Pigments

Pigments. Not paint. Pigments.

Pigments are building blocks for producing paint. It could be chemical or natural. They have a universal color code if they are chemical. If they're natural they're usually named for what they are and/or where they came from.

You get paint when you mix a pigment with a binder using some sort of proprietary formula and/or manufacturing process and sell it under your brand name.

Color is how your eye perceives that pigment.

If you want to get into the science of color, there are several websites but I would suggest exploring Handprint. It’s extensive.

Why is knowing the pigments so important? Because manufacturers use any names they like to describe the color of the paint they sell.

Daniel Smith's Quinacridone Rose is PV19. White Knight's Quinacridone Rose is PR122. Winsor and Newton's Quinacridone Rose is PV19 only they call it PERMANENT Rose.

This is why it is important to know the pigment numbers rather than rely on names. Names are arbitrary but pigment is pigment.

BTW, the color wheel isn’t so much a wheel as it is a ball. And the three primaries are not yellow, red and blue. And there aren’t three but four if you go back in history. More on that later.

There are many yellows. Depending on the manufacturer they may have fanciful names or they may have chemical names. But if you are going to compare one manufacturer to another, you need to look at the pigment number. Not always easy. One of the best sources on both color and pigments for manufacturers in Jane Blundell. Check out her tutorials and her blog. She has sampled all of the major manufacturers, so can tell you how the paints feel and react, plus she has their names and the pigment(s) used to create them. She prefers single pigment colors as do I because they are more predictable when mixed. But in the end, you get used to whatever you use most often.

I mentioned in passing PY153 as being discontinued when I talked about paints. This would be Pigment Yellow 153. Called either New Gamboge or Indian Yellow, depending on whether it’s Daniel Smith or Daler Rowney. Also discontinued is Quinacridone Gold or PO49 (Pigment Orange 49.) The pigment was discontinued in 2008 and Daniel Smith bought the remaining world’s supply. They must have run out because they discontinued their last use of it in October of 2017. They were the last manufacturer to have a single pigment Quin Gold, all others having a 2-3 pigment mix since they didn't have access to any P049. All Quin Gold paints are now a mix of two or more pigments. Usually PY150 and PO48 but which pigments and combinations will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Why do pigments go extinct? Blame the car manufacturers. Pigments exist because there is a demand by commercial manufacturers that need it for some reason or other. Huge amounts of it. Perhaps it’s painting taxi cabs or tractors or something. Companies that produce pigments do so according to demand by these big businesses. When car manufacturers don’t order any more PO49, then manufacturers stop producing it. Artists rely on big business for their pigments. The production of art supplies is so small that it isn’t viable for these companies to continue to produce pigments for such a small market. If you’re lucky, you can pick up some “new old stock” or slightly used tubes on eBay or Etsy.

Here is a list of pigments from Daniel Smith. The numbers are standardized. You can read up on that on Handprint. The names of the pigments are generally standard but then you'll get some manufacturers getting creative. Quin Magenta in Daniel Smith is PR202, but for other manufacturers it might be PR122. This is why it is important to pay attention to the pigments, especially if you are going to cross over and buy from multiple manufacturers.

P stands for Pigment

B=blue
Bk=black
Br=brown
G=green
O=orange
R=red
Y=yellow
V=violet
W=white

PB15 Phthalo Blue GS (green shade)/Manganese Blue Hue/ Phthalo blue RS (red shade)

PB27 Prussian Blue

PB28 Cobalt Blue

PB29 French Ultramarine Blue/Ultramarine Blue

PB35 Cerulean Blue

PB36 Cerulean Blue Chromium

PB60 Indanthrone Blue

PBk6 Lamp Black

PBk9 Ivory Black

PBk11 Lunar Black

PBr7 Burnt Umber/Burnt Sienna/Raw Umber/Raw Sienna (decide which one)

PG7   Phthalo Green BS (blue shade)

PG18 Viridian

PG36 Phthalo Green YS (yellow shade)

PG50 Cobalt Teal

PO48 Quinacridone Burnt Orange

PO49 Quinacridone Gold Now Discontinued

PO62 Permanent Orange

PO73 Pyrrol Orange

PR83 Alizarin Crimson (fugitive, don't buy this)

PR101 Red Oxide/Indian Red/Venetian Red/Red Ochre/English Red Earth

PR122 Quinacridone Lilac /Opera Pink

PR177 Permanent Alizarin Crimson

PR179 Perylene Maroon

PR202 Quinacridone Magenta

PR209 Quinacridone Coral

PR242 Cadmium Red/Permanent Red

PY3    Hansa Yellow Light 

PY35 Cadmium Yellow Light 

PY40 Aureolin Cobalt Yellow ( it's fugitive, use PY175 instead)

PY42 Yellow Iron Oxide/Gold Ochre/Indian Yellow/Yellow Ochre/Raw Sienna Light

PY53 Nickel Titanate Yellow

PY83 Azo Yellow Deep/Cadmium Yellow Deep/Gamboge Extra

PY97 Hansa Yellow Medium

PY110 Permanent Yellow Deep

PY150 Nickel Azo Yellow

PY151 Azo Yellow
PY153 Nickel Dioxine Yellow  (New Gamboge) Now Discontinued

PY175 Lemon Yellow

PV15 Ultramarine Violet 

PV19 Quinacridone Rose

PV49 Cobalt Violet

PW4 Chinese White

PW6 Titanium White

Paint - So many kinds, where to start?

Which paint manufacturer you choose will depend on how you plan to use your paints. There are those that dry so hard it is difficult to rewet them. They aren't very practical for filling pans and taking on the road.  If you are working in a studio with a tray palette rewetting may not be a problem and it doesn’t matter if your paint dries out as you can just add a bit more from the tube.

If you travel, bringing along all of your tubes may not be practical, in which case you will either want to fill pans or load a folding palette in which case, you will need your paints to dry enough not to slide around while you're traveling but still rewet. You may want to avoid those using honey in the binder or other substances that don't allow the paint to dry sufficiently. You should also avoid QoR, M.Graham and Sennelier. They are best used fresh from the tube and do not rewet well if you put them in pans so they are better for studio work. QoR does offer a pan version as do several other manufacturers such as Winsor and Newton. Daniel Smith now offers pans but you must buy them in a palette; you cannot buy them individually at this time. You  can adjust them a bit by adding gum arabic but best to just buy a brand that rewests. If you're going to both travel and do studio, better to stick to one set of paints for consistency rather than, say, using Daniel Smith for plein air and QoR in the studio. Not only is it difficult to switch from the feel of one watercolor to another but it gets very expensive having two sets of colors. It also messes with your consistency as every manufacturer has their own formula and the Ultramarine and Raw Umber mixed together from one manufacturer may not make the same color when mixed from another. They also don't behave quite the same when you are picking them up, adding water and manipulating the paint. Consistency is the key.

Perhaps permanence isn’t an issue. But if you want your paintings to look the same years from now, try to avoid fugitive colors like genuine rose madder or alizarin crimson. Fugitive means exactly what it sounds like. They don't last. They fade or the color shifts.  If you don’t care about how many pigments are used to produce a color or what they name it, that’s fine. You get used to what you have and how it mixes with other colors. I prefer single pigment colors so I know what I'll get when I mix them. Mission Gold and Cheap Joe's American Journey brand are good paints but they have interesting names so you'll need to check the pigments to see what exactly that color is. For instance Joe's Blue is really Phthalo Blue green shade. Winsor and Newton's Winsor  Blue is also Phthalo Blue green shade. I prefer standard names so I know what pigment I'm using. Personally, I'd rather know it's carbazole violet than Purple Passion.

I use Daniel Smith. When I go to a workshop where the teacher, for instance, uses Mission Gold, I then have to research the names of the Mission Gold and how they relate to my Daniel Smith, as I'm not going out and buying a set of Mission Gold Watercolors for one workshop. Most teachers list what they'll be using in their color palette and say "the equivalent," but you have to know what that is. The names won't tell you. The names aren’t the same across all manufacturers. So I have to go to the Mission Gold website and look at the pigment numbers for the colors she wants on our palettes, then find the same pigments in my Daniel Smith. I had to mix one color for the class using the pigments listed and mixing until it looked like the swatch on the website but it worked for me. This is why knowing the pigments is more important than knowing the names. (Mission Gold “Viridian” is Daniel Smith Phthalo Green blue shade for instance. Daniel Smith has a different paint called Viridian with a different pigment number. More on that regarding "Pigments.")

Once you’ve decided on a paint line, then you need to decide exactly what paint you need.

You’ll need some sort of yellow, some sort of red and some sort of blue. Don't buy black or white.

Remember I told you that historically there were four primaries, not three.

Now you could go by printer’s dyes and choose yellow, magenta and cyan and you’d do just fine. Except some paint lines don’t have “cyan”. The equivalent paint would probably be a phthalo blue, a manganese blue or a cerulean, depending on the manufacturer. They all might be the same pigment.

Handprint has a very interesting article on the Four primaries. They are yellow, red, blue and green. Specifically PY153, which is nickel dioxine yellow, now discontinued although you can use Hansa Yellow Medium (PY97) or Nickel Azo Yellow (PY150), Quinacridone Rose (PV19) although you could use Quinacridone Magenta (PR122) or PERMANENT Alizarin Crimson (alizarin crimson is a fugitive color, more on that later), Phthalo Blue green shade (PB15) and Phthalo green yellow shade (PG36). Supposedly from these four colors the masters mixed all of their colors. I suspect they had plenty of earth pigments to save on mixing browns, ochres, umbers and such.

Jane Blundell has some excellent blog posts on limited palettes. What if you only had 16 colors or 12 colors or 6 colors. If you buy FOME or Whiskey Painter’s metal tins you can vary what you take from 8 to 24, depending on if you use half or whole pants.

For my yellows: I have PY153 and PO49 (both discontinued) so I’d take New Gamboge and Quin Gold. Quin Gold can be used in lieu of a Yellow Ochre or Raw Sienna.

For my reds: Quin Rose, PV19. If I can’t have that I’d probably go with Permanent Alizarin Crimson or perhaps Quin Magenta (PR122). You can also use a Rose Madder HUE (that means it's not genuine but created) but in Daniel Smith it is not a single pigment. Genuine Rose Madder is made from a plant root and is very fugitive. It will fade within a few years.  If I had space for a second red, it would be one of the scarlets. Perhaps Pyrrol Scarlet.

For the blues, my first choice would be Phthalo Blue GS (PB15). Then I would add Ultramarine Blue (PB29). If I had room for a third it would be either Cerulean Blue Chromium or Manganese Blue Hue. Why? Because of mixing. More on that later.

I would have at least Phthalo Green but probably blue shade (PG7), although you can turn yellow shade (PG36) into a blue shade. You can also turn Phthalo Blue green shade into red shade. It has to to do with color mixing.

That’s eight.

For more I would next add Burnt Sienna (Or Quin Burnt Orange) and Raw Umber. Why? Because Burnt Sienna with Ultramarine gets you Payne’s gray and Raw Umber mixed with Cerulean gets you a really nice olivey green.

That’s ten.

Two more? Buff Titanium and Neutral Tint. These would be substitutes for straight white or black, which you should avoid. There is a time and place for Chinese White or Titanium white but to begin with, try to avoid using them. Where's your white? It's the PAPER.

Buff Titanium is a beige sort of white and a bit opaque. But if you mix it with colors not only does it lighten them up but also tones them down a bit. I love it. It used to be proprietary to Daniel Smith but I noticed Cheap Joe's has it in their American Journey line and a few other manufacturers are offering a version. The color will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Neutral tint will darken a color without changing it. It can also be effective for some shadows as it isn’t quite a black, just an almost black. It is quite versatile.

(If I didn't go with neutral tint, relying on my Payne's Gray mix instead, then I would add Daniel Smith's Moonglow, a three pigment mix that is a very convenient purple for shadows.)

That’s twelve.

Beyond that you’re looking at convenience colors like more earth tones or some greens so you don’t have to keep mixing. Maybe another yellow or red or blue to offer more mixes.

I'll post some formulas for mixing and you’ll see how you can really use what you’ve already got to create just about any color you really need. Plus, you don’t want to use every color you have for a painting. This isn’t a coloring book. Keep it down to a handful and you’ll have a much more successful painting. For practice, try doing a painting with just one color. It's called a value study and is good practice for seeing light, medium and dark in your subject. Many artists do one before starting a painting as a way to organize themselves and plan how to accomplish their painting.

If you want to learn more about deciding on a basic color palette, I highly recommend Jane Blundell's blog and website. In my opinion she is the world's expert on color, mixing and the characteristics of each manufacturer's line of artist grade watercolor.

Brushes

You’re going to need something to get the paint on to the paper and swoosh it around. That means a brush. Likely more than one. Brushes are a personal thing and there are more brushes to choose from than you’d think. You'll use paint up and buy more, but your brushes should last a long time if they are treated well. That means you can pay more to invest in a high quality brush and if treated properly it will last a long time. It also makes the choice of what brand to buy more difficult. Plus, there are all sorts of choices as to materials, shapes and sizes. You really need to know what you're looking for first. You'll also need to decide what you like. How much water, how stiff or soft the brush is, how pointed, etc. Some people also have issues with hair brushes from animals. I don't. Animals are not killed for their hair to make brushes. They are killed for other reasons. I feel it honors and respects an animal more to use a brush made from their hair than to have it wasted and thrown away as trash. If an animal is to be killed for a reason, then every possible part of that animal should be used. I also feel that animals that are bred for slaughter should be treated well while alive which is why I don't eat CAFO meat. But I do eat humanely raised meat. I do not know how humanely some of the animals were treated before their hair was made into brushes so I do not buy cheap unbranded brushes or those made in China or Asia. I trust Rosemary & Co to responsibly source their materials so I own quite a few of her brushes.

Be aware that "sable" is a generic term for hair sourced from various rodents such as muskrat. They are not just sourced from an animal called a "sable." Many of these animals are classified as "vermin". The are not raised to make brushes and are killed anyway because they are considered vermin. To me using a brush made from their hair honors them but you may feel differently for whatever reason. If so, there are many man-made fiber brushes that perform as well as natural hair brushes and some synthetics perform better than the poorer quality natural hair brushes.

I like the Connoisseur Gold Taklon blend brushes but DaVinci Casaneo and Escoda Versatil and Perla are very fine synthetic hair brushes. I do not care for Princeton, Raphael or Winsor and Newton brushes but many do and you may. Just make sure you are buying professional quality and not student grade. For Winsor and Newton that means avoiding the Cotman line in both brushes and paint.

Your brush should be able to hold a good amount of water and release it evenly. It should hold its shape. It should feel good in your hand. If you are buying in a store, at least you can hold them and see if they feel good in your hand. The hairs will have sizing on them so you won't be able to judge anything about that. If you have to shop online, you just have to trust in the reviews you read that led you to that brand. Jane Blundell reviews brushes periodically. But you can tell a little from just looking at it. Is the ferrule, the metal collar that holds the hairs, attached straight? If it's crooked, move on to a different brand. Is the handle cheap? If so, the brush probably is too. If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is, I.E. crap.

You have the choice of the shape of the brush; round, flat, long, short, filbert, rigger, risson, cat’s tongue. There are a plethora of specialty brushes and I have quite a few, mostly from Rosemary.

You have the choice of material; synthetic or natural. Natural includes anything with hair: sable, squirrel, goat, ox. Mixtures of two or more. Mixtures of natural hair and synthetic. If you have issues with natural hair there are plenty of modern synthetics that are as good or better than some natural hair brushes.

There are different sizes. Round can go from 10/0 or 0000000000 to a size 14, 16, 20 or 36. Flats can go from 1/6 to 2, 3 or 4 inches wide. Riggers can be quite long. Mops can be small to very large, blunt or pointy. The mid ranges tend to be the most economic. Once you get very small or very big the price goes up. It is not unheard of to pay $150 or more for one brush.

If you want to dig into the manufacturing, et al, of brushes, I'm sending you back to Handprint. That guy is awesome.

Brushes can be quite pricey. Price doesn’t always mean quality. You may find you go through quite a few different brands of brushes before you find one you really like. You may find you like rounds from one manufacturer and flats from another. You may find you like working with flats mostly and can do everything you need with one. Or you may find you can do it all with a mop. You may find you need an entire set of rounds. I have quite a range because the size of brush I use varies in proportion to the size of paper I am using. The larger the paper, the larger the brush.

My advice is still to buy the best brushes you can afford. But not yet.

I’d advise you to start with a few cheap, student grade basic brushes to see what you like. A number 6 and a number 10. Then a flat, from 1/2 to an inch. Once you have determined what you prefer, you can buy a few really nice brushes in the size, shape and material you favor. While I like Kolinsky sable for some of my brushes, I have a few that I prefer in synthetic. This is because "Kolinsky" and "sable" don't really guarantee quality and will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Also the technology for manufacturing the synthetic hairs for watercolor brushes has advanced quite quickly in the last few years. There are some very fine synthetic brushes and some very mediocre Kolinsky sable brushes.

There are plenty of good manufacturers out there and several that I don’t really recommend.

Don’t go to Michael’s and buy Princeton, Loew-Cornell or even Winsor and Newton (Cotman) brushes when it comes time to get a serious set you plan on keeping for years. They’re fine for a few beginning brushes to see what you like, but only if you can score a great sale, such as 50% off or buy one, get one. Even their “artist grade” aren’t that good in my opinion.

I started with a set of Loew-Cornell La Corneille gold Taklon brushes and I still have them and use them occasionally. They are budget brushes and not quite professional grade but still perform pretty well. Better than the Princeton. They're fine for traveling as I wouldn't cry me a river if they were lost or stolen on a trip.

Rekab is a step up and a bit pricier but still a fine brush.

Once you know what you like in rounds, flats, etc. you can move up to better quality brushes. If you’ve got a Blick’s you can go there to look at choices. And there is always amazon. Escoda makes some fine brushes but they are very pricey. I have a set of Escoda Versatil travel brushes which are synthetic that I like quite a bit. I’ve also used the Joe Miller 50/50 from Cheap Joe’s. I have a set of Connoisseur line brushes from Loew-Cornell that are gold taklon, a synthetic that I started with. But I don’t use them much any more. Now I use the Escoda, some Tintoretto brushes I bought in Italy (I haven’t found anywhere local that carries them) and some brushes made by Arches that are  discontinued now.

Cheap Joe’s line of Legend Kolinsky brushes is actually quite nice especially if you can get them on sale; they are a better deal as they are still pretty pricey. They are made in Germany but I don’t know by which company.

I have a few Isabey but don't really recommend them. While I don't not love them, I've found other brushes I like better. I have one mop that just doesn't point like my Arches and I have two travel mops from Rosemary & Company that have taken the place of the one Isabey travel mop I bought because it was the only travel mop I could find at the time. So skip Isabey. Some people love them but I think they have more hype than they deliver.

To start, I would suggest a #6 round. If you want to add to that, add a #2 for detail and a #10 for larger washes. If you want to try flats, then add a 3/4 or 1 inch. You may or may not want to add a mop.

I have quite a few brushes from Rosemary & Company in the United Kingdom. Her brushes are hand made and the cost is competitive with Isabey, Escoda and some of the other brands. She also carries some unique brushes. I like to have a set of travel brushes and she carries a small and medium mop which I always include in my travel kit. She also has a comb in a travel.

I really love my Arches mops but unfortunately, I don't think Arches makes brushes any more. I think The Fine Art Store has the remaining new old stock, which seems to be on sale until they sell them all. Anything out of stock never becomes available again. I love their #3 squirrel mop so much I made a travel brush out of it.

Depending on where you live you may have to buy brushes online.

So bottom line is I don't use paints from several manufacturer but I sure do for my brushes.

I prefer hand made brushes such as Rosemary & Company and quality reputation like Escoda.

After making that investment in a quality tool, your brushes will live a long and happy life if you treat them properly.

I don't like rolls. I keep the protective plastic tubes that came on the tips on my brushes on them except when in use. I keep them in a case that doubles as a stand. I have a designated masking fluid brush that I coat with soap before using and clean thoroughly afterwards. It's one of my cheap student brushes that I kept for that reason. I never use my good brushes for masking fluid or to use with any other medium. They are watercolor only.

Don't let them sit in the water. The water will swell the wood, the ferrule that holds the hairs will loosen and either fall off or the hairs will come out.

Wash them occasionally with a good brush soap. Even if they look clean, just rinsing them in water isn't enough. Don't over do it but do wash them occasionally. I've found The Master's Clean-up Survival Kit to be my best buy. It has a small container of brush soap that will last you quite a while as you don't use that much to clean your brushes. I still haven't replaced mine. Plus it's small enough to fit in with your supplies if you travel. Speaking of traveling, it includes a stain stick. That saved my bacon when I went to Italy. The last thing is a small travel hand soap which feels just wonderful.

Don't use your brushes to scrub the paper if you are lifting or doing some other effect. You can get specialty brushes to do that. Check out Rosemary & Company.

Don't twirl your brushes into your half pans to dig out paints. It's bad for your brushes and your paints. Stroke the top of your pan. If the paint isn't lifting then either your brush needs more water or your pan is dry. Keep a spray bottle with your kit to rewet your palette.

Don't point your brushes by putting them in your mouth. Your brushes will hold paint residue and you have no idea what toxic substance might be in there. If you use cadmiums or cobalts that is a big no-no.

Paper

You are going to need something upon which to paint. This generally means paper. By paper I don’t really mean paper as watercolor paper isn’t what we usually consider paper. It isn’t a cellulose product made from wood pulp, which is the general type of paper we come in contact with every day through newspapers, magazines, books and mail. Watercolor paper is special. It is rag paper. It isn’t made from wood pulp, it’s made from cotton. It is then made into paper using the same sort of process that regular paper is with a few exceptions.

First, it is “acid free.” That means it will not deteriorate over time like the old pulp novels used to yellow, brown and then disintegrate.

Second, it comes in different weights or thicknesses.

Third, it comes in textures that are the result of how it is manufactured.

If you want to read a lot of technical information on paper, go to Handprint.

First, make sure whatever you are buying says watercolor paper. If it says mixed media, check to see what it is made of. If it is mixed, don't buy it. You want 100% cotton paper, acid free. Some comes in a natural off white color and some is bleached to a bright white. I would suggest that to start you use a white paper, just so you can see the true colors of your paints and how they mix on the paper.

Second, if you are sketching, anything in the “90 lb” range is fine. But if you want to do watercolor you need a paper thick enough and heavy enough not to warp or buckle when wet. You may be getting your paper very wet if you do a lot of washes or glazing and you may be doing it several times. You don’t want to use anything less than 140 lbs or 300 g/m2. You can get much heavier paper, 300 lb, but it is very pricey and you won’t want to do that until you get pretty good. Very good in fact. Really, really good. I still don't use 300lb paper. Many professional artists don't use 300lb paper. Mostly because the absorption rate of the water is so different from 140lb.

You can buy watercolor paper in sheets that you can fold and tear into smaller sizes or you can buy a “block” which is a stack of pre-cut paper that has glue around the sides it to keep it together in a sturdy pad. You paint the top sheet, wait for it to dry, then carefully separate it from the rest of the pad. More on mounting and framing later.

Third, you will need to decide what kind of texture you want. While most paper is manufactured similarly the finish determines what texture it has. There is Hot Press, which is very smooth, Cold Press which is a bit rough and Rough which is very textured. How your paint behaves on the different finishes will vary. I find my paint sits on the surface and takes longer to dry using Hot Press and soaks in almost immediately with Rough.

All paper will have some sizing of some sort, which will effect drying and how much paint soaks into the paper. Sizing varies by manufacturer, weight and Hot Press, Cold Press or Rough.

Most teachers recommend starting with Cold Press as a middle of the road compromise. After you've been painting for a while, what paper you use may depend on what subject you are painting. Hot Press can be nice if you do a lot of glazing or portraiture. Rough can be nice for landscapes or cityscapes.

There is a plastic paper developed in Japan called YUPO that is very fun to work with. It has it's own unique challenges but also provides some visual effects that cannot be achieved otherwise.

There are many good papers out there but once again, rule number one is to buy the best you can afford. If you wait for sales you can get paper pretty reasonably. I use only Arches. I've tried Fabriano, Kilimanjaro (Cheap Joe's brand and probably student grade) and Stonehenge (available at Blick's, Jerry's Artarama and Cheap Joe's) and didn't care for any of them. Don't buy Strathmore or Canson. Their sketch pads are fine but their watercolor paper is inferior. I use Arches Cold Press 140 lb Watercolor blocks most often as then I don't have to deal with mounting a sheet on a board and I can use the block in the classroom or outside doing plein air. They come in many different sizes so not a problem. I also have Hot Press and Rough in blocks. It does come in 300lb blocks but they are very pricey and I am years away from justifying that expense.

Do not buy Canson or Strathmore watercolor paper. It is student grade and a waste of money and your time and effort. I don't know if Winsor and Newton make paper but if they do, don't buy that either. I have never heard it recommended on any blogs, probably because it is student grade paper.

Arches is widely available from all major art suppliers, plus amazon. I used to get my cold press at Aaron Brothers when they have a Buy One Get Two Free sale. It happened a few times a year but they didn't carry Hot Press or Rough. Now that they have been bought out by Michaels I buy my paper at the Blick's store locally or online from Cheap Joe's or amazon or whoever has the best deal. Get free shipping if you can.

Paint

Before you go out buying anything, read up on paint, paper and brushes. You might save yourself some money.

If you want to know more about the science of paint, highly recommended is Handprint.

Rule number one: Buy the best paint you can afford. In other words, don’t buy student grade paint; start with the artist or professional grade. 

You will have to decide which manufacturer and what type of paint. This will depend a bit on how you work and you haven’t started working yet. A dilemma. But you probably have some clues. Do you want to sit in a room or designated space at home and paint from photographs? (Nothing wrong with that, no matter what you might read or people might say.) Do you want to go outside to parks and other areas and paint what you see? Do you want to take your materials when you travel, perhaps by plane? 

You have several choices. You can work from “pans”, little plastic open boxes that are little rectangles and squares, known as whole or full pans and half pans as they are half of a whole, or you can put paint from tubes in some sort of tray usually with a hinged lid called a palette, and there are many different types. 

If you like the neatness of the pans, you can either buy them already filled or you can buy them empty and fill them with paint from a tube. If you work from a palette you will put dabs of paint on them from a tube. Note: a palette is also the box that you can put your filled pans into. It can also mean the rainbow of colors you choose. One word, multiple meanings.

How you want to work may influence which manufacturer you choose. Some offer paints in both pan and tube. Schmincke and Winsor & Newton do. But sometimes the formula for the tube is different than for the pan. Some paints never quite dry and are always moist, making them difficult to carry around without making a bit of a mess. Some paints dry so hard they are difficult to rewet, making them impractical for pre-loading a pan or palette.

I recommend staying with one manufacturer at first for all of your colors. Some do not mix well with others as all manufacturers have proprietary formulas that may or may not mix with another manufacturer. Safest to stick with the one brand until you are more experienced.

I use Daniel Smith and most of my references will be based on my use of Daniel Smith. Daniel Smith does not make student grade watercolors and did not make pan paints until recently. You can buy a palette with pre-filled pans but you cannot buy replacement pans so you would have to refill them yourself from a tube. (BTW I highly recommend their 15 half pan set as a started set.) So I buy empty pans and fill them myself. It isn't hard so don't spend a lot of money buying a pan someone else already filled for you. If you use another manufacturer, be sure you know what grade of paint is in their different watercolor lines. For instance, Winsor and Newton's student paints are "Cotman" so don't buy those. Buy the "artists" or "professional" grade paints. When I switched from my childhood Pelikan watercolors to a professional grade, I bought a set of Winsor & Newton 24 half pans because I was used to working with pan paint. I still like it. But the Winsor & Newton didn't behave quite like my old Pelikans. They also didn't have the color range I was looking for. I eventually switched to Daniel Smith that only comes in tubes. So I fill my own pans in steps, allowing to dry between each partial fill, and use them. They are softer, rewet faster than my Pelikan and have a wider range of colors and are more comfortable to use than the Winsor & Newton. I still keep the W&N for plein air and travel.

Grumbacher Finest is artists and Grumbacher Academy is student grade.
Maimeri Blu is artist and Maimeri Venezia is student.

Reeves, Sargent and Van Gogh are all student grade.

There are many manufacturers of paints that are artist grade. Daniel Smith, Winsor and Newton, Schmincke, DaVinci, Grumbacher, Holbein, M.Graham, Maimeri Blu, QoR, Rembrandt, Sennelier and Old Holland are just some. Cheap Joe's American Journey paints are quite good but the names are very imaginative and may throw you a bit.

As you read up on websites and blogs you'll learn which are the better brands and which have characteristics you may want in a watercolor. So don't go out and buy a huge supply of paints. Buy just a few to use. If you're comfortable, fine. But if you don't like them, consider buying a few of another manufacturer until you find a good fit.

Availability may be your biggest challenge if you do not have local art supply shops or their selection is limited. If that is the case, you will be purchasing from an online supplier. I'll be posting a page with names and links to suppliers along with some boutique custom paint producers. 

Getting started.

I began painting over 50 years ago as a child, as many of us do.

My family went to visit my grandparents in Germany and my Grandfather took me to his neighborhood art store in Ansbach and bought me a set of 24 Pelikan watercolors. The lady included a #6 brush. Not a student brush but a pretty good quality natural hair brush. I still have it but it is the worse for wear as I've scrubbed both paint and paper with that one brush. I used it for many years, off and on. It no longer has a point but I keep it anyway.

I still have the paint set too.

I used that paint set and that brush when I took a few lessons in plein air from an art dealer at my church when I was in high school and an art class through my work when I was in my thirties.

But I didn't start to take watercolor seriously until after I retired. I used to be a teacher librarian and the internet is my oyster so it didn't take long before I learned a lot about watercolor and supplies from my research.

Why watercolor? Well, it's inexpensive, easily acquired and can be very portable. Despite what you're told, it is not difficult or the hardest of the mediums to master. It can be quite easy once you've learned some basics and practiced a bit. That is true of any of the arts. But it is also quite difficult to "master". You will spend a lifetime perfecting your art. That is as it should be.

When I first started painting in my teens I tried oils. I hated the smell, the clean up and it took them forever to dry. I would always smear something and have to touch it up, plus I ruined my clothes. Acrylics at that time weren't much better. It was basically plastic oils. They were like colored toothpaste and dried so fast I ruined brushes because I couldn't finish a painting fast enough and get my brushes washed before the paint dried. Once dried it couldn't be removed from my brush or my clothes. They were also expensive as I used a lot of paint to finish a painting so I was constantly buying more. I simply couldn't afford the paint, canvas and new brushes and pay for college at the same time.

Watercolors last a long time, they don't ruin your brushes if you follow fundamental maintenance, they don't smell, some will stain if you're careless but the paint dries so fast I find I'm not getting any on myself if I paint responsibly. I've worn white capris and white tops and painted for hours with not one spot on my clothes. And I'm the person who can't get though a meal without some stain appearing. You'll learn which paints will stain (PHTHALO anything!) and can exercise caution. I do wear an apron. (A white apron) But it's not like brushing against your oil painting and getting a sleeve full of paint.

You can avoid filling your house and bankrupting your accounts with stuff you'll never use with a few useful tips:

1. Buy the best paints, brushes and paper you can afford. More on that later.

2. Don't buy very much to start. You won't know what you'll want or need until you've been painting for a bit. More on that later.

3. Read the blogs of other artists and their recommendations and experiences, but don't consider it gospel. (I am still appalled at artists who defend the use of fugitive paints, I.E. those that deteriorate, fade or whatever over time.) What works for someone may not work for you. Don't take my word as law either. More to come on that too.

There are plenty of free online groups you can join. I like Wetcanvas but you may like another group. I'll be listing quite a few that are easily found online and don't cost anything to join as well as links to artist's blogs and interesting articles.

Your area may have a watercolor society you can join. They are happy to accept any experience level and are very supportive. If that's too pricey, your local community college may have free or reasonable classes offered to get you started. Taking some classes or joining a local group to paint is important because it forces you to schedule time to paint. If you have the discipline, after a while you can schedule painting on your own if you prefer solitude. But the framework of a class forces you to paint rather than take photos or wander around being a tourist.

At some point you are going to need to set up a space in your house for your art. You won't paint if you have to drag your stuff out and work on the kitchen table, then clear it off for dinner, then put it away again. You'll need a dedicated space with some storage. If you've got an old computer desk you no longer use because you're now on a laptop or a tablet, consider converting that to your designated art space. It will usually have some storage areas that you're not using any more for that tower, monitor, scanner or printer.

Eventually, you should get out into the world and paint there, be it in a park, on the sidewalk of a down town cafe or in the dealership while your car is being serviced. I'll be posting about various kits you can put together to carry with you depending on what you'll be doing and where you'll be.

The important thing is to paint. Whether you think it is good or bad, paint and don't throw your efforts away. Start a file in a bin or a box. You'll want to go back and refer to earlier paintings and if nothing else, gauge the progress you have made. They're also great for studying what worked, what didn't and observing the growth of your own personal style. Eventually you'll find what you prefer, loose or tight, develop a preferred color palette, preferred techniques and even preferred subjects. Do you like using an easel or just a chair. Perhaps you prefer standing. But try everything to begin with. It also doesn't hurt to revisit paintings and do them again. Getting better involves practice. There is nothing wrong with doing the same subject over and over again. Hopefully getting some aspect of it better each time.

Watercolor is an easy and relaxing pastime. It gives you a chance to sit out in nature for a few hours doing essentially "nothing" but with the excuse that you are painting. You'll not only stop and smell the roses, you'll paint them too.

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Just a note.

You won't find any of my own art work on this blog. The purpose of this blog isn't to display my own work or sell anything. Nor will this have any tutorials or instructions on HOW to paint, aside from some links to a few YouTube channels and blogs I like. I'm creating this for informational purposes, with links, to help beginners get started, to find sources for the out of the mainstream and to instill some creativity. I am not affiliated with any of the merchants, manufacturers or artists I link to, nor do I get any compensation for any recommendations I might make.

This will probably not be an ongoing blog. Once I've said my peace, I will probably revisit from time to time to update information and links and possibly add something. But on the whole once I finish it's going to be pretty static. If I'm informed of a comment, I may respond or not.

Basically I'm sharing the research I've done and what works for me. Your mileage may vary.