Art Resources
On this page I share some of my favourite art products. I have only included those that I have personally tested, rate highly and use consistently.
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Recommended Art Supplies
Here's my list of what I consider to be some of the best watercolour art supplies in the UK.
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The majority of these are professional quality. I choose these over student quality art materials for several reasons: they have more intense pigment levels, I find them to be more responsive, intuitive and enjoyable to use, and they are lightfast and of 'archival quality' (ensuring paintings that will last many years).
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Please note that the links below are affiliate links - by clicking through and purchasing a product directly from my link, I will receive a small commission. The majority of these links are to independent UK art shops; however, occasionally you will find a link for a product that I have only been able to source on Amazon.
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I have indicated where products are vegan art supplies (V).
Find out more about why I use vegan art supplies here.
Watercolour Paints
The majority of my paints are Daniel Smith Watercolour Paints (V) - a professional range with gorgeous colours and excellent granulation. I also have some paints from the Golden QOR (V) range which seem to have exceptional intensity of pigment.
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In both ranges, I like buying individual paints in 5ml or 15m tubes for the more creamy consistency of paint that stays fresh and moist in my pan. I opt for colours with excellent lightfastness, good granulation and low staining - this ensures they have good archival qualities, will do unexpected and wonderful things on the page, and can be easily lifted if I make a mistake.
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Below, are the colours I tend to have in my palette. These give me a range of beautiful earthy tones and lots of opportunity for darks and lights. If you are just starting out and would prefer a ready-made set of paints, I recommend a couple of sets below.
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CLICK ON THE NAMES OF ANY OF THE PAINTS BELOW TO BE TAKEN THROUGH TO BE TAKEN TO THE PRODUCT
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DANIEL SMITH PAINT SET
This set of 24 half-pan paints offers a great deal of variety and is perfect for anyone starting out: BOX SET OF 24
GOLDEN QOR WATERCOLOUR PAINTS
Favourite colours from QOR are:
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GOLDEN QOR PAINT SET
This set of 12 tubes in earth colours offers a beautiful, vivid range for anyone starting out: BOX SET OF 12 TUBES
Watercolour Paper
Watercolour artists will all have their preferences when it comes to paper - large sheets or gummed blocks, hot press, cold press or rough surface, 100% cotton or mixed.
As a vegan artist, my paper choices are very much more limited as the 'sizing' of the paper often uses gelatine. Vegan papers tend to be more absorbant. I use different papers for different end results but favour the vegan papers for most of my paintings
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I never go for anything less than 300gsm thickness, and my preference is for large sheets of paper that I can cut to the size I want. This leaves me lots of off-cuts that I can use as practice pieces or make into cards.
I am equally happy with a hot press (smooth) or cold press (medium textured) paper. I find that both have their benefits.
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PAPERS
For a budget paper, I recommend Bockingford NOT 300gsm (V). This is the most absorbent paper I use and therefore lacks some of the finesse of the other papers, but it is the paper I 'grew' with as an artist, and I feel very at home with it.
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BOCKINGFORD WATERCOLOUR SHEETS OF PAPER 300gsm ('NOT' = cold press/medium surface)
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When you want to retain more of the lovely intricate details that happen when water and paint mix, even after the paint has dried, then I find Fabriano (V) to be excellent, and Canson's Moulin Du Roy (V) paper which has the benefit of being 100% cotton. I inherited some Saunders Waterford 300gsm (not vegan) that I am using up and find to be as responsive as these two, but not vegan friendly.
You can purchase these three makes in HP (Hot Press or Smooth surface) and NOT (Cold Press or Medium surface).
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FABRIANO WATERCOLOUR SHEETS OF PAPER 300gsm
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CANSON MOULIN DU ROY WATERCOLOUR PAPER 300gsm
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SAUNDERS WATERFORD WATERCOLOUR SHEETS OF PAPER 300gsm
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Watercolour Brushes
Watercolour brushes are an extremely personal thing.
I had unwittingly been using an animal hair brush for some time before I began to even consider the provenance and kindness of my art materials. At this point, it felt very difficult to switch - all the synthetic brushes I had tried felt very different and were nothing like as intuitive to use.
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However, I have persevered and have now found some excellent vegan brushes that I am very pleased with. I still use my old animal hair dagger brush and detail brush sparingly when I need their particular control and flair, but find the new synthetic brushes perfect for everything else.
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JACKSON'S ART BRUSHES
Jackson's Art own brand brushes are of excellent quality. I particularly like their Raven Synthetic brushes as these are the closes to my original animal hair brushes in both performance and feel.
Raven Synthetic Mop Brushes (V): I prefer sizes 10, 3 and O
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ROSEMARY AND CO BRUSHES
Rosemary and Co's brushes are all of excellent quality, and they have a big selection of vegan brushes.
I particularly like the following:
Eradicator brushes (V) This comes in 4 different sizes and is useful for lifting areas of paint or removing mistakes. I tend to use Small size most, and occasionally the Medium size.
Paul Weaver Freestyle brush (V) a highly adaptable brush that will do anything from fine, delicate strokes, to large sweeping movements
Miscellaneous Art Supplies
These final resources are lovely extras that can make a painting come alive. Products that are definitely vegan will have the (V) symbol after them:
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Best Art Books
You can browse a collated list of all my favourite watercolour art books
Bookshop. org supports independent bookshops and small businesses in the UK.
Please be aware that if you buy any of the books on my list via bookshop.org I will earn a small commission for each sale. Thank you!
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