I just love sketching and painting out and about! It's such a great way of really absorbing your environment and being in the moment!
“A good craftsman never blames his tools”.
This is a very inaccurate phrase when it comes to purchasing art materials! Every artist will have their own materials, equipment and colour palette they tend to use. This all ends up contributing to their style. With so many art materials and brands out there, it can be difficult to know what to purchase. Without knowing if you’ll like a medium, it’s tempting to go for the cheapest options. However, I’d recommend going for something middle of the range. Unfortunately some of the cheaper materials from supermarkets, pound or gimmicky type stores are poor quality that could end up causing frustration and ultimately put you off the medium completely when you can’t get the effects you desire!
Sketching kit:
I tend to sketch with a thick (5.6mm wide lead) mechanical pencil. They’re great to use for shading as you can very easily use the side of the lead for shading. The downside is that you can’t use a normal pencil sharpener to get a sharp point so I usually end up using a craft knife if I want a sharp point. The advantage of doing this is that what you shave off comes off as a powder which I then collect and use for shading (applied with a brush!)
Koh-I-noor Clutch Pencil [ Ссылка ]
Various Leads [ Ссылка ]
Kneadable eraser [ Ссылка ]
Clear plastic ruler [ Ссылка ]
Brushes:
I use primarily three brushes - Daler-Rowney Graduate 10 Round, Daler-Rowney Pointed Wash no. 6 and a Daler-Rowney 1.4 inch sword brush. I also have a travel kit that protects the brushes for when I’m travelling.
Daler-Rowney Graduate Multi-Technique Synthetic brushes [ Ссылка ]
Daler-Rowney Graduate Number 10 Round Synthetic brushes [ Ссылка ]
Paper
I’ve used a lot of different papers but I generally use St Cuthbert’s Mill Bockingford cold press paper. Fabriano also produces excellent paper. Be sure to get 300gm / 140lb paper otherwise it is likely to cockle when you use it!
St Cuthbert’s Mill Bockingford Cold Press paper 300gsm [ Ссылка ]
For my sketchbooks, my favourite to date is Tumuarta’s square watercolour journal [ Ссылка ]
Paints
I use a range of different paints in both sets and tubes - Winsor & Newton, St Petersburg White Nights, Daniel Smith. Many people ask whether it’s best to get tubes or pans (the dried paint in the sets you can buy). The fresh paints in tubes are lovely and vibrant and don’t require any water to activate them however if you use only the fresh paint, you can end up wasting paint which you then don’t use. Alternatively, if you get tubes, you can personalise your own palette by purchasing an empty palette and squeezing the tubes into it. This way you don’t end up wasting any paint and you have a much more portable way of painting! However, if you’re starting out you will probably not know which colours will suit you and your style best. You don’t need a lot of colours to be able to produce something special so until you get used to watercolours, I’d get a good quality small set from Winsor & Newton e.g.
[ Ссылка ] It’s portable and great for taking out sketching.
Paper towels / flannel
Paper towels are a great way of “fixing” errors and drying off your paintbrush. I also use an old flannel for this.
Water container
You might want to use two water containers - one for washing your brush, the other to use to apply washes to the painting. A collapsible pot are great as they’re portable and you can always keep one in your bag!
[ Ссылка ]
Optional extras:
Small atomiser: This can “refresh” paints if you spray them on your watercolour set a minute or two before using. It can also create some interesting effects. [ Ссылка ]
Masking fluid: This is a rubber like fluid that you apply to the paper in order to preserve the whites of the paper (watercolour is translucent so rather than applying an opaque white, traditionally watercolourists will preserve the white of the paper) [ Ссылка ]
Easel: Watercolourists tend not to use upright easels as the water will run! There are easels that allow you to hold the paper almost horizonally which you might want to invest in if you’d like to stand up and paint [ Ссылка ]
Magic Eraser: [ Ссылка ]
