//Unwrap Water Color Art Materials//

Today I am going to talk about what beginners need to know about water color materials. These claims are based on my own experiences I am not in any way paid by these companies.

First about the paint. There are a wide ranges of water color paint out there in the market. I suggest and as beginners, you need to invest a good or medium level water color. The reason is the cheapest water color does not have the same flow and pigment as the good water color brand. Therefore a good water color paint help improve your technique because the pigment and water is easy to manipulate and handle. Unlike the cheap one - it does not have a good pigment hence will not help at all.

When I started to paint water color - I used Sennelier brand. It was my very first water color. Sennelier is a good brand and as you can see I used it a lot. Then I remember very well I bought the very cheap one at Marshall called the W water color. It is the worst water color I have ever purchased - it cost USD 15.00. Don't buy water color paint  cost USD 15.00 - chance is that it is for children to use. The only thing I like about it is that it has a water color palette. My next one is Holbein. I like it very much. The only thing is that they are in tubes. I found that tubes can be dried easily especially if you do not close the cap tightly. This is a good water color and I like it a lot but the fact is in a tube. Then I wanted the cake water color. So through Ebay I found St. Petersburg White Night. Ordered from Russia through Ebay (here). And I love it very much. So far this is the water color  I am using right now.

So let's take a look at these water colors.

These are Faber-Castell water color pencils. I rarely use these.

Sennelier is good water color but I found that the color is not as vibrant.

W water color. Do not get this one. As you can see the tinting and flow of the water color does not blend very well on the tester card.

Holbein. Very good water color but it is in a tube.

St. Petersburg. I love these water colors. The color is vibrant and the tinting blends very well. You can see my tester card on the right. It is reasonable price through Ebay (here) and it comes with a case that you can add water color cakes. This seller also sells water color cakes individually. It also comes with a blank card which you can paint and identify each color. This is a set of 24. I think I bought for USD 36.00 plus shipping. So it is a good price.

I think to choose water color paint is a matter of personal taste. As long as you buy a good brand, you will be just fine. You do not need to get the very best quality of water color if you are a beginner. These are not the best out there but they are good brand.

Brushes.

I am using synthetic brushes bought from Michael art and craft store. I only using the round and flat brushes no. 2 and no. 4 plus the detail brush the smallest one since I only paint a small art. It all depends on what you paint. If you paint a scenery or landscape you might need a bigger no brushes and other type of brushes for texture, etc. I am planning to get one good brush like natural bristle brush like Kolinsky, but it is quite costly. A good brush should carry a lot of water color in it's belly and Kolinsky does the job. More information about water color brushes, here.

Paper.

Again, I am using paper bought from Michael art and craft store. I used cold press heavy weight Strathmore and Arches water color paper. I love the rough texture and thickness on these paper. Again, this is a personal style you can explore by using different thickness of paper to see which one you like. To learn more, here.

So these are  materials I am using currently. Over time I do want to improve the type of water color materials especially brushes. But for the time being these materials suits my style and does the job for the type of art I am doing. 

I hope the above information help you to start to purchase the water color materials you need. 

And thank you so much for reading!