My Watercolor Art Supplies

good morning good morning how are y'all doing today so for today's video I'm going to be going through my current art supplies because I've changed a lot of stuff since my last supplies video back in 2016 getting right into it let's swap paper in the past few years the biggest thing I've learned is how important paper quality is cheaper papers are probably the reason why most people struggle with watercolor it's probably why your paper struggles with handling water or why it buckles and warps or even while the paper tears from masking fluid or tape since my last video I've actually used two different types of watercolor sketchbooks and the current one I'm using is this guy it's the Strathmore 400 series which is a cold press acid-free 300 GSM paper stock the paper is super durable which makes it excellent for layering and for washes as it dries almost entirely flat with very little buckling in terms of texture the two thing seems to be a bit more on the prominent side which is a lot of fun to work with there seems to be two different textured sides to the paper one being more subtle and one being more textured with larger grooves and tooth the surface of the paper is quite smooth and almost waxy which makes it really easy to work mixed media especially pencil the only downside about the paper is also the smoother wax like surface which i think is because it's not made entirely a button because of this wax enos sometimes it does feel as if the water almost sits on top of the paper rather than soaking into the fibers and so the drying can be a bit unpredictable with the wet edges of the paint tending to be a bit more harsh and sharp but the other watercolor sketchbook that I've been using has been this little guy though Windsor Newton or watercolor visual diary this was the sketchbook that I use between 2016 and 2017 and is still by far my favorite sketchbook to use it's a 300 GSM 100% cotton cold press watercolor paper which has this beautiful subtle texture the tooth leans more towards us commute or hot pressed paper and the paper itself handles paint and water so easily so getting those softer effects and techniques like blooms gradients and plans is really easy the only downside about this guy is that the paper buck was a bit more and the binding seems a bit more flimsy as you can see these pages are almost falling off barely hanging by a thread but that also might just be because I handle my sketchbooks pretty roughly when I'm making important pieces for exhibitions or commissions I use individual sheets of my absolute favorite favorite artists called press in my eyes it is the absolute perfect paper for painting with watercolor but it does come with a very steep price tag for starters the absorption quality of Ash's paper is like nothing else I feel like the paper retains water a bit longer so it kind of delays the drying process of the paint giving you more time to work and actually move the paint so it's perfect if you want to get smooth blends or soft transitions and an example of this would be for painting skin arches is super durable and so buckling and warping is a minimal it handles wash after wash layer after layer and still retains its shape and quality and I've also personally never had my paper tear or rip when using masking techniques but most importantly of all is the texture oh man the texture it reminds me of handmade papers because the texture feels quite randomized rather than a uniform pattern there's just something so beautiful about the grain the grooves the tears and the texture is honestly just one I could go on and on about how much I love arches honestly I struggle to even think of a floor but the only thing I dislike about it is how incredibly expensive it is paper is such a big topic to talk about so I think it's probably best to save a more in-depth review for another time but for now let's move on to brushes so I've actually replaced my previous brush collection two ones from a company called trickle I started to use their brushes in late 2017 and now my current tool set consists of four of their different brush types tackle ons quill mops : skis and the onyx pressures the first brushes I want to talk about are my tack loans which are stapled to my set they're synthetic hair brushes so they're very affordable for those who don't know it's in big brushes hold less paint and water but they're more springy or rigid in comparison to natural hairs because of this springiness they're actually perfect for control so blending mixing and stable brush strokes as well as just in general being a lot easier to use and the next brushes I want to talk about our truck was onyx collection which I've quickly become one of my favorite brush types they're meant to be a synthetic counterpart to natural squirrel hair brushes so they actually hold a lot of water and paint they're springy yet fluid and the brush shape allows the stroke variation and also precision I dare say that this is the perfect watercolor brush I highly highly recommend these brushes as they're extremely versatile and they're affordable and then there's quill mops which are actually a part of the honors collection these guys are my go-to for applying larger areas of paint or washes as they can hold quite a lot of water and paint there's soft easy to control and they retain their brush shape really well which is a big plus they're also great for stroke variation because of their brush shape so you can lay down paint from thick to thin in a single stroke just by changing pressure and last but not least kolinsky x' these guys are made from natural hair and so they actually hold the most amount of water and paint they've got less spring to them and instead are more fluid and soft so you get more natural expression and movement in your brush strokes the only downside about them is that they're the most expensive and so while I do love clean skis I honestly wouldn't recommend them unless your budget allows alright do you have some other brushes for other specific uses like my flat brush or my fan brush from ironlak but these brushes rarely get used now let's talk about paint and this one's a tricky one to talk about because it honestly is just up to personal preference basically I use either winds or Newton's artist colors or daniel smith's watercolors usually i have the same or similar colors of each brand and that's just because each company's pigma qualities are different to each other for example Windsor Newton Spain's grey is slightly more blue compared to Daniel Smith's while Daniel Smith Spain's guy is definitely granulated I absolutely love Windsor Newton Dayna Smits paints but it would be impossible to review each and every color and its qualities individually without making this video into some sort of documentary so let's leave it at that usually I paint straight out of my palette which many of you may recognize it's my Windsor Newton cup men's half pound studio set I did replace all of the pans with my own selection of colors which is why there's no greens the colors of each pan are either from Windsor Newton or Daniel Smith's I have also started to experiment with using watercolor mediums namely these two guys from Windsor Newton granulation medium and masking fluid granulation medium is a bit tricky to use but the gist is that if you mix it into your paints or into the water it'll cause the paint's to actually granulate and you can get some pretty sick effects you can also use it on colors that already granulate which will make them granulate even more but do keep in mind they will granulate differently and then there's masking fluid but she's something that I've really started to use in the past year or so as I finally overcame my horrible past traumatic experience using it in high school it's messy and it's annoint use but it is really helpful in keeping some tricky areas unpainted I applied the masking fluid with a brush but just a warning that masking fluid destroys brushes so try not to use it with brushes that are expensive or important to you and then there's gouache which is basically a more opaque version of watercolor it's a great medium for adding opaque elements or bright solid colors for example I use it here in this ghost in the shell' piece to create the geometric shapes so far I've just been using Windsor Newton designer gouache 'as with no complaints but I am yet to try different brands so we'll see how it goes now let's talk pencils for those who've ever wondered why I use for my line work it's these guys the stay Lamar's Lou McGrath pencils I've never found myself ever having any issues with the graphite other pencils blending into the paint or water so I've stuck with them since I also use fabric Estelle's polychromos pencils to touch up my paintings and areas I want to be more vibrant all to create colored line work my favorite thing about the polychromos is that they feel a lot less waxy in comparison to other pencil brands so when I'm using then on top of my watercolor is they actually have less of a glossy Sheen and look a bit more natural next up inks are used metallic inks a lot less nowadays because I prefer actual gold leaf and silver leaf but I still find these guys super useful as they're water-based so they're easy to work with and I can use them with dip pens or even brushes and when it comes to those superfine white details that are used my paintings I actually use ink in two different ways firstly the classic Sakura jelly roll in it's a staple as it's super easy and convenient to use and I love using these for my sketches the only downside about the gel pen is that the ink isn't as opaque as I'd like it to be which brings me to the second use the Windsor Newton white calligraphy ink it's opaque and create for fine details as you can use it with either a dip pen or a brush and now for my last and most favourite material of all gold leaf now I'm not expert when it comes to gold leaf but I have tried a few different gold leaf types from imitation gold leaf flakes to real gold leaf the stuff I currently use is authentic gold leaf from anywhere between 20 to 24 K gold they'll lower the K or karat the less gold in the leaf so the less yellow it is I get all of my leaves and adhesive suppliers from a local family-owned Australian business called the gold leaf Factory they're the kindest people and they've been teaching me so much about the gilding process and honestly there's still so much to learn about the world of gilding but I do hope that one day I'll be a master of it and I'll be able to share a thought you guys and that's basically all my art suppliers if you wanted to pick up any of these suppliers I put down links and more details in the description below before we finish though I do want to say that by no means are any of these supplies things you must have these suppliers are just what I've accumulated and used over my years of painting most of these supplies are quite expensive and so they're more directed towards intermediate or advanced painters but if you are a beginner or if you need to watercolor I will be making a video sometime on what I would recommend specifically for those starting out and so that brings us to the end of today's video I hope you guys are having an awesome day make more art and I'll see you guys soon [Music]

Channel: kelogsloops

Views: 388,340

Rating: 4.9868879 out of 5

Keywords: watercolor, art supplies, painting, art, supplies, materials, advanced, intermediate, artist, illustration, mixed media, gouache, arches, paper, watercolor paper, watercolor medium, winsor & newton, trekell, brushes, gold leaf, gilding, how to paint, how to, tutorial, how to draw, graphite, pencil, faber castell, sakura, ink, beginner, how to watercolor

Id: MbMlam-nEC0

Length: 11min 25sec (685 seconds)

Published: Fri May 24 2019