SUPPLY LIST: MARNEY WARD SFCA, SCA 

Watercolour Paints: Winsor Newton, Sennelier, Daniel Smith, M. Graham are all good; some of the less expensive, student-grade paints like WN Cotman won’t mix well and will tend to give you muddy colours. One or two of each primary will do to start but get the following 7 if you can. If you already have paints try limiting your palette to 8-12 mostly primary colours, it really helps you understand how to mix the colours you want. All these colours are transparent except Indigo, which is an optional colour which I only use occasionally and sparingly for mixing strong darks. I don’t have black, never use it. 

  • Permanent Rose, PV19 (transparent, staining) (a cool red but mixes well, even with yellows) 

  • Winsor Blue (red shade), PB15 or Phthalo Blue (transparent, staining) A very intense blue. 

  • French Ultramarine Blue, PB29 (transparent, granulating) Good for creating texture. 

  • WN Transparent Yellow, PY150 or Azo Yellow, PY151 (both transparent, staining) (a medium yellow) 

  • Burnt Sienna, PR101 (In WN this is transparent, non-staining; in some other brands it is opaque) 

  • Winsor Violet, (Dioxazine Violet) PV23, transparent, staining 

  • Permanent Sap Green, PO49 + PG36, W&N is best as some brands are muddy. Hookers is OK too. 

If you want other colours the following 5 could be useful: Cobalt Blue PB28 (transp, granulating); Cobalt Teal Blue (DS) or W&N Cobalt Turquoise Light, both PG 50; Permanent Alizarin Crimson, PR206, for dark red or burgundy colours (transp, staining); Quinacridone Red (WN) or Quin Coral (DS), transp, both PR209, for a warm red; Indigo for darks, PBk6 + PV19 + PB15 (opaque, staining). Be careful with Indigo, it contains black and can get muddy, I only use it if I want an intense dark in a small area. 

Paper (Quality is important here: don’t get cheap paper) 

I use 22x30” sheets of 140 lb. cold-pressed, Winsor Newton Artists paper, stretched on a stretcher board, but Arches Bright White is good too. Look for 100% cotton rag content. W/N Cotman paper is a student grade and not the same quality paper. Sheets can be cut into half or quarter sheets. Blocks of 9x12” or 10x14” are better than pads the same size as they don’t need to be stretched or secured. Whatever size and roughness you like to use is fine. You can wet your paper and staple it wet to Gator Board to stretch it, or get a stretcher board for ¼, ½ or full sheets of paper. I talk about stretching paper in Lesson One. 

Brushes (OK to go cheaper here) 

A larger and smaller round watercolour brush (size 2-4 and 7-8) plus a 1-2” flat for washes is enough to begin with, plus a small stiff brush for scrubbing out and a tiny round for signing. You don’t need pure sable, I use Princeton Heritage synthetic or Connoisseur synthetic blends (Taklon Mix Goat or Sable), available at most Art Stores. If you use large sheets of paper you may want some larger rounds (12-16). 

Miscellaneous 

  • A plastic or ceramic palette, preferably with lots of mixing space. A large white plate will do. 

  • A pencil (I use an F, large-lead mechanical but an ordinary HB or H will do, nothing softer) 

  • A soft eraser and a pencil sharpener. A new toy for lifting is Mr. Clean’s Magic Eraser. 

  • A large water container or two smaller containers and a box of Kleenex or paper towels 

  • Masking Fluid (frisket) is optional, a ruling pen, normally used for calligraphy, is great for applying it. 

  • A sketch book and a hair dryer are optional. I don’t use a hair dryer and rarely use Masking Fluid. 

One or more prints or detailed photographs of flowers you would like to paint. Make sure the flower in your reference photo is well-lit (I prefer backlighting) and has sufficient, clear details to translate into a larger painting.