My Art Supplies and Resource Guide

The below is a list of all my favorites and most used supplies. Please note, these are what works for me and my style/preferences of painting! As you practice and paint, you’ll learn what works for you and what does not.

*FTC Disclosure: Some links below may be affiliate links which means I recieve a small commission (less than 5%!) on the sale. However, i am not sponsored by any of the brands below and I paid for 98% of my art supplies with my own money earned from my day job (any ‘sponsored’ or ‘‘PR gift” will be denoted). I am only here to provide my recommendations and I will never compromise my authenticity and personal preferences. (AKA I will not recommend you a shitty product I don’t like for the sake of a sale, excuse my launguage.)

**If you don’t want to read the novels below (and to see the full list), you can skip straight to my Amazon affiliate lists of products

The below is ranked in order of prioritization! Meaning, if you have a limited budget (as we all do in life), I would suggest to focus your funds on first paper, quality pigments, and then brushes outside all else. You do not need the best of the best to start painting!

Paint with the best you can reasonably afford within your budget and just practice frequently! If you have questions that cannot be answered here, feel free to DM me on my Instagram or email me and I’ll try to respond to you!

Paper & Sketchbooks

My favorite of all time: Arches Hot Pressed blocks 9x12 followed by Cold Pressed Blocks - 100% cotton and performs beautifully for watercolor and gouache. I like The smoothness of HP works for dry media too like colored pencil!

• If you don’t lilke blocks, they also have a Arches Hot Pressed Pad option and Cold Pressed Pad Option

Other Noteworthy likes:

• Winsor Newton Hot Pressed Watercolor Block - my go-to when Arches is inflated in price or not available. 100% cotton

• Fabriano Hot Pressed Watercolor Block - Personal opinion: good for watercolor but not so much for goauche but that is just my experience with it. Plenty of great watercolor and gouache artists love this paper. Also 100% cotton.

• Stonehenge Paper Pad - I don’t use this for painting but it is a blessing for my colored pencil artwork! Super smooth, takes in many layers, AND great tooth.

There’s a trend for painting here - 100% cotton. If you can save up for 100% cotton paper, I implore you to do so. Painting on inferior quality paper will not only cause you emotional stress and frustration but, it also won’t help you improve and learn as an artist. Think about it, watercolor or gouache on cheap printer paper will just soak and rip right through (no matter how much time you spent on the artwork!) This is why paper is always #1 in my book. Speaking of books…

Sketchbooks:

Nowadays, I always paint in a sketchbook so I can see my progress (and because our tiny NYC unit has no place to store all my loose paintings…)

• Lake Michigan Book Press *handmade - LOVE this beautiful handbound book binded journal with threading on the side! Lays flat when open, sturdy, deckled edges and a unique ladder stitching method developed by Crystal herself! Crystal will customize your special journal for you down to orientation, size, and even covers! More cover options and paper choices are available on her LMBP Etsy Store.

  • My personal favorite custom “setting” is Landscape orientation with Arches Hot Pressed Paper and my first LMBP sketchbook is this little beauty here (yes, that’s my art on the listing!* NOT affililated!)

• Shadow Light Binding *handmade - Hardbound journal with rayon cloth and a gorgeous foil stamp! It’s sturdy and I like arches + landscape orientation combo the best so this is the format I chose to buy. Bonus: comes with a pack of paper so you can paint little gifts or sketches! Stephanie has a lot of options in her shop and you can always message her to customize! New designs and styles are added often.

what about Non-handmade journals?

Honestly, I don’t use these anymore because I became a paper snob and I like arches watercolor paper (especially hot pressed) in my journals. However, here are some I’ve tried before I became a paper snob and enjoyed:

• Stillman & Birn Beta Softbound Sketchbook in Landscape - it’s softcover so it’s light to travel with. Good for watercolor and gouache because the paper is thick. Lays flat when open and the paper is decent for starting out. Would recommend if you’re beginning to play around with paints to find your own style

• Stllman & Birn Beta Hardbound Sketchbook - Over the years, I realized I like a sturdy hardcover instead of softbound. This is the same paper in the one above but in a thicker cover is all. Also lays flat but would not recommend for travel because it can be bulky.

• Moleskine Art Watercolor Album - This is a popular one that i personally, hated. The paper was thin and weak resulting in faded washes. It was not a joy to work with. In fact, I am too embarssed to even show the sketchbook tour for this one. It was one my earlier journals before I discovered what I liked. So why am I linking it here?

  • 1) So you don’t make the same mistake I did, 2) But also, if you want to try it - feel free because it’s beautlly binded and I did like the cover. Plus, it lays flat which is a requirement for painting for me…and lastly, 3) so you can save your $20 for a pad of Arches Watercolor Paper instead (or buy another sketchbook). Seriously, do yourself a favor.

• Travelouge Artist Watercolor Journal - budget friendly, comes in landscape, decent paper, and lays flat.

• Strathmore Toned Tan Drawing Pad - I use this for colored pencil not for painting. Works SO well with Prismacolor colored pencils!

• Strathmore Toned Gray Drawing Pad - Same note as above but this one is gray toned paper.

Paint

Top favorite of all Time: M. Graham watercolors and M. Graham Gouache - the honey binder in these paints allow me to re-wet anytime I squeeze them out so I never clean my palettes and I don’t use any “stay-wet” palettes. Plus, I love the satisfaction of using fresh paints!

Second favorite: Winsor and Newton Watercolors & Winsor and Newton Gouache - they are only second favorite because in watercolors, without the honey binder, some colors make crack and become brittle in your pans overtime (hence, I recommend their pan formula vs. tube for watercolors.) For gouache, I do like that some colors are more creamy in consistency but the price is way more expensive than M. Graham so I do use them in my works but not as much as my M. Graham favorites.

Others I might use: Sennelier Watercolors Pans (18 half pan set) - love this for also using the honey binder in their paints. Rewets easily and the colors are brillaint and vibrant. They are based on a “classic french formula” which is pretty neat.

Technically, not paint but I recently discovered this varnish that helps protect your watercolors and gouache paintings! I uused to not varnish my work until I stumbled upon this jar of joy. You can use a tissue (or wear a glove like I do), tap into the jar and then just rub the wax medium all over your painting. It won’t smear! Make sure you’re 100% happy with your painting before you do before you can’t re-work your work after this.

Brushes

Here, I will divide into two sections for painting becuase I’ve learned over the year that gouache can act like acrylic sometimes and might damage your very expensive watercolor brushes. Note: I know real-hair brushes like Kolinsky and Squirrel are popular in watercolor but I did a lot of research and I no longer support real-fur brushes. All recommendations are synthetic only and I am anti-animal cruelty.

Gouache

• Himi 5 pc brush set - if you’re just starting out, I recommend this one. Cheap ones will do and if you paint a bit more dry than watercolor-like, you don’t want anything expensive becuase gouache tends to dry fast and may ruin high quality brushes.

• Escoda Perla 6pc Set - cream of the crop, super wonderful performance and no drag. They hold up to a lot of mixing too so I never fear using them for small or large projects! If you only had $100 for a set of brushes, this would be it. Lasts years and they have a great community too.

• Wonderforest Vegan 1” Wash Brush - It’s rose gold, synthetic, and created by an artist for an artist. I love picking it up!

  
  

watercolor

• Wonderforest Premium Brush Set - I cannot stop using them since I received them. I hate pink but rose gold is my krpytonite. Surprisingly, they perform similar to the Silver brush Velvet brush series that is so well known. Tip stays sharp and holds a lot of water! I like using these for gouache as well when I water down my layers of paint.

• Princeton Artist Neptune Set - Synthetic Squirrel! I loved these more than actual real squirrel brushes and they perform just the same, if not better. I use these for gouache too! The flat wash brush is my favorite for laying down bases.

• Escoda Versatil - I primarily use these for watercolors only. They always hold a nice fine point so you can use a larger size and still get a thin wash or finer details. DO NOT use them for gouache! You will destroy the tip and be very sad that you have to repurchase. I recommend the set becuase it’s cheaper than buying $20 per brush.

Palettes

This is the part where it gets tricky. For those who might not follow me on IG, I’ve developed a deep passion and love for handmade ceramic palettes. I have a ceramic palette collection of over 14 palettes (and still growing?!) Not all might be listed here but if you see something in my IG feed that catches your eye, chances are I’ll always tag the artist who made it!

Why Ceramic? Because I personally hate plastic - it kills dolphins and sea turtles, pollutes our oceans, destroys our beautiful earth, becomes micro-plastics that is ingested by you unknowningly, and beads up my paints! With ceramic, you won’t have these isssues!

For your curiousity, this is the North Atlantic Garbage Patch if you want to see the damage on our Earth already. If you are on a tight budget, I highly recommend a ceramic dish plate - YUP, it acts like a butcher tray for mixing. Just do NOT use it for serving dinner and identify it as your art plate, ok?

Colored Pencils

Going to be completely honest here but I don’t use my colored pencils as much anymore since I’ve discovered my passion for painting…

However, colored pencils is way less messier than painting so here are my faves and recommendations:

• All-time Fave: Prismacolor Premier 150 set - Soft core, blends like a dream, and it has SO many color options! Wax-based for vibrancy so it’ll pop against dark color paper as well. Downside? The core is soft so it’s prone to breaking or snapping off the tip overtime or if you press too hard. It can hold a fine point but wears down faster than other brands. However, at a more afforable price point than most brands, you can just replace it with a smaller set like this Prismacolor 36 color set or Prismacolor 72 color set. I like the tin cans so it’s good for travel (whenever we can travel again…Covid years 2020-2021 at the time of this writing…)

• Second best fave: Fabercastell Polychromos Colored Pencil Set of 120 - high-quality wood cores that won’t break every time you sharpen and holds a very very fine point! Great for artists who draws animal portraits, people portrails, fine details, and need tons of layering of colors. These are oil based so you won’t have that wax bloom from Prismacolors when you can’t layer anymore. I whip these babies out whenever I need to draw an animal or layer more colors. Downside? They obviously won’t blend as smoothly as the Prismacolors because they are not wax based. And the price…but they do last longer so you won’t have to replace as often; it’s a trade-off.

• Cream of the crop/Expensive Option: Caran D’Ache Luminance Colore Pencils 76 set - If you are feelin luxurious and have money to splurge, this would be the set. It’s the best of both worlds from Prismacolors vs. Fabercastell. It’s a wax-based pencil like Prismacolors so you get that beautiful blending with the sturdiness of Fabercastells since the wood core is made from Cali cedar trees. Downside? $300 for only 76 pencils..oof. I mean, if you’re a professional artist and this is your day job, by all means, indulge. If this is your hobby, I highly recommend the first two options before you spend on this one. Additionally, I don’t enjoy the scratchy grainy feel when I put down this pencil to paper. I did not experience the same grittiness with the other two brands.

• Prismacolor Colorless Blender Pencil - You need it, trust me. I used to blend with white color pencils and it would make the drawing look washed out or chalky. This colorless blender is PERFECT to solve that issue and to super blend your colors without layering an insane amount of other colors on top causing wax bloom.

Desk and Workspace Accessories

Keep in mind that these are what worked for me and everyone has a different living situation or environment. I live in a 700sq ft. unit in Brooklyn in NYC so I always try to build vertical when I can. I also try to be eco-friendly with my purchases when possible but there are still some products that has a little bit of plastic in it to be waterproof (like the deskmat) below… :(

Here’s the full Amazon Desk accessories list if you don’t want to read the below!

overall closing notes

It’s not about the best quality tools but more about using the tools. A great artist can make a masterpiece with just a piece of paper and pencil.

A $300 set of colored pencils sitting around not being used is no good. The same way that if you save all your “expensive” supplies for “better days when you feel you’re worthy” will just end up sitting around.

Trust me, I’ve been there. We’re never going to feel “good enough” because that’s what being an artist means - reiterinating and improving on our skills over and over again.

Never compare yourself to other artists either - someone who’s been painting for 15 years will obviously have a different art style reflecting that experience than an artist starting out in year 1. Fun fact: Did you know that Bob Ross painted the same painting 3 times over before painting it again live? He practiced every opportunity he had.

In short, don’t compare yourself to others! I wish you all the best in your art endeavors and hope this long resource guide was helpful!