A Note About Pigments
I have listed the actual pigment used for each colour; that is the specific letters and numbers after the name. No matter what brand of paint you buy, you should be able to find the pigment listed on it and with very few exceptions know that you have the correct colour. Each company chooses the name of their colours, so for example Red PV 19 may be called Red Rose Deep in one brand and Permanent Rose in another. Learn to look for the specific pigment.
Artist-Quality Watercolour Paint
Note: Use artist-quality, not student-quality watercolour paint. This helps ensure rich colour, consistency and permanency. Winsor & Newton Artist (NOT Cotman) quality is good. Da Vinci brand is also good in most pigments and more cost effective. When 'any brand' is listed below, you will save money by buying DaVinci brand.
Essentials
Optional Frequently Used Pigments
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White gesso - Liquitex brand - I teach how to integrate this white paint with watercolour for invisible corrections and for gouache-like effects. If you use it, keep in mind that it is an acrylic product, so do not use good sable brushes with it, and never let this paint dry on your brush. Acrylics do not reactivate with water once dry.
Brushes
The new Synthetic brushes are excellent buys. A medium Size Round (Size 10), a 1.5 cm square, plus a 2.5 cm square brush are the essentials. OPTIONAL: a small rigger or liner for details, a larger round, and a fan brush can be useful. A large (5 or 6 cm) hake brush is good for prewetting paper, and if you like to work larger. You may wish to experiment with other brush shapes for fun.
Paper
The most cost-effective way to buy good quality paper is by the sheet. Ask the staff, the sheets are tucked away in drawers. I recommend an acid free (not PH Neutral) 140 lb. sheet with `Cold Pressed' surface. (Bockingford is my favourite brand.) Buy 2 sheets. Often I will recommend what size of sheet to bring to the first class, and it's good to sign up for the "Art Course Updates" email list for that reason. For most classes you do not need to prestretch your paper, but do tape it to some sort of board for support. You can buy inexpensive light-weight plastic boards at Mercury art supply store for this purpose. They will cut it to size for a small fee. If you would like to know how to prestretch watercolour paper, most often used for wet and wild techniques, click here.
Miscellaneous Supplies
Any white palette (I use wax paper over a piece of white cardboard), 1 sheet of graphite paper (light gray), soft pencil (4B), HB pencil, pencil sharpener, sticky tac or hold-it (better than a kneadable easer), ball point pen, large plastic container for water, shop towels (see note below), small piece of hand soap, 3 ring binder for notes, masking or painter's tape, 12" ruler, scissors, and photos for reference (inspiration!). Optional: small bottle of masking fluid
About Paper Towels
For awhile I had been concerned about the amount of paper towels that are used during painting. Then one of my students showed me some blue shop towels that come on rolls from a hardware store. These are much more absorbent, and can be rinsed out at the end of the painting session and reused multiple times before throwing them away. Much better for the environment, and more pleasant to work with than paper towels.
Mercury Art & Craft Supershop
Mercury Art & Craft Supershop, a London art supply store located at Wellington and Baseline (beside Staples), stocks art supplies for Cheryl's courses. You will find their paint prices excellent, and the staff friendly and helpful.
