Recommended Watercolor Supplies

A few of my favorite art things

Below, you will find the brands and specific watercolor supplies I enjoy most often in my own studio. You do not need all of these things, this is just for fun, and for your own curiosity if you’d like to check out some new tools.

This is a live document and is constantly being updated and changed as I find new great things to share.

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.

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2026 Watercolor Class Supply List:

These are the supplies I will be using, you are welcome to use the same, or really any that you have.

Watercolor Paints :

Winsor Red (Winsor & Newton)
Permanent Rose (Daniel Smith)
Quinacridone Magenta (QOR)
Hansa Yellow Light (QOR)
Cadmium-Free Yellow (Winsor & Newton)
Nickle Azo Yellow (QOR)
Cobalt Blue Hue(Schminke)
Windsor Blue (Winsor & Newton)
Pthalo Green (Daniel Smith)
Burnt Sienna (Holbein)
Sap Green(Daniel Smith)
Winsor Violet (Winsor & Newton)

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

– 100% Cotton Watercolor Paper: Cold Press (see options below)
– Plastic Plate or Palette to mix paints on
– Pencils & Kneaded Eraser
– Watercolor Resist + applicator
– 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

Coming soon in 2027!

I’m looking forward to some new and exciting paint swaps to our 2027 paint collections. Here are a few of the pigments I have my eye on as a new swap, into our palette after the New Year.

Watercolor Paints :

Transparent Pyrrol Orange (QOR)
Burnt Umber (QOR)
Ultramarine Blue (QOR, Windor or Daniel Smith)

Whole Set:

I’ve decided this QOR set is my favorite if you want a single set of professional quality beautiful pigments with a full range. > QOR Set of 12 Half Pans

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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. These papers hold tape, resist, and color well. I use cold press, natural white, 140 lb for the most part. There is also an argument for using the bright white paper, if you prefer.

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 or Online at 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

Watercolor Paints

Complete Paint Sets

QOR Set of 12 Half Pans – this is my favorite and best to reccomend complete set of paints, ready to go, no additions needed. It has my favorite yellow in it, my new favorite orange. It is essentially a split primary palette, but with a couple of beautiful secondaries built in. I’m considering using this for my 2027 teaching palette.

Buy on Blick

Buy on Amazon

Van Gogh Pocketbox – Very richly pigmented, great quality STUDENT grade paints. If you are picking watercolor paints for the first time, this is what I recommend. I linked to a particular set that most closely matches our class paint set.
+_ $20 for 15 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

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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

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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.

Buy on Blick
Buy on Amazon

Princeton Heritage – This is a softer brush, and its really lovely to paint with. I have been using these in my own studio work lately. I really like this particular set, it has a big round, a small round, a details and a nice wash brush. This is a good complete set if this is all you have. Its also a good compliment.

Buy on Blick

Buy on Amazon

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 aisle. 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 Blick
Buy on Amazon

Staedtler Mars Lumograph Drawing and Sketching Pencil – 2H

This is the standard pencil I use most often and reccomend for watercolor sketches. The H indicates is a harder pencil, so as long as you press lightly, its a bit easier to remove.

Buy on Blick

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

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.