Getting Started: Watercolor

Begin Your Journey into Watercolors - Purchasing Watercolors

Disclaimer: This blog does contain affiliate links. Which means, if you choose to purchase through those links, I might make some pocket change on qualifying purchases. 

Watercolor can be an intimidating media to begin with. You see so many wonderfully skilled humans showing off their works, and you wonder, how can I do that too? It doesn’t take talent to make beautiful watercolor works, but it does take practice, hard work, and dedication.  

I am someone who is self taught with watercolor. So, what I show throughout my blog and within this post probably are techniques and suggestions that many traditional watercolor mentors may scoff at and tell you NOT to do. For me, there are no rules in art. It is all a process of experimentations and we are all in different places. 

What I will share here will be the non-traditional way in getting started. How I got started. You may choose to do it this way, or perhaps you will want to be more stringent in your process, which is ok too. No way is wrong, in my opinion.

I will also be sharing about this in terms of transportability for those who are interested in doing “plain air” (being outdoors), like urban sketching, nature journaling, or just being creative while out and about, waiting or an appointment, or out for lunch. I have seen some amazing art of people’s coffees and brunches from cafes, those are some of my favorites!  

You can learn a little more about me by checking out the previous post! This blog is just getting started so I will share more as we go on! ❤️

This post will mostly be about the actual watercolor paints, as they are obviously what we’re all here for! 

Buying Watercolors

There are a couple of different types of watercolors, there are “Student Grade” and “Professional Grade”. To tell you the truth, I am not 100% on all the differences in these but, from my understanding, student grade watercolors are often cheaper because they have a bit more filler in them, compared to professional grade. Additionally, professional grade seems to be more “light fast” (how long the pigment will stay in the painting over many years exposed to light, not as much fading as fast).  

In addition to varying grades of watercolor, there are opaque and transparent watercolors, which, in all honesty, I only recently learned about, even though I started using watercolors way back in like 2010/2011… Ha. I told you, I did not learn about them in the traditional ways. But, it seems that transparent colors are more sought after, however, they both have their place, and I apologize to say, you will have to do your own research on that.

Something you will definitely want to research before you really get deep down into it, ESPECIALLY if you decided you want to spend a pretty penny on a real professional quality set of watercolors is how they do in humidity. There are some brands (Sennelier) that use honey in their paints, which is amazing, but not so amazing if the paints never dry and ooze out of your pans because you live in a hot humid environment.  

You can buy your watercolors in two ways, in Pans (dry), or in tubes. I really love pan watercolors because they seem to be slightly cheaper to start off with compared to tubes, and then once you find out you love a brand/color, you can refill your pans with tube paint, and let it dry, and use it over and over again. Pan colors last ages (obviously depending on rate of use). The other benefit of pans vs tubes is that there are no additional things to purchase. Usually a set of pans paints, at least what I would recommend, will come ready to use, in their own palette all set up. However, when you purchase tube watercolors, you need etc purchase a palette to put the paints in for use and mixing. 

Additionally, there are a few other considerations to think about if you are wanting to take your watercolors on the go. If so, you may need to purchase some pans to go with your travel palette, if the one you purchased is not good for packing around.

There are so many brands of watercolor, from no-name cheapies, to brand name reliables to very very very expensive handmade boutique ones! As a beginner, you probably don’t want to spend a TON of money on supplies, especially if you’re not even sure if you will like watercolor! 

When I first started out in watercolor, I bought some cheap set of tube watercolor paints in South Korea. They worked just fine for me! So, I am totally not gonna get all uppity about prices or quality or what you “should” get, just share my experiences and recommendations. If you’re anything like me, you’ll be researching and looking at reviews anyway! Which I recommend that you do, because some wallets are going to balk at some of these prices! So, what you get is going to entirely depend on your personal preferences and what your wallet will allow. 

By the way, you can get watercolor sets, which range from like 2 colors up to over a hundred colors (or more). As a beginner, I would recommend limiting your palette. Starting with 10-12 colors that come in a set will be just the right thing to do. You don’t NEED white, and you don’t NEED black. Purchasing a set of watercolors, will get you the basic colors that you need.

I hear you, I hear you “but, what about all the other colors??” - I promise, you can mix colors to get nearly any color you wish!! You will learn so much by mixing. So I really recommend taking the “hard route” at first, for learning’s sake. You won’t at all regret it! After a while, you will figure out what colors you just can’t seem to mix correctly, and colors you just hate mixing. And then you will buy those extra colors. Eventually, you will want to probably upgrade and buy brands that other people rave about. 

What I’ve Used

Starting Out with Cheap Watercolors

I actually have only tried 5 watercolor brands. So, while my hands on experience is relatively limited, I can also share with you things “I might buy if I were looking” and maybe you’d like my input.  

My first set of watercolors, well, we’re not going to count those ones that we used when we were kids, okay.  Haha, We’re talking since I first began seriously using watercolors. Okay? 

My first set of watercolors were, as I said, a cheap brand from South Korea (unfortunately, it seems as though these are super off brand, so I am unable to link for you), that I found in some random shop near the mall in Pyeongtaek… It’s been like over 10 years, forgive me for not remembering all the things. I don’t recall why I wanted them, I probably randomly came across someone doing watercolor and I was like “Well I could do that!” Then, I found out that it’s not as easy as it looks. Ha! I do know they were cheap though, because everything was cheap in South Korea. It was amazing. I’d say, cheap watercolors are typically under $30. You can find some decent ones in the $20-$30 price range.

The great thing about watercolors is they basically never seem to go bad. I actually recently re-found these cheap South Korean watercolors, and the palettes I put them in! They still look the same as the last day I used them (image above).Sometimes they will dry out in the tubes, but then you just cut open the tub, grab your brush and reconstitute with water. And bam, you’re back in business. The last time I used the South Korean tube watercolors was probably in 2014, they worked well. And prior to that, it was 2011. 

So, as for cheap watercolors, I say, try it out, you may get lucky, but you also may get what you pay for. 

I learned about Urban Sketching during my last stint of watercoloring in 2013, I believe, so I was on the hunt for something more transportable. The palette that I had was not water tight, and it was kind of big, so I needed something just smaller, I guess. I thought that some cake/pan watercolors would be best. In my research I came across Koh-I-Noor brand watercolors. What was really neat about them, is that they stacked up together, interlocking. I could have 24 colors in a relatively small space. They were fun for travel because the paint cakes dried up quickly, so I wasn’t worried about paint getting everywhere after being in use. 

They are considered an opaque watercolor, which at the time, I didn’t even acknowledge was something to consider, so I won’t pretend that you need to consider it either. I did learn that they did really well on tinted paper, like Kraft colored paper.

My fourth set of watercolors, a pleasant surprise… When we decided that we were moving to the Caribbean, I decided that I needed more saturated colors. Because, that’s how the tropics are. Plus, I did not have a blue that would mimic the Caribbean blue ocean… AT ALL. I went on a search for a larger watercolor tin, I had only a 12 pan tin to add more colors to my collection. 

I purchased these on amazon, they were cheap, but honestly, I didn’t purchase them for the watercolors within, I purchased them for the tin, it’s a beautiful blue, you see. It’s MY blue. Honestly, it is Caribbean blue… It was meant to be. 

When I was taking out the colors of this I definitely needed to swatch them to make sure there weren’t any colors that I was missing out on. And I came to find out, they seem like nice working watercolors. I don’t know a lot about them, I don’t know their actual quality, I just know how they paint. I am pretty sure they are a mass made, off brand, watercolor that someone can purchase in mass and then put their own brand and packaging on them. 

They seem like a decent starter set, to be honest. Unfortunately it looks like they are currently out of stock on amazon, I believe I purchased them for like $25-$30 at the time, but I have seen the price fluctuate quite a bit. Be careful when purchasing, because this brand also has a shimmery glittery watercolor set that comes in the same color tin. So, be sure to read, and yes, I have them too… because I wanted two of these tins. Don’t judge me. Don’t by those as a beginner tho. They really aren’t what you’re looking for, what you are looking for is this Artsy Artist Grade Watercolor Paint Set. 

If you are really itching to purchase something, it looks like this Paul Rubens Artist Grade Watercolor Paint Set is something that could be good too. I don’t have experience with them, but it looks like the reviews are outstanding. Honestly, looking at the amazon photos, they are packaged nearly the exact same way, but in a different color. So, not sure why they have a higher price tag, except that people can seem to get away with that sometimes. Be careful again with these as they have shimmery pain sets too, so be sure to read what you’re purchasing.

Stepping Up Your Game

Now, maybe you want to either start off with something a little higher quality, or things that I just love. These are going to be more expensive than the previous ones I spoke about, so just, be prepared for that.  

My third set of watercolors… I had FINALLY found an art supply store in the town of Germany I was living at the time, and I found a set of travel watercolors. They were in a super cute tin, came with 12 basic colors (we can always buy more colors in the future, remember!), and upon my research into the brand, they were a great professional quality. Unfortunately, they were on the more expensive side of things for us (being a military family at the time!), so I had to save up. Once I did save up the money, I felt so proud, warm fuzzies, at my brand new watercolors. You can see, in the image above, they have been well loved. And boy, do I ever love them!! STILL. 

I am a fan girl for German things, and these are made in Germany, the brand is Lukas Farben, and they have been making watercolors since like 1862. Makes me feel like they probably know what they’re doing. This set is the Lukas Aquarell 1862 Artist Watercolor Set (if they are out of stock, try looking for them on Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff’s website). It really was perfect for everything I wanted to do at the time! (If you are unable to find the, the other brand that would be equal to these is the Schminke Horadam, they are likely a little more expensive than the Lukas, but upon research, if I had to buy something other than Lukas, I would buy these.) 

My fifth set of watercolors, I must be a weirdo… Because I was not stoked. Like I said above, we decided to move to the tropics so I needed some additional colors. I had joined some watercolor groups after learning about Nature Journaling, and everyone seemed to rave about the Daniel Smith brand watercolors, so I hopped on that excite bandwagon. I searched and found that these were way more expensive than I had anticipated, but I knew I needed some new colors! I found a set that seemed promising, I found the Jean Haines Master Artist Set, it had 10 colors that seemed to be on par with what I was looking for. Plus, everyone seems to rave about them!

It is not that they are bad paints, because they are not bad, they are absolutely high quality paints! The issue with me and the Daniel Smith watercolors is that they just aren’t fabulous for MY style of painting. There are a couple different styles, and the way these seem to be best used are the wet on wet technique (wet paint, wet paper), where I use the Wet on Dry technique (wet paint, dry paper). These paints are meant to flow and be themselves, whatever they want to do because they create beeeeautiful gradations. But, that is not what I go for, that’s more of a loose style, which is beautiful, but not my style. 

I like to take my paints out and about, and one thing that is a downer about tube paints is that you put them in your pans, but you must wait for them to dry before you take them out and about with you. So it’s just a process to get your supplies ready to go out and paint!

That being said, I did keep four colors of the Daniel Smith brand in my kit I put together for myself. So far, I am happy with what I do with them! So, until you know what you’re doing with watercolors, or you know what sort of style you want to have or learn with your watercolors. 

Additional Supplies

Obviously, you will need more than just the watercolor paints to begin watercolor painting! You need at least one brush, and watercolor paper! I don’t want to make this already long article a novel (look for more posts on getting started with watercolor in the future!). So, I will point you to my Amazon storefront, I share a lot of my favorite art supplies, and you can find everything else you need on there. 

My quick recommendations for a brush, is a water brush pen, there are all kinds of brands and price points. You can get away with only one for a while, but they often are sold in at least a set of three with a fine, medium, and large brush. You can also use any traditional brush. You can use whatever you have at home. It will work, but it may not be the easiest thing to use for the purpose. But I’ve usually just used what I had, if I wasn’t ready to purchase something. 

For paper, I do recommend that you get dedicated watercolor paper, it is meant for watercolor. The paper that is especially made for watercolors are formulated to take larger amounts of water than say, a sketchbook or notebook. It will have thicker paper, and it will take a lot of water to bleed through. You will get a little bit of a sticker shock for an okay quality watercolor journal, but, don’t let that sway you. You’ll probably spend between $15 - $30 on your journal. 

When you get your journal, you will have a hard time wanting to “waste” this beautiful paper specimen with your work. Yes, I struggle with this on EVERY SINGLE new journal I open. It can take me ages to want to actually use them, sometimes I have to buy two, just to feel okay about using one (yeah, okay, I am weird). But, just turn a couple pages, and get started, because really, art supplies are meant to be “ruined”! 

The only “wasted” supplies are those supplies, sitting there over on your shelf, gathering dust, not being used.

Final Thoughts

All in all, even buying watercolors is a crazy journey to learn what even might be right for you, you have a lot of things to consider, like transportability, usage, quality, and what you think you want to do with them. I totally encourage this rabbit hole! There are quite a few decent watercolor groups on FB to help you on your way if that’s a way you want to research. 

Art supplies really aren’t cheap, it can kind of be a big initial expense, but remember that art supplies usually last a while, so the initial expense is worth it. Once you get what you need, in the future you will only need to buy stuff to replace what you’ve used up. 

Watercolor is a really exciting medium with many uses, techniques, and people who love doing what they do with it. I hope that you will get started in your watercolor journey as soon as possible!