What Art Materials Do I Need For Watercolours For All?

Full Colour List

IMPORTANT: Below is the full colour list Joanne uses across the course. DON'T go and get all of these colours - you don't need this many!

Also, some of the colours Joanne uses are only available in particular brands and in artist quality, which can be quite expensive.

The list to focus on when buying colours is the MINIMAL LIST below, which will cover the course perfectly well and cost a lot less (you may have many of the colours already).

Minimal Colour List

This list will cover you for all the projects and is much less expensive than trying to match Joanne’s list exactly.

Essential Colours:

Cadmium Red
Alizarin Crimson
Opera Pink/Rose or its alternative (a hot, vibrant pink basically)
Ultramarine
Cadmium Yellow
Quinacridone Gold or Raw Sienna
Yellow Ochre
Burnt Umber
Paynes Grey or its alternative
Shadow Violet or you can easily mix something similar
Lunar, Mars or Lamp Black

Vibrant Colours Worth Getting For This Course:

Cobalt Violet
Cobalt Turquoise

The two colours above are really vibrant. You can mix something similar but not quite as vibrant and it’s an extra step that you should spend a few minutes practising before the project lesson starts.

For Cobalt Violet try Opera Pink or its alternative mixed with Ultramarine.

For Cobalt Turquoise try mixing a cool blue like Cerulean Blue, Phthalo Blue or Intense Blue with a cool yellow like Lemon Yellow.

Paper

At least A3 size (about 12 x 16.5 inches). For some lessons, Jo uses half-imperial size (which is 15 x 22 inches), bought as loose sheets. You can use A3 size throughout or go up to 15 x 22 inches.

The paper surface should be NOT (short for “not hot pressed”). Paper weight should be at least 300gsm/140lbs. Thicker paper (300lbs/640gsm) won’t buckle but is expensive.

Brushes

Number 6, 8 and 10 or 12 round
Size 2 mop brush (not essential and only used in one project - you could easily use a 10 or 12 round brush instead)

Other items

Watercolour palette with large wells or large white dinner plate
Black waterproof ink pen with a medium nib (i.e. Sakura Pigma Micron size 05)
White or clear wax crayon or small white candle (i.e. birthday candle)
Soft graphite pencil (i.e. 2B or 3B)
White acrylic paint (only used in one project and you could even use a bit of water-based decorating paint)
Spray bottle (any cheap plastic atomiser bottle will do)
Kitchen paper
Old toothbrush for spraying speckles
Jars for water

Joanne paints on a slanted board. You can work at an easel or flat but if you can get a slanted drawing board that will help the paint to run down the paper a bit more.

Materials By Project

Download The Materials List

You can get everything above from Amazon (US or UK). If you prefer to shop locally, a well-stocked art store will have most, if not all, of the above. Just avoid general craft stores which have a more limited range of art supplies.

If you want to shop online but prefer to independent art retailers, here are some to try: