Quality water colours/bushes/paper

Lewis_Benson

Hi,
Would anyone be able to point me in the direction of a decent set, herself mentioned it as a christmas pressie, already have a few things but looking to add to what I have, I was looking on amazon, but it all seems kinda cheap, don't mind spending upto about 40-50 on decent stuff.

Any help appreciated.

New Home

To be honest, decent art material doesn't come cheap, and a block of good quality paper can set you back 20-25 quid on its own... Having said that, PJ Lynch, who won a rake of prizes for his children's books illustrations, said that he uses the cheap kind of synthetic watercolour brushes you can find in most art/stationery shops for his work. http://www.pjlynchgallery.com/my-technique/my-favourite-paint-brushes/. A good few years ago Easons/Reads etc had Daler Rowney sets in metal baskets. Windsor and Newton are also another reputable brand. I'm sure there are others.

Princess Calla

The quality stuff is expensive.

It's always recommended to go for professional standard over the student line as the pigments are stronger.

The good quality paper Arches/saunders waterford will set you back about £30 Sterling, for 20 sheets 12x9 inch size

Paintbrushes Winsor and newton start at £10 and work upwards by size to heart attack amounts. W&N are often animal hair hence the price.

Also depends on subject matter if you want a round (usually for detail), or flat (usually for landscape)

The half pans paints (w&n) are £5-7 each. Daniel smith is another professional range.

It really depends on how serious she is about the hobby.

The cheaper alternative is winsor & newton cotman range they are usually sold in sets of 24 , thinking about it I've never seen individual pans sold (the professional range is sold in singles) , you can get lucky with this range eason's sometimes have it on promotion.

The cotman range also do packs of brushes (synthetic) maybe 5 for €15-20

Daler rowney also do a range I think it's called aquafine.

W&N do a paper range that's reasonable and I think daler rowney's one is marketed as Langton 14x12 inch paper is around £12.50.

I have ordered from Cass Art in the uk, I think you need to spend €75 for free shipping, jackson art is another , I haven't used them, they calculate shipping based on weight. I've heard good reviews on synthetic brushes from "rosemary and co" but I've never used them either.

If you plan to go the student range if there's a big eason's near you I'd pop in and see if they have a promotion on

Garlinge

No 1 tip would be to get best paper and that would be Arches.(green colour on cover of good one).

Dont get too many colours! better to get a few of better quality and they can be mixed to make many more. I go for tubes which can go on a plate to start with and in time a palate with sections for tubes to be put into.

Pencil 4B and a synthetic rubber.,,, sharpener.
Some masking tape for taping edges of paper to a board or mat. People also use fancier 'Washi tape'.
A craft mat ... handy to protect a table/stick good paper to/ has lines to measure from.
A craft caddy lidded box ( Mr Price has a good one at the moment).
A paper trimmer.

I have many many brushes but now seem to get best use out of the cheapest set which I got in Sosgrene shop. Three sizes sold individually. One larger soft brush handy for wetting paper.

A good art/craft shop should advise.

Lewis_Benson

Thanks all.

Would these be considered any way decent?

Water colours

https://www.artnhobby.ie/reeves-18-fine-w-colours
Or would this be a better buy - https://www.artnhobby.ie/w-n-water-colour-gift-collection-2018

Paper

https://www.artnhobby.ie/watercolour-paper-a4-210x297-mm-200-g-100-sheet


Thanks again.

Princess Calla

Lewis_Benson wrote: »

Thanks all.

Would these be considered any way decent?

Water colours

https://www.artnhobby.ie/reeves-18-fine-w-colours
Or would this be a better buy - https://www.artnhobby.ie/w-n-water-colour-gift-collection-2018

Paper

https://www.artnhobby.ie/watercolour-paper-a4-210x297-mm-200-g-100-sheet


Thanks again.

I'd go with the w&n set.

It doesn't state the brand of the separate paper, 200 gsm (that's the weight) isn't too bad especially for A4 size , unless she paints really "wet" watercolours (alot of choices depends on the style of painting) if she paints very wet I wouldn't go under 300 gsm otherwise it will buckle unless she is very good at stretching the paper.

New Home

For paper, for watercolours I tend to go at least A3ish and around the 300gsm, but that's just me.