No matter what life throws at us, our art supplies are here for us, cheering us up! Such loyal friends.
These are my most used art supplies of 2020, some are new and a lot are good old favorites.
Watercolor Paint
In my main watercolor tin I have all my trusty staple colors, which are mostly from Daniel Smith and Winsor & Newton, with some from Sennelier and Qor too. These are all high quality paints that will deliver.
A new discovery this year is Roman Szmal watercolors, which I might be obsessed with. They are affordable, pigmented as heck and a lot of fun to work with! I find myself reaching for these a lot.
I also had the honor of doing a trade with Stacey of Stakiwi Colours who makes handmade watercolors in New Zealand. Her paints are an absolute joy to work with and she has some really fun colors!
The gold I use on almost all my pieces are from Studio Artisjok, though she doesn’t offer paints all the time, so keep your eyes peeled!
Gouache
I love adding gouache to my watercolor paintings. I use traditional gouache as it can be mixed with watercolors too. My go to brands are Winsor & Newton and Talens, as they are easily available here. I got a huge tube of white from Talens as it is a lot cheaper than other brands but still very good.
Watercolor Paper
I have tried a lot of watercolor paper over the years and I keep coming back to one brand: Langton Prestige by Daler Rowney. It is 300gsm 100% cotton paper, and the textures are perfect for me. The cold press is not has hard and rough as other brands, and the hot press is not as smooth as other brands, making it a lot easier to work with.
Watercolor Sketchbooks
I have landed on two sketchbooks I love and use for different reasons.
The Etchr everyday sketchbook has 100% cotton paper and is lovely to work in. I use it to explore and have fun, and also to make small originals to sell. This is a new discovery this year and I have a feeling I will buy a lot of these in the future! I mainly use the cold press, but I also bought a hot press sketchbook that will be perfect for pencil, colored pencils, ink, gouache etc.
For general sketching I use the Hahnemuhle watercolor book. It is cellulose paper and perfect for all the rough work. I do mainly use pencils in this, but I also use it to test out color combinations which is why I opted for a watercolor book.
Watercolor brushes
Again, I have two brands that work really well for me!
Silver Black Velvet brushes are amazing, they hold a lot of water and keep a very fine point. You can easily paint a whole painting with just one brush. I mostly use size 8, it is just so versatile. Using these makes me happy!
For fine detail work I prefer to use Winsor & Newton Kolinsky Sable Series 7 brushes, They are stiffer than the Silver Black Velvet and provides great control. I mainly use size 0 and 1. They hold a lot of water for being so tiny, and is how I get smooth lines in my art!
Playing with new art supplies is one of my favorite hobbies, and I am sure there will be some new ones in next years list!