and see results most artists. I know are using this little jar.
Dr. Ph. Martin's Bleedproof White Paint 1oz
There’s a reason prisma is one of the top colored pencil companies. They are soft but hard enough to manage a bit of drawing before sharpening again. I did a number of colored pencil illustrations on wooden circles and they performed beautifully.
Explore Colored Pencils
Great little markers for highlights and and visual attention at the end of a piece. They are fine tipped in our great line work, especially if you’re not comfortable painting the highlights or line work with other tools.
Black & White Extra Fine Tip Acrylic Paint Marker Set Of 6
While not required a heat gun can be incredibly convenient and speed up the process of an art piece. I found I use it more now that I have a designated art space in my house otherwise it’s another art tool to store.
Chandler Tool: Embossing Heat Guns
If you want to ink and wash, these are the pens you need. they will not bleed under the puddle that you create with your brush. The ink is protected from any watercolor work over the top.
Micron Pens
These pastel pencils are fabulous for capturing details in an illustration, and not messing up your fingers with pastel chalk. They’re thin like a pencil, but smudge on the paper.
Chalk-pastel pencil STABILO CarbOthello
Fabulous smooth 0.6 colored pens that aren’t afraid of cold press or rough press paper.
Shuttle Art 30 Colors 0.6mm Gel Pens
This set of brush tip fine tip acrylic markers are my favorite at the moment. So far I feel like they do a better job with coverage than other acrylic marker companies better than meEden, better than shuttle art. I especially love the brush tip the c...
Jootle Dual Tip Acrylic Paint Markers, 36 Colors
Looking to add some white back into your watercolor paintings, this is what I use almost every time. It sits on the spectrum between watercolor and gouache.
Dr. Ph. Martin's Bleedproof White Paint 1oz
And affordable brand of watercolor pencils that has really great blends on the page. Just bought this one a couple weeks ago and I’m digging it.
KALOUR 72-Color Watercolor Pencils + 2 Brushes
The nicest, watercolor pencils I’ve ever used, but they’re very pricey. These are certainly not a must have. They are a luxury but if you’re really looking to spoil yourself, these are fabulous.
Woodless Watercolour Pencils
Such a big fan of these markers. I love that you can reload them with ink pods when you run out of ink for your favorite ones.
Funto ClickLink Acrylic Paint Markers, 160-Piece Set
These glitter pens are so bougie and I love them so much. They are so shimmery and glittery packed into that little tube in the pen. I plan on using these for every Christmas card I make.
ZSCM Retractable Super Glitter Gel Pens, 24 Colors
Such such a fun little tool to add to your mixed media art. These temporary paint sticks leave a little bit of soft texture over the top of your paintings. They’re safe for kids and have some metallic shimmer ones that I absolutely love..
JUPITEARTH 24 Colors Twist Crayons for Toddlers