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I've been asked a few times recently what my go-to art supplies are for making watercolors and stationery. So I wanted to compile a whole post about the supplies I use around the studio most often. Since I grew to love watercolors over time, and on a student budget, I learned to make the most out of more affordable supplies. Luckily, you can still make gorgeous work without breaking the bank!
These are some of my go-to brands and supplies for making my watercolor illustrations for all my stationery products...
Watercolors: Winsor & Newton is my go-to brand, both for tubes and pans of watercolors. I first fell in love with their travel watercolor sets while traveling through Italy and their tubes are just as good. I even buy their white gouache to use as highlights in my paintings. I also like that this brand is carried pretty much everywhere so I never have problems needing to restock on a specific color while I'm traveling in Italy.
Palette: I have a palette similar to this one and I LOVE that it's so portable. I've packed up my brushes, paper, a jar of water and this palette and turned our local coffee shop into my afternoon studio.
Brushes: Sticking to the love of Winsor & Newton, I also love their brushes. I usually buy their Cotman brushes, most frequently sizes 0-8 rounds. Occasionally I'll use one of their thinner brushes but the rounds work for most everything I paint. And bonus, they're available at Michaels!
Paper: My default paper choice for some time now has been Canson's #140 cold press. It had just enough tooth and texture to it that it shows up in my illustrations after being scanned without being too distracting. I buy giant pads in bulk from Blick for larger pieces and their ring bound 7x10 pads are perfect to take to the coffee shop ;)
Pencils and Erasers: My favorite pencil is a bit of a splurge but I just love how good of a pencil it is! The Blackwing Palomino pencils are amazing and I love that I can add in more erasers as I use them up. (their sharpener is a must, too). My favorite erasers are these by Staedtler.
Pens: All my lettering for the cards is done on paper with pen! My favorite pens for lettering these days are the Tombow Fudenosuke set, they're the perfect small nib with just enough firm bounce.
Scissors: My friend Amal makes the most gorgeous (and useful) brass scissors.
Other supplies I use: tracing paper, washi tape, Tombow dual brush pens, Faber-Castell pens
If you want to check out the whole list, here's all the goodies on Amazon!
What are your go-to art making supplies?