Watercolor Painting - Top favorites

This is by far my favorite watercolor paper for watercolor and watercolor pencils. I buy big blocks and I cut out smaller sheets to make it last. Cold press is the best kind, I think, for water retention and versatility (the grain is neither too smooth nor rough).

I use this paintbrush and have been since the start of my watercolor practice. Mostly to paint backgrounds and base layers on landscapes as it covers a lot of ground quickly on the size of paper I like to work on (5x7 inches to 8x11 inches). For large sheets, you might want to pick a bigger size.

I pair this one up with size 3 for my 5x7 to 8x11 inches sheets (the sizes I paint on). This is a smaller paintbrush that is nice to paint elements in a painting after I'm done with the background. The tip is not very fine, for that I prefer the Silver Brush black velvet paintbrushes, but it stills comes to a fine point and I have managed a lot of my early paintings using just that. If you do love details though, this one might not be pointy enough but still, for me, a great asset to my collection since the start of my painting journey.

My absolute go-to set. I use sizes 4 and 8 the most, in every painting. I love them for their versatility and precision. I've purchased it "only" twice in 3 years of watercolor using them almost every single day!

I own the same set, only with more color choice. You can opt for the just the tubes to reduce the cost. I enjoy the sennelier professional watercolors, I love the colors, especially their forest green and payne's gray. Overall they're very agreeable to paint with and look beautiful. I also find they dry less than other watercolors when poured into tubes, which makes them very easy to reactivate. For a beginner or tight budgets, an alternative is the Sennelier "La petit aquarelle", it is student grade paint.

Daniel Smith watercolor paints are awesome, I started using them a lot more in 2022. They have a wide range of beautiful colors to choose from, but I started with this set. Useful to paint anything with color mixing. Watch out as the tubes in this set will be tiny (5ml), still last for a bit. An alternative is the watercolor sticks of the same brand.

I'm in love with the Titanium white Daniel Smith watercolor stick, I use it for highlights, in place of white gouache. It's convenient to carry around and it lasts a while.

I use this for sharpest and finest highlights in a painting and I love it (I don't think this is archival so you might prefer professional white gouache when you sell your paintings).

I have used a heat gun since the start of doing watercolors, to speed up drying times. Never had an issue with doing it this way. Be cautious not to dry the sheet too closely and also make sure to dry it evenly so patches of drying water don't turn into stains. The heat gun I use is from a French brand called Artemio. For international buyers, I recommend brands like Sizzix and American Crafts, because I've used them when scrapbooking.

I use this bad to take my watercolor supplies to workshops and classes I teach. Small sketchbooks also fit.

The drawing gum I've used since the beginning to mask certain areas of a painting. I never had issues with it, especially combined to Arches paper. I can't guarantee it will never tear the paper when you take it off as I think it depends on the paper you are using, but also if you apply too thick and if the sheet is still damp when you try and remove it (I apply it in thin layers and always remove when the sheet is completely dry).

My white gouache tube is from Lefranc Bourgeois, however, any (preferably professional) white gouache will pair up well with watercolors to add things like snow flakes and white highlights. I also use it to create a beautiful glow effect on certain paintings as gouache looks translucent when mixed to water. One of my favorite things to use with watercolors. You can substitute with Titanium white watercolor.

I own one of these and my students also use them. You may also use just glasses, jars or a ceramic cup. These as nice as they fold, so you can easily carry them around. They also won't break but still, the plastic is sturdy and they hold in place when full of water.

I love this set, it's my first one from this kind at Schmincke's. Colors are always soft I find but the result looks dreamy, especially with this set. I'll link a video I made reviewing them and you will see how beautiful the colors turned out. This is the video : https://youtu.be/95805xupPzk

I own only 3 of these colors, red, violet and brown. I love this series by Schmincke and have used Volcano colors in my Hogwarts castle painting video on YouTube.

I own this set and appreciate the subtle colors and granulation, as well as the quality.

A favorite of mine for Spring painting.

I couldn't find the Masters Choice on Amazon, the one I use. This one is supposed to be very similar to it, I have not tried it yet and plan to review it.