Fresh Watercolors
with Christine Lashley

About Your Materials:
These items are recommended. Buy the best you can afford. I know supplies are expensive, but better quality materials mean better results. Try to order supplies ahead via mail order. A local craft store often charges 50-75% more than mail order suppliers. If you have limited funds here is the order in which to spend your money: 1)paper (see below), 2) brushes, 3) paint. Advanced students can bring favorite supplies, for example, if you prefer painting with flat brushes verss rounds that is fine.

Palette - large plastic one with a tight fitting lid to keep paint moist and
with wells for moist tube watercolor paint. (Example: John Pike palette)

Watercolor Paper - 140 lb. sheets or blocks. Cold press is the most popular finish but you may use hot press or rough to experiment with or if you prefer. Size should be at least 9" x 12. Look for the tag line: "100% rag content." Student-grade is OK for color swatch practice or those on a strict budget. However, your results will be so much better with good paper. You really get what you pay for! With quality paper, you can use the back of the sheet as well. Loose sheets are more economical than blocks, but need to be taped to a waterproof board with tape that will not ruin the paper when removed (white artist's tape is a good choice). Watercolor blocks are prestretched and ready to go as-is. A good size: 9" x 12" watercolor block, 140# cold press. There are many good brands of paper. I like Arches and Fabriano.

Brushes - Synthetic, sable (or a blend) watercolor brushes. Do not buy
squirrel hair brushes. Larger is better! Round sizes: No. 12 or 14, a No. 8. If you canonly afford 1 brush, buy a #10 round watercolor brush. Choose brushes that form a good point and spring back to shape when wet. The best brushes are pure kolinsky sable. They can be VERY expensive. "Escoda" brushes are very good quality, pure Kolinsky sable at an excellent price (see below for sources). Budget choices are Winsor Newton Sceptor Gold 101 Series or Robert Simmons Brushes (NOT Robert Simmons White Sable)

Other - Small natural sponge, and paper towels. Pencil and soft white
eraser. Sketch pad of 60 lb. white paper (8 x 11 or larger) for quick
watercolor studies, pencil sketches and notes. Large container for water. Tape and board if using paper sheets.

Paints - Buy tubes of moist watercolor paint. There are two kinds of paint,
professional and student grade. (For example Windsor & Newton's student
grade paint is called "Cottman"). Student grade is fine for experimenting
but to get great results you must use professional paints - they contain more saturated color. Suggested palette is in Windsor & Newton colors. You don't need all of these colors but they all have benefits. (I have all of these and find them useful at different times when painting.) Buy colors with a (*) if you can only afford a limited palette. Purchasing larger tubes (14 or 37ml) is much more economical per use.
Yellow: *New Gamboge; Cadmium Yellow Medium; Windsor Yellow
Red: Windsor Red; *Alizarin Crimson, Permanent
Blue: *Cobalt Blue; *Ultramarine Blue; *Cerulean Blue; Windsor Blue Green
Shade ( = Phthalo Blue)
Orange: Cadmium Orange
Green: *Hooker's Green; Windsor Green ( = Viridian Green or Phthalo Green)
Brown: Burnt Umber; *Sepia
Other: *Permanent Rose; * Windsor Violet; Chinese White or White Gouache (great for portrait painting)

MAIL ORDER CATALOGS AND WEB SITES Call to get a free catalog.
Cheap Joe's Art Stuff - Web Site: www.cheapjoes.com / 800-227-2788.
Dick Blick - Web Site: www.dickblick.com / (800)-828-4548.
Daniel Smith - Web Site: www.danielsmith.com / 800-426-6740.
ASW Express - Web Site: www.aswexpress.com / 800-995-6778

watercolor-online.com

wetcanvas.com

handprint.com (extensive watercolor information on supplies, click on the color wheel or go directly to http://handprint.com/HP/WCL/water.html).