FIND my favorite art supplies for bullet journaling, functional planning, and watercolor painting at my Amazon Shop
http://www.amazon.com/shop/keylimeink...

SHOW NOTES
I was a watercolor beginner five years ago, and I wish I'd known these things about color selection, lightfastness, tubes vs pans, etc.

SUGGESTED WATERCOLOR SUPPLIES

Art Whale Watercolors
24 half pans: https://amzn.to/3rZRhVd
48 half pans: https://amzn.to/3KwQf9I
(Student Grade // company is based in Miami, Florida; paints are made in China; pigment information is provided; pans are standard sized and can be moved around; tins are fantastic and will serve you well for a long time; these are highly pigmented, extremely easy to rewet, and over 70% of the colors should be lightfast based on pigment numbers; the only caveat is that burnt sienna and umber are mislabled, so you'll want to switch the names when you make a swatch chart)

Blick Premier Watercolor Paper
https://shrsl.com/3n47v
(100% cotton, less expensive than Arches)

Canson XL Watercolor Paper
at Amazon: https://amzn.to/3NtgePq
at Blick: https://shrsl.com/3uzf8
(FSC Certified; made in France; used for all my watercolor swatching)

Daisy Ceramic Mixing Palette
7" at Jackson's: https://www.jacksonsart.com/enus/jac...
Variety of shapes and sizes at Jackson's: https://www.jacksonsart.com/enus/jac...

Da Vinci Watercolors
Set of 12 Full Pans: https://davincipaints.com/davincisw...
Open stock at Blick: http://shrsl.com/3ufrq
Open stock at Da Vinci: https://davincipaints.com/shopdavin...
(Artist quality paints made by a familyrun company in California)

Daniel Smith Watercolors
at Blick: https://shrsl.com/3n47h
(Artist grade paints made in Seattle)

Empty Watercolor Pans
https://amzn.to/3U0BsqB

Isaro Open Stock Watercolors
at Jackson's: https://tidd.ly/3L6yHBg
(Artist grade paints made in Belgium)

MeiLiang Pretty Excellent Watercolors
36 set: https://amzn.to/3WrXfsz
36 regular colors plus 12 iridescent colors: https://amzn.to/3Nx6svD
(UPDATE: I no longer recommend these because so few colors are lightfast and several colors bleed through on papers none of my other watercolors do; I would encourage you to look at Art Whale or Niji at the same price point)

Niji Watercolors By Yasutomo
12 half pans or 24 half pans at Blick: http://shrsl.com/4370r
12 half pans at Amazon: https://amzn.to/3qfdePp
24 half pans at Amazon: https://amzn.to/3MBKc3X
(Student grade // Yasutomo is based in California, and the paints themselves are made in China)

Paul Rubens Artist Watercolors
48 set: https://amzn.to/3FGMMnk
(UPDATE: about 30% of the colors are not lightfast, but I enjoy using these in my journals and planners; made in China)

QOR Watercolors
full range at Blick: https://shrsl.com/3n47n
full range at Jackson's: https://tidd.ly/3ziEKzM
Ardoise Grey (mentioned in video) at Blick: https://shrsl.com/3n47r
Ardoise Grey (mentioned in video) at Jackson's: https://tidd.ly/3RQxMsq
(Artist grade paints made in New York)

Roman Szmal Watercolors
at Jackson's: https://tidd.ly/4cI83u0
(Artist grade paints made in Poland; lightfast ratings are not always accurate; be sure to crosscheck with Kim Crick's problem pigment list)

Schmincke Horadam Watercolors
half pans at Blick: http://shrsl.com/4370b
tubes at Blick: http://shrsl.com/4370e
tubes, full pans, and half pans at Jackson's: https://tidd.ly/3XKR0U6
(Top of the line artist quality watercolors made in Germany; my favorite brand overall)

Van Gogh 12+3 Half Pans
at Amazon: https://amzn.to/3fsHRvt
(Student grade, made in The Netherlands; vegan; can seem a little more muted than other brands which are more highly pigmented)

White Nights Watercolors
35 full pan set (newest set, mostly lightfast and transparent): https://amzn.to/3DXGWwK
(Artist grade paints made in Russia)

WEBSITE MENTIONED
Kim Crick Problem Pigments List: https://www.kimcrick.com/pages/fugiti...
‪@KimberlyCrick‬

PATREON
Oops! I ended this program in June 2024.

DISCLOSURES
KeyLimeInk is an affiliate of Amazon, Blick, Da Vinci, Etsy, and Jackson's. Arteza, Da Vinci, GenCrafts, Isaro, and Schmincke sent watercolors for review.