Art Supply Walkthrough

Thank you, I really appreciate that! I am so excited for you getting started with watercolor, it is genuinely my favorite medium of all time and I am always happy to share information to help folks get into it.

My answer is a bit wordy (oops):

So I built my paint kit around my needs: tiny art (if you haven’t seen them in person most of what I do is smaller than a postcard) and portable art making (gotta fit in my specific pencil case). If you’re working large or in one dedicated space you’ll probably land on different tools.

Brushes:

All of my brushes are some kind of synthetic, in around the $10 price range? I have used cheaper and regretted it, I have not used fancier.

1) I do almost everything with a number 4 round brush I bought years ago because I liked how it felt in my hand. What it loses in fine detail it makes up for with fitting in my pencil case and going literally everywhere with me.

If painting at home and not worrying about portability I will also sometimes remember I have other brushes and use these too:

2) A number 2 round brush. I need to remember this exists and use it more because it’s very satisfying to do little details on my paintings. I like this one round vs other shapes of detail brush because I can have a lot of control when I paint.

3) A number 8 flat brush. Still bonding with this one, but I am starting to like it for background washes.

Inking:

1) Random ballpoint pens! Literally using one from a diner right now, but you can get them for cheap from any office supply. If they’re oil-based ink they’re water proof. I like them when I want something to look softer and sketchier.

2) Felt tip brush pens with waterproof ink. Faber-Castell is nice because they have a good range of colors, but my favorite is actually a cheap brand they sell at daiso sometimes. I like these because they have the line variety of a brush but they’re easier to control and portable. Warning: stay away from brush pens with alcohol based ink because they’ll bleed horribly.

3) Preppy fountain pen with platinum black waterproof ink (if going this route make sure the ink is waterproof, most fountain pen ink is NOT). LOVE how this feels in my hand, I have a lot of fun with this when I want thin precise lines that have a little character to them. I’ll use 03 on delicate art, an 05 when I want a little more chunky line. Don’t fly with a Preppy, however, because the ink WILL leak.

4) I have a very unremarkable “glass” pen I got from Kinokuniya (it’s plastic, presumably to be portable). I use it when I want to play with dip ink, either because I like the ink effect or I want the experience of using dip ink (it’s kind of cool!). It produces a thick line akin to maybe a M tip Faber-Castell.

5) Fine liner felt tip pens with waterproof ink, like Faber-Castell or Microns. I used to use these all the time, now I mostly use them when I can’t take a Preppy with me.

6) White gel pen. Pentel signo is supposed to be the gold standard but they broke on me, so I’ve been a big fan of this Gelly Roll pen by Sakura. Once a painting is done and dry I’ll sometimes use this to put white accents – things like whiskers on a cat, shine in an eye, etc

Hopefully this is helpful reference knowledge as you build your own kit!