one thing I learn over the years is, paper is king with watercolor, while i dont recommend buying the best paper right away, but having at minimum 100% cotton watercolor paper even from a brand that you never heard off will give you a much better painting experience then using cellulose watercolor paper, but this doesnt mean cellulose watercolor paper is bad paper, it's just bad for beginner. because cellulose watercolor paper is always heavily sized, they are kinda partially water resistance which mean water will sit on top of the paper, while this will give you the best vibrancy but it also difficult to work with because water will pool on the paper which will create backrun, not only that, this will also make flat washes more difficult to achive and you can easily lifted your washes even when using staining pigment. so effectively you will need to know what you are doing in order to use cellulose watercolor paper properly, which is ironic since 100% cellulose watercolor paper is also often sold as student grade watercolor paper even from well known brand.

It took me years to discover that the reason I couldn’t do nice wet in wet blends was because I was using cheap watercolour paper. It makes a huge difference. I struggle to make myself use the higher quality paper so often I’ll use my student quality paper to do my first draft and then move on to the artist quality paper once I’m ready.

Teoh!! Thank you for this good information. I liked the red painting that was embellished by a child, very dear! ☺️

Very informative! I always went for trial and error since i never knew what to look for, this is very helpfull!

Probably your most informative tutorial ever..!!!!!!!!......jam packed with Information for not only the beginner but a refresher and product guide for those who have been around for a while....take a bow!!!!!

I wanted to mention that in the USA, the Grumbacher paint is not bad either. Now I'm buying artist grade but when I first started I bought a few Cotmans and Grumbachers, and the Grumbacher is actually way more loaded with pigment than the Cotman tubes. They are available at Michael's. Do watch the pigment codes though.

Thank you Teoh for your video. I am thinking too to do what I learned so far in watercolour painting for my channel, thank you for the inspiration. You are one of the KZfaqrs I enjoy the most watching. Keep being inspirational

My personal budget-friendly paints are a 6 pack from Daniel Smith that is a collection of split complementary colors. It contains a cool and warm version of reach primary, 2 reds, 2 yellows, and 2 blues. About $30.00 depending on the seller. It's a great learning tool. You can mix almost everything. Adding an earth tone or two will be a shortcut to dulling color, but not at all necessary.

I have a natural sable hair brush, but I still prefer a synthetic brush, because it keeps better shape. With the sable hair brush I have the feeling I'm painting with a wet cat tail ;-)

Can you do a review of BaoHong watercolor papers? They're from China and can be compared with Arches in terms of quality but definitely cheaper.

I bought 100% cotton paper and then realized it was canvas paper. 😆 LOL. I now have arches and strathmore. The canvas paper is great for mixed media and card making so it's all 👍 good. I like the fabriano for practice and tutorials. I'm still a noob so the more I apply lessons to whati draw/paint the better. The information in this video on how light effects vibrancy is very useful.

Mimik Kolinski brushes from Jerry's Artarama are really quite good and reasonably priced. Jackson's Art now carries St. Petersburg/White Nights artist grade watercolours for nearly as low a price as ordering them directly from Russia, with much faster delivery. They used to be pans only, but are now available in tubes. Jane Blundell has evaluations online.

Great guide! Very informative on something that is one of the most important tool for watercolouring but often overlooked.

That was very helpful, for me particularly the part where you talked about sizing. I bought a large moleskin watercolour sketchbook after seeing raving reviews, and every time my colours would appear washed out, fuzzy borders, I couldn’t paint anything on it. I had a smaller one I had gotten long before and was saving, decided to try and see if it was equally bad, and to my surprise I didn’t have the same difficulties. I wonder if they change manufacturing or I just got one of a bad batch. Great to know it was lousy sizing! Thanks for sharing

Teoh, I haven’t seen/heard you for quite some time…my fault…and it’s great to see you! I’m trying to get back into painting and your instructions are so helpful…👍

Excellent advice as always. Thank you. I 💘 that Tiffany has added to your sketches

Great video, very very informative!!! Your videos over time are the best!! I’ve followed suggestions from you that have truly improved my paintings, and the enjoyment I get doing them!

This video is really good! It's more in-depth and focuses on the 3 main supplies. Thank u so much!!

I prefer hahnemühle scetch books. There are fine with me. But you are right you need good paper. Second color and last brush.

I still use the old brushes from my silk painting set for watercolours. Unconventional, but somehow works for me. Gotta admit I tend to skimp on the paper, but now that I got enough paints assembled, I probably should invest more in that next time I buy some. I love my Van Gogh's, they're so easy to get by here in Germany and are surprisingly great for a student quality brand :) Didn't even know the Jackson once are rebranded Sennelier's, maybe that's why people find them to be surprisingly great :3

Excellent review. Thank you for all you do.

Nice...this video very helpful for beginners...👌👌

Super explained. Just the video everyone needs.

Yesterday I got one each of the Strathmore Visual Journals - one in watercolor and one in mixed media - I look forward to testing them! The 5x8 watercolor was $6.57 and the 5x8 Mixed Media was $7.16 from Dick Blick.

my awaited topic, thanks for posting it.

The Strathmore VisualJournal Mixed media is 100% w/sizing... love it. ❤ I also love stillman & birn journals.I recently purchased a spiral one. My favorite block paper is Fabriono hot pressed.

This was great , I have Arches paper but I don’t use it bc I’m not that good at watercolor painting , I’m saving it lol , thank you for the review xoxo

For me it is important to know why things are important. I think this is very helpful. Thanks.

Excellent video with helpful information, especially in the watercolor paper. There's so much to learn, but you've focused on what us newbies need to know. Thank you.

Yay for Van Gogh and yes, I also think it is noticeably better than Cotman. Mission Gold here considered to be professional grade. Also one can get Rosa Gallery / White Nights which are professional grade in sense of pigment intensity / binder ratio, the only thing that not all White Nights uses lightfast pigments.

Thank you for another informative video! I am quite new to watercolors, but I agree that good paper is the first priority. I started out using cheap paper, only to be frustrated with how much it warped and the colors ran. When I discovered the importance of good quality paper, I bought myself a Visual Journal watercolor sketchbook and noticed a difference immediately. The next thing I bought was a set of WN Cotman watercolor paints, which I found to be so much more pigmented than the cheaper paints I had been using. Thirdly, I bought a few Princeton brushes (in their lower-priced categories), which again were better than the cheap ones I had been using. Each step has given me better results. All of the supplies I have mentioned I have found at Hobby Lobby or Michael’s craft stores here in the US. These stores often have discounts or coupons that can be used on art supplies as well.

Good watercolor paper doesn’t have to be expensive!! The biggest way to save money for watercolor painting is to get your paper in bulk and from the right source. I’m fortunate enough to live near the seattle area, which has plenty of local art stores. My favorite one in seattle (Artist and Craftsmen Supply) has a huge selection of paper and they have this amazing deal where I can get five sheets of 22x30in Shizen hot press paper for only $10!! It’s 100% cotton and really good quality paper. Now if you have the patience to learn Coptic stitch bookbinding, you can make yourself your own custom watercolor sketchbook with high quality paper for less than $5. I’ve made tons of books and saved tons of $$$. Most commercial art stores like Michael’s and Blick will also have large 22x30in sheets if you aren’t in an area that has a lot of local art stores. I think you can usually get one sheet of Arches paper for around $10, so not as cheap but still definitely far more cost effective when you cut it down into pieces or if you make a sketchbook out of it.

Just to say : also depends on what you are looking for. Some brand papers, like Arches, give me wonderful blending, but the colors are less vibrant and I need to use much more paint; on the other hand, a lot of times I look for the "patchy" style who give other papers like Bockingford and, as a bonus, I only need to use the tip of my brush to get beautiful vibrant colors. Thanks for sharing !

How did I miss this video?? So useful.🙏🏽. While 100% cotton is wonderful I wonder if you could give us tips and tricks when using Canson XL wc paper. I know you mentioned them in the passing when you posted a review/comparison video but that gave me the idea that a dedicated video with your tips would be so useful to everyone who uses Canson XL due to skill, affordability or availability issues. The visual journal is indeed a good one! I really enjoyed working in it. Will try the Daler Rowney🙏🏽

Great review! I’ll have to look into that strathmore paper.

Thank Teoh for the information! Love it

Thanks for the video Teoh. I was the one that complained about the price of paper here in Japan and you recommended Visual Journal. I may have to find something comparable to that because even a cheap product like Visual Journal is too pricy here. This country prices foreign products like it was coming from Pluto. Just an example. the Strathmore visual journal 90lb 5.5 x 8 in cost $11.52 Singapore dollars on Amazon.sg Well the same product on the Japanese Amazon cost $34 singapore dollars!!! Wow!

Fantastic vid! I normally use my iPad/Samsung S8 tab to paint with but thinking of going back to paper. It's been a while. So very useful info you gave here and I'm definitely going to just buy/use your recommendation since I love your artwork. By pass al the confusing, what should I get! efforts lol. But I do have a question if you get this comment Tech Yi Chie. I'm looking for a very good ink pen to sketch with. I think you have a vid on this? But can't find it. what would you suggest under $50. Thanks again for your fantastic art and videos.

I have thought that I pay more for paper than for the watercolour paint, and I spend the least on the brushes, which also last the longest. Such a small pan contains a lot of paint. I have to buy more often is paper and hardly any paint. That's why I prefer to buy cheap paper so that the costs don't become too expensive, it still accumulates. I have already looked at where the limit is roughly how cheap the material can be and then should function at least passably. The brushes I use are mostly cheap ones from a 1€ shop, and they work quite well, but they need a higher learning curve because the synthetic fibres don't hold liquid so well and can release it uncontrollably. This works better with higher-quality synthetic or natural fibres, but they are then also considerably more expensive. I've hardly ever seen watercolour paper in 1€ shops, and the one I tried had a very strange surface with a pattern punched into it. So I wouldn't use that for watercolour. I think that more money should spend on paper so that it works well and doesn't dissolve when water gets on it. I like to use an own-brand paper from a wholesaler for artists' supplies and it costs about 11€ for 65 sheets of DinA3 pad and also about 11€ for 20 sheets of 65x 50 cm pack of 200gm2 cellulose, I don't use that much water for watercolour, and the paper works quite well for that. Watercolour paints can also work well if they are cheap. I have tried some from 1€ shops and supermarkets and the ones for 1,75€ for 12 tubes were very bad and the ones for 1€ in a metal box that I only bought to put others in were also bad and both were from the same shop. the ones for 2€ for 12 from the discounter were good to use and the 18 half pans in the plastic box for 2€ from the 1€ shop were also good to use, the colour selection was just a bit hard to get used to. Of course, they are used up faster and a bit less strong than from the artist shop but great for practising in the sketchbook. I have material from all possible price ranges that have just accumulated because I sometimes bought something on offer.

winsor and newton has two lines of paint, cotman is student grade and no 'cotman' is artist grade. Though people say their cotman is also kinda good. I use artist grade paint they last very long time!!!! Actually watercolor papers are less pricy compared to acrylic canvas

The question IS, should I upgrade to Daniel Smith, that only 1 color costs as much as a full set of Van Goghs or spend the money to add more colors and or brushes etc?

here where you show the. big tree in front of the street ....what did you make the red lines with is that a fountain pen lines or a water color pencil

Expensive is an understatement. For paper. I’m actually debating using Yupo and just washing it clean. I use up several sheets every times I get the urge to paint. Even the cheap paper adds up

I bought everything cheap for my little kit I use daily but I did buy myself a really nice brush I couldn't take that cheap ones anymore they were bad I don't think the cheap paper or the paint I use is bad at all it produces a nice color and the paper doesn't fall apart if I get it too wet

Thank you. Very helpful!!

Thank you for the ultra informative content :)

Very helpful video!

Thanks Teoh

I agree on Fabriano Watercolor Studio as starting paper but have very strong disagreement on recommended paints. W&N Cotman are awful, and RT Van Gogh are near them. Would be much better if novice one consider possibility to order set of 10-12 pans they need from Roman Szmal ("Extra fine Aquarius"), or use additional money to start right from "Professional" W&N Series. I also think You, Teoh, underestimate role of brushes, but i can't give serious recommendations since we have pretty affordable "Roubloff" sable and mixed brushes there in Russia and can only imagine how pricey they would be otherwhere in world.

Thanks for sharing

💛💛💛💛💛💛💛

Would you recommend handmade watercolour sold on Etsy?

Thank you but sorry to disagree very much. The brushes should be given the highest priority. You can't hope to do anything with artist paint on a fantastic paper with horrible brush. Advise. Buying the best biggest wbrush they can't afford if they are sure watercolor is for them

Nothing new on this topic. Keep talking about same which I can easily find in any of his art supply videos