Watercolour materials I use - Brushes, Paints and Paper

I'm often asked about what materials I use, so here's a summary of brushes, paints and paper.

Brushes

Brushes I use, from left 1) the largest brush, a mop size 18 'Aquario' from Escoda.  It's a natural brush and a great point.  I always use this for washes and painting large areas on 22" x 15" size paper.  2) Size 14 Mop, from Escoda.  Used in washes.  3) Smaller mob brush size 10 'ultimo' from Escoda.  Used for detail and washes over medium sized areas.  4) Large detail brush, synthetic size 12 Perla from Escoda.  5) Small detail size 8 Perla from Escoda.  6)  Nice Rigger brush, with a sort of reservoir in the lower section, again from Escoda.  7) A cheap Ox Hair brush, I think it only cost 10 pence, used for foliage.  I butchered the tip with a pair of nail scissors to give it a rough edge.  8) A small synthetic brush with a straight edge for painting peoples legs or masts/lamp posts.  9)  Very small detail brush, mainly used for white gouache highlights.  10) A Sword or dagger brush - great when fully loaded with paint for foreground foliage detail.

Paint

I use a metal palette from Holbein.  Rarely cleaned and main pigments used - Lemon Yellow, Cad Orange, Cad Red, Light Red, Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Cerulean Blue, Cobalt Turquoise, Viridain Green, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber and Neutral Tint.  Most paints come from Winsor and Newton.

Paper

I used to paint a few years ago with Bockingford rough paper, but now it's always Saunders Waterford Rough, cotton based 300 gms paper.  I paint in sizes 15" x 11" or 22" x 15", mainly.

 

Comments

[josé luis zorrilla campos]

¡Curioso! Coincidimos en los pinceles. Esta mañana por ejemplo he pintado con el grupo local y he usado también 18 Aquario,14 Perla,10 Perla y 6 Ultimo con punta muy fina y reserva. Creo que con estos 4 pinceles de Escoda se pueden hacer grandes obras, como es tu caso.
En cuanto a la paleta, uso una de metal esmaltado, con 18 pocillos que relleno con Newton o Cotman.

Espero que con estos materiales, algún día pinte tan bien como tú.