Foundations course for beginners - see here

SketchingNow Watercolour: Materials List

SketchingNow-Watercolour-kit
As with all my SketchingNow courses, it is not necessary for you to use the same materials as I do. Instead I would prefer that you use your current kit (if you have one) so that you can apply the concepts from the course to the materials that you already know.

Download PDF File: SkN Watercolour Materials List

Basic Requirements (refer also to suggestions below)

 

  • A watercolour kit –  see below for more details.
  • Watercolour paper/sketchbook A5-A4 in size and 180-300gsm in weight.
  • A round brush #6 – #10 (depending on the size of paper/sketchbook you are using).  Either sable, sable-blend or synthetic. Note: waterbrushes are not recommended for this course.
  • A permanent pen – such as a 0.3 fineliner or fountain pen (EF or F nib) with permanent ink. More about fountain pens here and safe ink to use in fountain pens here.
  • A B or 2B pencil

Listing of what I will be using during the course

 
Watercolour:
12 colour watercolour palette containing the following
colours.

DS Hansa Yellow Medium PY97
DS New Gamboge PY97, PY110
DS Transparent Pyrrol Orange PO71
DS Quinacridone Rose PV19
DS Ultramarine Blue (not French!) PB29
DS Cerulean Blue Chromium PB36
DS Sap Green PO48 PG7 PY150
WN Cobalt Turquoise Light PG50
WN Potters Pink PR233
DS Monte Amiata Natural Sienna PBr7
DS Transparent Red Oxide PR101
DS Van Dyke Brown PBr7

Please refer to this article for more details.

Sketchbook:
Moleskine Watercolour A4 sketchbook. Note: I use the A4 size to make it easier to see the demos, but a smaller size –  the ‘Large’ (A5) size –  would be more suitable for a beginner

Brush:
Rosemary & Co Brushes R13 pocket brush (sable blend pointed round brush Size 8).

Pen and Pencil:
Lamy Joy (or Safari) with a F nib and De Atramentis Ink
A 2B pencil (brand is not important!)

Other options which would be suitable for the course

Watercolour – please also refer to Intro Lesson 1: Paint

I suggest that you have between 6-12 colours in your palette as this will give you a good range of different types of pigments.

  • Look for a kit/selection which includes a warm and cool yellow, red and blue, plus a few earth colours.
  • My minimum palette of 6 colours in either Daniel Smith, Winsor & Newton or Schmincke
  • Reminder that I am happy for you to use your current palette!

Brushes – please also refer to Intro Lesson 2: Brushes

Here are a few other brush suggestions, but there are many more! You might want to check out this article for a few more options.

I work at a various sizes and find that generally #8 round works best for me. If you have a small sketchbook and like to work small you might prefer to use a #6 instead.

Natural Hair

  • Rosemary & Co R2 –  Travel sable #8 round
  • Rosemary & Co R8 –  Travel sable quill
  • Escoda Reserva Sable travel brush –  size #8
  • Da Vinci  Sable MaestroTravel brush  –  size #8

Synthetic

  • Ecoda Prado synthetic brush –  size #8
  • Escoda Versatil imitation sable travel brush –  size #8
  • Princeton Elite imitation sable –  size #8
  • Da Vinci – Casaneo Imitation squirrel quill size #0

Sketchbooks – please also refer to Intro Lesson 3: Sketchbooks

Once again there are many options and different sizes! The following books I have tested and would be suitable for this course

  • Stillman & Birn Beta or Gamma book – comes in various sizes and formats but I like the softcover 8 x 10.
  • Handbook Travelogue Watercolour book – I love the square format.
  • Pentalic Aqua Journal
  • Strathmore Watercolour Art Journal
  • Hahnemuhle Watercolour Book

What about Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbooks? While I love these books for general sketching and get some great results in them, it would be better to use paper that is more designed for watercolour.

Comments are closed.