The Basic Equipment You Need to Start Watercolour Painting
- ioneharrisonart
- Sep 4, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 17
Watercolour Starter Kit: The Basic Equipment You Really Need
Are you keen to start painting with watercolours but feel overwhelmed by all the brushes, paints, and papers on the shelves? You’re not alone — there’s so much choice, it can feel confusing at first.
The good news is that you don’t need loads of fancy materials to begin. In watercolour, less is more. With just a few high-quality essentials, you can create beautiful, luminous paintings and start learning with confidence.
This guide covers everything you need to get started:
Watercolour Paper: The Foundation of a Good Painting
Paper is the single most important material in watercolour. It affects how paint behaves, how colours glow, and how easy it is to control water.
Types of Watercolour Paper
Watercolour paper is made from wood pulp or cotton, and produced in three ways: handmade, mould-made, or machine-made. It also comes in three surface textures:
Hot Pressed (Smooth) – Perfect for fine detail or botanical painting.
Cold Pressed (NOT) – Lightly textured and versatile. This is what I recommend for beginners.
Rough – Heavily textured, great for expressive work, best for when you’re more experienced.
Recommended Paper Weight
To start, choose a 10x14" cold-pressed 140lb (300gsm) pad. Reliable brands include Saunders Waterford, Bockingford, Winsor & Newton, Langton (Daler Rowney) and Fabriano.
Experiment with a few brands and, once you find one you love, stick with it — you’ll get to know how it behaves with your painting style.
My personal favourites:
Saunders Waterford 200lb or Arches 200lb cold pressed (Arches has been made in the same French village since 1492!)
For practice: Nucasso 140lb (300gsm) from Amazon — great for testing colours.
In workshops: Langton 140lb cold pressed for main paintings and Nucasso pads for warm-ups.
Stretching Your Paper
If you’re using high-quality 140lb paper or heavier, you may not need to stretch it. You can also buy gummed blocks of pre-stretched paper. For lighter papers or larger formats, here’s how to stretch it yourself:
You’ll need:
A sink large enough for your paper
Gummed brown paper tape
A sturdy board
Soak your paper in water for about 30 seconds, place it on the board, then tape down all four sides. Leave it to dry completely before painting — this prevents buckling when you apply washes.
Paint: Choose Quality Over Quantity
Watercolour paints come in pans or tubes. Pans are tidy and portable, perfect for painting outdoors; tubes tend to give stronger colour.
Winsor & Newton Cotman and Daler Rowney Aquafine are excellent student-grade paints — affordable, good quality, and ideal for beginners. Artist-grade options include Daniel Smith, Winsor & Newton, and Sennelier (these are more expensive but incredibly vibrant).
Suggested Beginner Palette
Start with just a few core colours — a warm and cool version of each primary:
Cadmium Yellow (warm, opaque)
Cadmium Yellow Pale (cool, transparent)
Permanent Rose (cool, transparent)
Cadmium Red (warm, opaque)
Winsor Blue (Green Shade) or Phthalo Blue (cool, transparent)
Ultramarine Blue (warm, transparent)
You can expand later with: Indigo, Alizarin Crimson, Burnt Sienna, Viridian, Winsor Violet, and a touch of white gouache for highlights.
Brushes: Keep It Simple
A few well-chosen brushes will do almost everything you need.
For beginners, Daler Rowney Graduate brushes are great value and widely available at Hobbycraft or The Range. As you progress, invest in higher-quality natural or synthetic sable or squirrel hair brushes for better water control.
Recommended starter set:
Round No. 12 – your main brush for most work
Rigger (No. 3) – for fine lines and details
½” Flat Brush – for lifting and edges
Old Toothbrush – perfect for spattering texture
Optional extras: 2” flat brush, palette knife, old credit card, twigs, or pipette — experiment and have fun!
Other Useful Watercolour Equipment
Palette: Choose one with a generous mixing area, or use a white plate.
Water Pots: Always have two — one for rinsing brushes and one for clean water.
Water Spray: A small mister or recycled cleaning spray works well.
Drawing Board: An A3 board from Hobbycraft (around £5) is perfect for beginners.
Masking Tape: Cheap, low-tack tape works best — de-stick it on your clothes first to avoid tearing paper.
Masking Fluid: Use to preserve white areas. Apply with a palette knife or twig (not a brush), then remove gently once dry.
Your Essential Beginner Kit
To sum up, here’s what you really need to get started:
✅ A 10x14” cold-pressed 140lb watercolour pad
✅ A small set of Cotman or Aquafine watercolour paints (tubes or pans)
✅ Three brushes: No. 12 round, No. 1–2 rigger, ½” flat
✅ Palette, A3 board, masking tape, water pots, water spray, old toothbrush
That’s it — simple, affordable, and everything you need to start painting today!
Art Suppliers
Online and in-store:
Hobbycraft
The Range
Online only:
Jackson’s Art Supplies
Cass Art
Final Thoughts
You don’t need a huge kit or expensive materials to start painting — just a few good basics, curiosity, and a willingness to play. Experiment, make a mess, enjoy the process, and most of all — let the paint flow!
Ione Harrison is a landscape artist and teacher working mainly in watercolour. For details of current watercolour workshops, please see here. For work available to purchase, please see here.
