Recommended Watercolor Supplies

A few of my favorite art things

Hi Watercolor friends! Here are the supplies that I recommend for watercolor painting. This is a live document and is constantly being updated and changed as I find new great things to share. I am an art supply person and love to talk shop.

If you’re looking to shop locally, check out the Blick in Roswell – they have the most watercolor supplies that I’ve seen in Metro-Atlanta with a huge selection of very fun things!

2025 Watercolor Class Supply List (Click to View)

Message me on Instagram(@jessica.lily11) or send me an email if you have any questions!!

Watercolor Paints : These are the colors that I will use for all of my 2025 classes (Essentials, Woodlands, Portraits). Paints should be dried in half pans. I buy single tube and fill my own pans. You don’t need the exact same colors, just something to represent each type (ie: Cool Red can be Permanent Rose, Quinacridone Rose, any pink, Alizarin Crimson, Warm Blue can be Cobalt Blue or Ultramarine Blue, Transparent Blue can be Winsor Blue or Pthalo Blue, both in Red Shade, Cool Green can be Pthalo Green or Viridian)

Cool Red like Permanent Rose (Winsor & Newton)
Warm Red like Pyrrol Scarlet (Daniel Smith)
Cool Yellow like Hansa Yellow Light (QOR)
Warm Yellow like Cadmium-Free Yellow (Winsor & Newton)
Nickle Azo Yellow (QOR)
Yellow Ochre (Winsor & Newton)
Warm Blue like Cobalt Blue Hue (Schminke)
Transparent Blue like Windsor Blue (Winsor & Newton)
Staining Green like Pthalo Green (Daniel Smith)
Burnt Sienna (Holbein)
Natural Green like Sap Green (Daniel Smith)
Warm Purple like Mineral Violet (Holbein)

– Watercolor Brushes (All 5):
– Princeton Velvet Touch – 14 Long Round, 4 Long Round, 10/0 Liner
– White Talkons (either – Silverwhite 4 and 10 SHORT OR Princeton Value Set)

– 100% Cotton Watercolor Paper: Cold Press (lower cost can be Meeden or Bee Paper, pro grade is Arches, Saunders Waterford or Winsor & Newton)
– Plastic Plate or Palette to mix paints on
– Pencils & Kneaded Eraser
– Watercolor Resist + applicators & resist only brush
– Masking Tape professional grade contractors tape from home store
– Clipboard if your paper is not on a block
– Water Container plastic tupperware with a tight closing lid
– Paper Towels

Watercolor Paper

Lower cost options – for class, studies & learning

Meeden Watercolor Paper is a really good quality 100% cotton paper, and is the lowest cost similar product that I have found. +_ $17 / 20 sheets

Buy on Amazon

Bee Creative watercolor paper. This is the lowest cost, & still good 100% cotton watercolor paper I have seen. It is *too* soft for tape or resist. BUT it holds paint beautifully and is great for art classes & studies.
50 sheets for +_ $20

Buy on Amazon

Professional grade options – for finished pieces & to enjoy – I suggest buying full sheets more than blocks, but that is just my personal taste.

Arches Cold Press watercolor paper – single sheet. Much lower cost to buy a large sheet, and then cut it yourself into little 8×8 squares to study from, or any other size you are using. +_ $8-10

Buy Locally in Person at Hobby Lobby or Blick

Windsor & Newton Professional 100% cotton, 140lb watercolor sheets. This costs less, and is worth it if you are buying a whole order from Blick anyway. Otherwise, shipping will not make up for the discount. +_ $6-7

Buy on Blick

Saunders Waterford 200lb 100% Cotton paper. This is my very most favorite paper for portraits – its is thicker and sturdier than the regular 140lbs paper, and is quite soft. So beautiful for portraits!! +_ $10-12

Buy on Blick

Fabriano Artistico 100% Cotton paper. I love this paper for botanicals lately. It is a firmer paper, and it lifts more easily than regular paper. It is a little bit more difficult to paint on than the softer papers, so this is more of an intermediate/ advanced paper in my opinion. Do not use this paper if you are just starting out. +_ $10-12

Buy on Blick

Watercolor Paints

Complete Paint Sets

Daniel Smith Watercolor Essentials Set. If you are looking to explore professional range paints, this is the way to start. This split primary set will allow you to mix most any other color you can imagine, and the Daniel Smith paints are top of the line. This will give you a warm and a cool of each primary color. +_ $35

Buy on Amazon

QOR Introductory Set – Wonderfully high quality set of introductory paints, this is sufficient to not need other paint colors. QOR is known for its aquazol binder , which has a really magical way of spreading as it hits paper. It is also super bright and saturated.
+_ $50 for 12 tubes

Buy on Amazon

Windsor & Newton professional – set. If you want the whole set, of the good paint, then I would consider this complete set from Windsor & Newton. Its pricy, so its not for everyone. This is sufficient to not need additional paints for my courses. +- $62 for 12 tubes

Buy on Amazon

Daniel Smith Professional – set. This is a very high quality and beautiful watercolor paint set, and if you prefer Daniel Smith, this is the introductory set I recommend. +- $60 for 12 pans

Buy on Amazon

Individual Paint Tubes – my favorite brands. This is realistically how I buy paint, one tube at a time. They last for a while. You can buy them in small (5ml) or large (15ml) sized tubes – I normally start with a small tube if it is a new color to me. I buy large tubes if I am replacing a smaller tube that I used all of the paint and I know that I love it and use alot of it.

Windsor & Newton professional are my go to paints for their reliability, beautiful colors and tactile way they feel when I paint with them. My favorite Windsor & Newton color is Permanent Rose. +_ $12

Buy on Amazon

Holbein makes a few colors that I cannot live without! THeir Mineral Violet is my absolute favorite color and paint. (I totally understand if your actual favorite color is different!) +_ $9

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QOR professional paints are known for having a different type of binder. The colors tend to be super saturated, and when you drop them into water, they spread out further, generally. +_$12

Buy on Amazon

Daniel Smith professional paints are all around wonderful. They have some colors with really exceptional mineral and textural qualities. My favorite Daniel Smith color is Sap Green. +_ $14

Buy on Amazon

Brushes

These are the brushes you should have in your basic set for our classes together. Princeton Velvet Touch 14 Long Round and 4 Long Round (or something else close to this) and a Silverbrush Silverwhite 10 Bright and 4 Bright.

Princeton Velvetouch – This is what I advise beginner and intermediate painters use. They hold a great amount of water and have a sharp tip. A good set includes a 12 or 14 round, a 4 or 6 round and a 10/0 liner.

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Silver Brush Silverwhite Bright, used to lift and to sculpt. I love them and constantly am buying more. I advise size 4 and size 10 everyday.

IMPORTANT the SHORT handle is the correct brush. The long handle brushes are a completely different size. +_ $5 each

Buy on Blick

Princeton Real Value Brush Set – White Taklon, Short Handle, Set of 4 – these can be used to replace the Silverwhite brushes. They are available for less than $5 for the set at the local Blick, they are on the endcap of the brushes. Good for lifting and sculpting.

+_ $5 for a set

Buy on Blick

Drawing

Kneaded eraser – this invaluable tool is the best and most agreeable kind of eraser to use with watercolor paper. The case is helpful to keep the eraser clean.

Buy on Amazon

SAKURA Pigma Micron Fineliner Pens – waterproof so you can paint on top without the ink bleeding. You only need this if we are doing a pen and ink class.

Buy on Amazon

Staedtler drawing pencil set – this is where I get my H or 2H pencils from. If you are close to a local art store, you can buy a single pencil as well. Anything between 4H – H is what I would choose for a watercolor drawing because they make lighter lines and erase easier. My preference is 2H.

Buy on Am azon

Tools and Supplies

Watercolor Resist – The Drawing Gum is also called Frisket, Resist, or Misket. They are all the same thing, liquid-rubber to resist paint. The residue eraser is a big help, as is the incredible nib. I also use the Koh-i-Nor to apply, and keep a few lower quality paint brushes that I only use for resist.