Marie-Hélène Pelletier is an assistant store manager and painter. See her tips on how to choose the right watercolour supplies!
She loves it when customers come into the store to buy basic watercolour supplies: “I really enjoy sharing all my years of experience, trials and discoveries. I like to pass on what I would have liked to learn myself from the get-go.”
- Marie-Hélène Pelletier
For watercolour painting, you need to…
FOR WATERCOLOUR PAINTING, YOU NEED TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT PAPER.
I really like Fabriano's Artistico Pads because they’re glued on all four sides. You don’t need to stretch the paper and it offers professional quality results.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT BRUSHES.
With the right tools, creative fun and quality results are guaranteed. A top-quality brush made of natural sable or squirrel hair is a good investment that will last many years if you take good care of it. Among my favourites, Raphaël's Petits-Gris brushes have an exceptional retention capacity, allowing you to cover more ground before reloading. They’re ideal for creating washes, and their shape allows a wide variety of strokes. For details, I use a Series 7 brush from Winsor & Newton. Their soft and thin tip allows for high precision. Tip for keeping your brushes clean: To prevent water from seeping into the handle wood, do not let paintbrushes soak in water beyond the ferrule. Rinse them and let them dry flat. Your watercolour brushes should only be used with watercolour paints; they’ll quickly deteriorate if you use them with acrylics or oils.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT PAINT.
I prefer using watercolours that come in tubes, as the paint is fresh and creamy. You can let them dry to create your own palettes. Dry watercolour palettes can be easily transported, and are an interesting choice for painting outdoors, or when travelling. The Sennelier Test Pack offers basic colours at a very good price, so you can begin exploring watercolour painting with excellent-quality paints. Daniel Smith’s Duochrome Iridescent Watercolours When painting night skies, I like to enhance Northern Lights with Daniel Smith's iridescent watercolours. I really like the Duochrome collection because colours oscillate between two tones, depending on the angle. They mimic optical effects that can be seen in nature, like the one we see on bird feathers. For maximum effect, I suggest loading the brush with a good concentration of pigments, and applying it dry. On a damp surface, the pigment spreads and gives a more subtle, but also very interesting opalescent effect. Use a palette to mix your colours!
USE A MASKING FLUID APPLICATOR.
Since masking fluid greatly damages brushes, I prefer to apply it with Colour Shaper tools. Available in a variety of sizes, they feature a soft, easy-to-clean rubber tip.
GET INSPIRED BY BOOKS.
If You’re Bored with Watercolour Read This Book by Veronica Bajjart Lilja lets you see watercolour painting from another angle. It’s the perfect book for those who want to create, without the stress of reproducing perfect images.
DIGITAL PRINTING SERVICES
Would you like to sell reproductions of your watercolour works? DeSerres offers digital printing services on Arches paper. They’re printed on real 100% cotton watercolour paper, with pigmented inks that are highly resistant to fading. Offer professional quality reproductions that look just like the originals!
