Im often asked for brush/paint/paper recommendations and I don’t often give hard and fast suggestions because people have different preferences and different budgets. But I've finally cracked, because I hate to see people struggling to find the right few things and it doesn't need to be complicated or expensive.
Here are a few items I love, if possible pleeeaaase buy them from your local independent art shop but this list will make it super easy for you to find a few good things however you like to shop.
The links below are affiliate links so I’ll get a few pennies if anyone buys via them, but it won’t cost you any extra:
Brushes
Princeton Neptune brush (oval wash) is one that I use in every painting and every zoom session. I love the shapes it makes and it’s brilliant for waves as well as petals and leaves. It’s got soft bristles, is synthetic and isn’t extortionate.
Princeton Neptune Watercolour Brush Set Pro, the first set of brushes I ever got and I still use them frequently. Synthetic Squirrel, they hold loads of water which means smoother painting.
Rigger brush aka ‘stem brush’ - Lovely long straight lines because the longer bristles act as suspension for wobbly hands. Choose one with longer bristles if you want to do longer lines as it’ll hold more water to get you across the page in one stroke.
Foliator - great for easy trees/foliage. I can show you how to use it.
Detail brush - great for teeny tiny details on plants and feathers.
Paper
Beginners A5 pad 300g 30 sheets
Spiral bound A4 25 sheets pad - I love this, it’s so solid and pads are lovely for tracking progression of styles in
Value watercolour A3 pad, it was my first A3 pad and it did the job! 50 sheets A3 300g
Bockingford 300g 12 sheets - Paper that lets you lift paint back to white
Arches 300g 12 sheets (only buy on sale!) - Paper for stretching over a canvas frame like we do in the workshops (100% cotton)
Paint
Koh I Noor paint is so low cost for such vivid colours I love them. Very staining though so they don’t lift back off the paper well once applied.
Windsor and Newton Cotman 12x half pans. Absolute classic, great starting point as you'll have everything you need if it's your first set.
Jean Haines set includes lots of my favourite Daniel Smith colours, many of which you’ll have tried if you’ve come to a watercolour workshop at Badibidu HQ.
Sparkly handmade paints - so beautiful and sparkly, I love anything from either of Reneeissance Colours or Campbella
Other useful things
Waterproof fineliners - I love how fine the micron pens go but the sharpies are cheap and great for medium fine drawing
Micron - https://amzn.to/3sBlJ8W
Sharpies - https://amzn.to/3SKYe7Z
Paint palette - keep it cheap, simple and light with this plastic palette.
Board - Tape your paper to this to stop it warping and allow you to move it to any surface to continue painting.
Lamp - I have one very similar to this and it’s been brilliant! Essential for winter evenings especially.
Desk - I think I have this exact one from hobby craft. A bit of an effort to put together but I love it!
That's it! That's more than enough to get started, enjoy and message me any time with questions or to show me your new goodies!
For more info on super low-cost materials I recommend when getting started here’s a blog post I wrote:
https://badibidu.com/blogs/blogibidu/best-kit-to-get-started-with-watercolour-on-any-budget