Reccomended materials list
What you’ll need:
You don't need everything on this list - just a good sketchbook, a few brushes, a watercolor set and one tube of white gouache - everything else is materials I've tried and fallen in love with, or that have made my practice easier. Here's a video of the materials I use, which all fit into a small artist roll.
A good sketchbook
The paper you use is the single biggest difference you can make for yourself, drawing and painting wise. All of these are sketchbooks I’ve tried that worked well (although the Will J Bailey one is the one I’ve been using for the last few years)
-Fabriano Venezia
Fabriano Venezia book is excellent for dry media, and can handle light to medium washes as well.
Hahnemuhle - this is a german paper company that makes excellent sketchbooks - any of their watercolor sketchbooks are fantastic, and they have a watercolor book that comes in grey and tan toned paper
Stillman and Birn - any of their heavyweight sketchbooks with smooth/hotpress paper will work well
Will J Bailey - he uses 300gsm hotpress paper with a binding that lays perfectly flat. They’re absolutely gorgeous but he had a long waiting list. He has two options - Fabriano and Waterford Saunders, both are good but the Waterford Saunders paper has a surface sized with something that makes it perfect for fine detail.
Luchetti - if you’re a fan of wet into wet techniques and cold press paper, this sketchbook is great - it’s made with 600gsm paper (so feels more like cardboard) and is stitched together in a way where it has no gutter, and lies completely flat, making it a good choice for compositions that spread across the page.
Etchr: a smaller Australian company with 100% cotton paper which is great for a combination of drawing (just make sure you get the hotpress paper) and wet media
Vellum if you want to try it (I get mine from Pergamena, my preference is deerskin)
-deerskin - beautiful, smooth surface with a strong grain, no need for preparation
-goatskin - tougher, might need some sanding before beginning to paint
-calf - smooth and delicate with no grain, takes paint beautifully, but susceptible to water
Kelmscott/prepared vellum - traditionally prepared and sized
Drawing materials
Two or three mechanical/drafting pencils - you can use any mechanical pencil that feels good in your hand, the thing that makes a difference is how hard or soft the lead is, and how fine the point.
Get one with a .5 HB lead, and another where you can replace the lead as needed - get lead in 2H or H. If you want more control, get one with a .3 or .35 tip.
Here are two brands I like:
- pencil lead (try H, 2H, most mechanical pencils automatically come with HB lead)
-one sanguine pencil (this can be wax-based or chalk/conte crayon based depending on your preference)
-one black color pencil (conte or wax based)
-optional: white color pencil (you can substitute this for white conte, or white gouache)
Ballpoint pen
Ink based pen -
Pigma micron - .01 and .005 for extra fine detail
Eraser:
Tombow mono zero eraser (for details)
Paint
Watercolor:
- Cotman watercolor box - this is an inexpensive watercolor box that’s portable and comes with everything you need (I replace the zinc white with white gouache)
Schminke watercolor box: these are really high-end watercolors, which come in a with a little flask built in to carry water.
If you want to go down the fancy watercolor rabbithole (or have a birthday coming up you can request a present for, you can try A.Gallo watercolors (hand-made by tiny company in Assisi, Italy) or Charvin (classic French art material company that has been around since the 1830's)
Gouache
one tube of permanent white gouache:
Holbein: very opaque, high saturation white
Turner - the brightest of the whites I’ve found, but harder to reintegrate when dry
Winsor and Newton - easier to blend than the other brands, but not quite as bright.
You can also get a palette and tubes of watercolor, If you’re making your own, I recommend tubes of these colors:
-transparent yellow - clean, transparent yellow, highly staining, non-granulating - great for glazes
-green gold: highly transparent and intense staining color - looks bright yellow when diluted with water, but mossy green when straight out of the tube. Good for washes and warm glazes. Non-granulating.
-yellow ochre - a yellow earth pigment that's been around for thousands of years. Transparent, granulating, non- staining. Mix with black for an easy, neutral green.
-alizarin crimson - a deep, transparent red that tints towards purple. Highly staining, intense non-granulating, great for glazes. High tinting strength.
-quinacridone red - a neutral red, clear, medium-staining, non-granulating. Low tinting strength.
-carmine - a darker, deeper and more opaque then alizarin, highly staining, non-granulating, great for opaque painting techniques.
-ultramarine blue - a clean, warm blue with a reddish undertone, slightly staining, granulating. Because of it's red undertones, it can be mixed with yellows to produce natural-looking greens.
-indanthrodone blue - deep indigo color, staining, transparent, non-granulating.
-pthalo blue - a cool, intense, transparent blue with very high tinting strength. Non-granulating, great for glazes. It's so intense that a tiny bit will go a long way, either for opaque or transparent painting.
-sepia - low-staining, granulating cool brown, great for monochromatic studies and underpainting - you can apply layers of intense, transparent paint on top
-burnt umber - a low staining, granulating warm brown
-quinacridone purple - a lovely, versatile reddish purple (can mix with ultramarine for a deeper purple, or alizarin crimson for a magenta). Non- granulating, staining, good for glazes or washes.
-black (can be watercolor or gouache) - you can use a cooler, more intense/strongly tinting mars black, or a more transparent, warmer, ivory black. Both are low-staining and granulating.
Palette: for most things the palette that comes with your palette is enough. If you want something more substantial, try a ceramic palette. There are many beautiful, handmade sketchbook palettes around, this brand is my favorite:
Sealers
One of these:
Mod podge - a glue, a sealer and a varnish all at once - perfect for collage, herbariums or sealing the surface so you can put another layer of paint on it without disturbing the layers underneath
Transparent matte medium - will seal your surface without disturbing water media
Water varnish - a resin varnish based on a 19th century painting recipe that will seal layers and make colors look more intense
Acrylic ink (the brand I use is Liquitex, but I think all will work well)
-sepia or burn umber
-a bright color if you want - I like azo yellow, muted turquoise, magenta
Brushes
1 large soft bristle brush to tone your surface
Kum brushes - 2 flats (size 2 and size 4)
2 memory point brushes (size 1 and 2)
1 faded brush - size 2
Da Vinci maestro, series 35 (their travel brush set is amazing, the non-travel ones have the same tip). You can use this link:
Sketchbook Habit/Da Vinci brushes, and the further discount code SKETCH at checkout
If you only get one of their brushes, get a size 3, series 35
Binder clips - to hold down the edges of your sketchbook, clip your palette to your sketchbook, your sketchbook to your easel, etc.
Perfume atomizer - to reactivate watercolor or keep gouache fresh
Optional - magnifying glass and calipers
Portable studio set-up
this will be different for all of you depending on the way you work. Here’s a link to mine with a video of the set-up
Here are two more things I’ve found useful when working outside the studio - you don’t need either of them if you have a set-up that works for you, but I love both:
Artist roll - these are fantastic - they keep your supplies organized, are easy to set up and clean up, and feel good in your hand (my preference is the middle size, the Sendak mini).
Sketchbook extender board - you can make your own or get a small, lightweight one here, or a sturdier but slightly heavier version here