A beginner's guide to watercolour paints: what to buy and why
Watercolour is one of the most rewarding painting mediums you can learn — and also one of the most confusing to shop for. Walk into an art shop (or browse online) for the first time and you are immediately confronted with a wall of options: pans or tubes, student or artist grade, sets or individual colours, a dozen different brands at wildly different prices. It is easy to buy the wrong thing, get poor results, and assume the problem is you. It usually is not.
This guide cuts through the confusion. It covers everything a beginner needs to know about buying watercolour paints — what the different formats mean, what the grades actually offer, which colours to start with, and what you can reasonably spend to get good results. It is written for people who are just starting out, though experienced painters switching brands or formats will find it useful too.
Student grade vs artist grade: does it matter?
This is the question that causes the most debate among beginner watercolourists, and the honest answer is: yes, it matters more than most people realise.
Watercolour paints are made from pigment, gum arabic (the binding agent), and various additives. The difference between student grade and artist grade comes down almost entirely to how much pigment is in the paint and what quality that pigment is.
Student grade paints use more filler and less pigment to keep costs down. The result is paint that can appear chalky, dull, or flat — especially when diluted into washes. They are perfectly usable for learning basic techniques, but they can also mask a beginner's progress by making it hard to achieve the transparency and vibrancy that makes watercolour so appealing in the first place.
Artist grade paints have a higher pigment load, better lightfastness (resistance to fading), and generally more interesting, nuanced colour. A tiny amount goes further, which means a tube or pan lasts much longer than you might expect. Many experienced painters argue that it is actually better economy to buy a small set of artist grade paints than a large set of student grade — you get a richer experience, better results, and the paints last longer.
The practical advice: if budget is genuinely tight, start with a small student grade set and upgrade as soon as you can. If you can stretch to artist grade from the start, do — you are likely to enjoy the process more and progress faster.
How many colours do you actually need?
Less than you think.
A common mistake among beginners is buying a large set with twenty or more colours. In practice, a smaller, well-chosen palette teaches you far more because it forces you to mix colours rather than reaching for a ready-made one. Mixing is one of the most important skills in watercolour, and the only way to learn it is to do it.
A starter palette of six to twelve colours is more than enough. The most useful approach is to include a warm and cool version of each primary — so two yellows, two reds, and two blues — plus one or two earth tones and a neutral dark (such as Payne's Grey or a mixed black). From those colours, you can mix almost any shade you need.
As a rough starting point: a Lemon Yellow and a Yellow Ochre, a Cadmium Red or Vermilion and an Alizarin Crimson or Quinacridone Magenta, a French Ultramarine and a Cerulean or Prussian Blue, and a Burnt Sienna or Raw Umber will take you a very long way.
Which watercolour brands does Craft and Canvas stock?
We stock a carefully chosen range of watercolour paints at Craft and Canvas, focussed on quality rather than volume. Our key brands are:
Winsor & Newton — one of the most established names in watercolour, made in the UK. Their Cotman range is a reliable student grade option; the Professional Watercolour range is a benchmark artist grade used by painters worldwide. Both are widely available in pans and tubes.
Wallace Seymour — for serious watercolourists, Wallace Seymour is something special. Made in small batches in the UK using traditional methods and exceptional pigments (including some milled on granite rollers with a honey and Kordofan Gum Arabic emulsion), their Artists' Watercolours and Vintage Watercolours are among the finest available anywhere. These are not beginner paints in terms of price, but if you are ready to invest, they repay the cost many times over in richness of colour and handling quality. We will be writing a full Wallace Seymour watercolour spotlight post shortly.
Fabriano — best known for their extraordinary watercolour papers (which we also stock), Fabriano produce a complementary range of paints that work beautifully on their own surfaces.
What paper should you use?
Paper makes an enormous difference in watercolour — arguably more than the paint itself. Thin, cheap paper buckles badly when wet, fights the paint rather than absorbing it, and is unforgiving of mistakes.
For beginners, the minimum recommendation is a dedicated watercolour paper of at least 300gsm (140lb). This weight handles water well without significant buckling. Cold-pressed paper (sometimes labelled NOT) has a slightly textured surface that is ideal for most watercolour work and is the most forgiving for beginners. Hot-pressed paper is smoother and better for fine detail, but less forgiving for loose, wet techniques.
We stock Fabriano, Saunders Waterford, and Bockingford watercolour papers — all excellent choices at different price points. A separate guide to watercolour paper is coming soon.
What brushes do you need to start?
You do not need many. A small, medium, and large round brush will cover almost everything a beginner needs. Round brushes hold water well, come to a fine point for detail, and can cover larger areas with the belly of the brush. A flat wash brush is useful for covering large areas quickly, but is not essential from day one.
Avoid very cheap synthetic brushes — they tend to splay and lose their point quickly. A mid-range synthetic or synthetic/sable mix brush (such as those from Pro Arte, which we stock) will last well and give you good control.
Frequently asked questions
Can you use watercolour on any paper? Technically yes, but the results on non-watercolour paper are usually poor. Standard cartridge paper buckles, bleeds, and tears. Always use dedicated watercolour paper — it makes an immediate, noticeable difference.
Do watercolours dry lighter or darker? Watercolours dry lighter than they appear when wet. This is one of the first things beginners notice and it catches everyone out initially. With practice you learn to compensate by painting slightly darker than you intend the finished result to be.
Can you fix mistakes in watercolour? To some extent. Watercolour is a transparent medium and you cannot simply paint over errors as you can with acrylics or oils. However, wet paint can be lifted with a clean damp brush or kitchen roll, and some colours lift better than others once dry. Masking fluid can be used to reserve white areas before painting.
Is watercolour suitable for complete beginners? Yes, very much so. The initial learning curve around water control is real, but watercolour is a forgiving and portable medium that rewards practice quickly. Many people find it easier to get pleasing results with watercolour than with other mediums, precisely because some of the most beautiful effects happen naturally when you allow the paint to do its own thing.
How long do watercolour paints last? A very long time if stored well. Pans can be reactivated with water almost indefinitely. Tubes can dry out if not sealed properly, but dried tube paint on a palette can also be reactivated with water. A quality tube or pan of artist grade watercolour used regularly will last months or years.
What is the difference between watercolour and gouache? Gouache is watercolour's opaque cousin — it uses the same gum arabic binder but with the addition of chalk or other materials to make it opaque. Watercolour is transparent, which allows the white of the paper to show through and create luminosity. Gouache sits on the surface and can cover darker colours. Both are water-based and can be used together.
A simple kit to get you started
If you are walking into Craft and Canvas for the first time and want a practical starting point, here is what we would suggest:
A half-pan set of Winsor & Newton Cotman or Professional Watercolour in twelve colours gives you a ready-to-use palette that covers the essential colour range. Add a pad of 300gsm cold-pressed watercolour paper — Bockingford or Fabriano are both excellent — and a small set of three round brushes in sizes 4, 8, and 12. That is all you need to begin.
If your budget stretches a little further, a selection of individual Wallace Seymour paints — starting with just four or five colours — will give you a painting experience that is genuinely hard to match at any price.
Shop watercolour supplies at Craft and Canvas
We stock a full range of watercolour paints, papers, brushes, and accessories at our shop in Hebden Bridge and online at craftandcanvas.co.uk. If you are not sure where to start, come in and talk to us — we are happy to help you put together the right kit for your budget and what you want to paint.
Craft and Canvas | 3 Carlton Street, Hebden Bridge, HX7 8ER | craftandcanvas.co.uk