Basic Equipment - What do you really need?
It is so tempting when beginning a new hobby to let enthusiasm cloud your judgment. Do not be tempted to buy every material you see, especially the ones that appear very cheap. Generally in watercolours you get what you pay for.
Sketching
Sketching materials are easy to come by. Check discount shops such as Poundland etc. you are looking for a good smooth white paper, not too thin. An A4 size pad is ideal for lessons, and an A5 pad or smaller to carry with you ready to make quick sketches of interesting things you might see. Do not buy a pencil sharpener they ruin the leads of your pencils, instead pick up a pack of disposable craft knives whilst you are here.
Then visit a good art supplier for pencils. There is a wide variety to choose from, including graphite and charcoal, in a variety of hardness of the leads. Most common pencils are HB, which are the middle of the range H denotes the hardest leads ranging from 1H up to 8H, and B denotes the softer leads ranging from 1B to 8B. To begin with I suggest you go for just three; 1B, 2B and a HB. You will also require a putty rubber. These erasers are very soft and malleable. Used carefully they will not spoil your watercolour paper when you reach that stage, and can be shaped to a fine point if required for erasing highlight in your drawings.
Watercolour materials
Firstly the papers, these can be very confusing. As for suppliers I suggest Winsor & Newton and Daler-Rowney, as these are widely available.
Paper is available in a wide range spanning, hot or cold pressed, weights, finishes and base materials. The different qualities of the paper will give differing results so some explanation is needed. You will find with experience which papers suit your individual style.
For general use I suggest paper of 295gsm or heavier, as this will not need to be stretched. But do ask at your local art suppliers about other papers, they are usually quite friendly and will help you choose other papers when the fancy takes you. You can also buy paper in large single sheets and sometimes in variety packs, this is an ideal way to try new surfaces, keep a notebook of the details and how it reacted to the paint, and your personal reflections.
Probably the best first choice would be paper sold in blocks. These appear similar to pads of loose pages. A block is gummed all the way around with the exception of a small area. Because it is held fast all the way round there is no need to stretch this paper. A craft knife inserted in the little gap will aid the removal of your dry painting and the next page is ready for use. To start with go for paper which is A4 or so in size, this allows plenty of room to get to grips with the techniques but is small enough to avoid too much fiddling with your work which leads to tired overworked pieces.
Paper comes in three finishes;
Hot pressed
Is the smoothest and most absorbent as a result it is difficult to control large washes and dark colours often go patchy, however it has its uses for fine detailed work such as botanical illustrations and also when drawing with watercolour pencils.
Cold pressed or 'Not'
Simply meaning not hot pressed. Having some texture but only semi rough it takes large flat washes well and also fine details.
Rough
Is highly textured and not suitable for fine details. The paint often does not go into the crevices but it will give a lively feeling to larger pictures and is particularly good for dry brush techniques.
The best papers contain cotton or linen fibres and are sometimes called 'rag'. More economical papers are made from wood fibres. Manufacture also shows in the quality and of course cost of papers, the best being hand made, mould made are next in quality and the lowest price is machine made. However this does not mean that a wood based, machine made paper will prove unsatisfactory especially if produced by a reputable company.
Paper is graded by weight in pounds per ream (500 sheets) or by grams per square metre (gsm). Any paper below 140lb(295gsm) should be stretched before painting. And as a general rule the larger painting will need a heavier paper.
In time you will want to experiment with better quality papers.
All paper marked as for watercolour has been sized (treated) to slow the absorption of the water.
Brushes
Brushes are the most intimate tool of the artist. Buy the best quality that you can afford, as the price will reflect the quality. The very best are Kolinsky Sable brushes right down in price to synthetic brushes. Cared for well, brushes will last you for years. I have a wide range of brushes myself but find I use only a few of my favourites, some of which are synthetic. To begin with No 2,5,7 and 10 rounds are a good choice, you will also find a 1/2 inch goats hair brush useful for large washes and for fine detail a rigger; so called because of it's original use to paint the rigging on pictures of sailing ships.
Whatever brushes you choose make sure that no bristles are bent or broken, good brushes of any quality usually come with a protective layer of gum to protect the bristles in transport and display, if this has been damaged don't buy. Good ones also come with a tube of plastic as further protection, these are a good option as you can reuse the tubes to protect your brushes. The bristles on the brushes that you are buying should also come to a fine point. I shall now appear to contradict myself, and suggest that later on you buy a very cheap set of brushes, these will be useful for applying masking fluid, which will ruin your good brushes and you can also take a pair of scissors to them and use them for splattering and stippling for interesting effects described in some of the later lessons.
Do take some time with your brushes practicing what marks can be made with them, just as is suggested in lesson one with pencils.
It would be appropriate at this point to mention brush care as this will lengthen their life and keep them in good condition.
Brushes can be expensive. Use a cheap brush for scrubbing at your paint and mixing, rather than wear out your good brushes.
Always clean your brushes well after a painting session. You can buy specialist soap for this purpose but a mild baby shampoo will do the job just as well. Natural hair brushes will loose their natural oils in time. So once or twice a year using ordinary hair conditioner will also help. Always rinse well and flick back into shape then dry in a well ventilated area. Preferably with the brush pointing downwards as this will avoid water collecting in the ferrule and causing rust to form.
Never store brushes in an airtight container. They need to be kept out of direct sunlight and well ventilated to avoid mildew forming. For transport a bamboo roll is preferable. These can be purchased but can be made from a cheap table mat with ribbon or elastic sewn on to hold the brushes.
Paints
And finally the paints. Which again come in a variety of forms.
Dry cakes
Dry cakes contain pigment in its purest form, but they take more water and working up to release the colour, left in storage for too long they can be very difficult to work with. (Although I have heard of these I have not actually seen them for sale.)
Semi moist watercolour
These small blocks available in full and half pans are designed to fit in watercolour boxes available separately, or as a beginner you may wish to purchase one ready filled. However the ready filled boxes although appearing a good bargain, I have found that I simply do not use some of the colours, and they have proved false economy for myself. Pans are easy to work with and are very portable for outdoor use.
Tubes
Always moist and ready to use (provided you reseal them well) They are useful for making large washes and do not need a specialist container, another plus is that they can be used to create very intense colour. Without experience there is a tendency to squeeze out too much paint at a time, but if kept clean it is possible to remoisten it.
Tubes and pans come in different qualities being Artists' Quality and Students' Quality. Artist quality contain more pigment and the pigment is from purer sources resulting in a greater saturation of colour. Their prices are usually graded according to the cost of the pigment materials. Student quality have less pigment often created synthetically and are the same price each across the available colours.
Palettes
Again a wide variety is available from china to plastic. Either way they should be white, because the watercolour paint is transparent, looking at it in a coloured palette would give you a false impression of what it is likely to be the outcome on paper. Paint boxes for pans usually have some recesses for mixing paints built in, but I find these both irksome to clean and often not enough of them to suit my paintings. So I tend to use a separate one. If you are working at home you could also use a white plate or white ceramic tile.
Additional bits and pieces
Initially you will also need the following bits and pieces which can be found around the home.
A rigid board larger than your paper as a work surface.
Toilet roll for wiping your brushes on.
Tape - gummed paper tape if you are stretching papers and/or ordinary masking tape if you do not intend to stretch choose a low tack decorators type.
Two water jars One for rinsing brushes the other kept clean for working the paints.
copyright Jane Grainger 2004.