Supplies and Resources

Pens

The waterproof pens I use are the Sakura Pigma micron pens. My favorite sizes are the 005 and 01, but the ideal size will depend on how big or small your drawing or painting is.

Watercolor Supplies

My favorite watercolors are Daniel Smith, which come in a variety of colors and sizes. If you’re just getting started, I’d recommend sticking with a few colors and working your way from there. For landscapes, my favorites are deep sap green, yellow ochre, Payne’s grey, Mayan yellow, and phthalo blue.

Gouache Supplies

Gouache is, in many ways, similar to watercolor, but it is more opaque, so you can paint lighter colors on top of darker colors. Arteza makes a great starter kit with a ton of colors, and I also enjoy painting with Holbein gouache (both their acrylic and regular kinds), but they’re a bit pricier.

Paper and Other Surfaces

The kind of paper you paint on depends hugely on user preference - I prefer heavyweight, hot-pressed paper for paintings I plan to scan, since I have to worry less about the texture of the paper showing up in the scan. Legion Incisioni paper and Arches hot press watercolor paper are two of my favorites.

I also paint on wood panels from Trekell art supplies, since they have a beautiful range of sizes and designs.

Brushes

Much like paper, you’ve got a lot of fantastic brush options; it just depends on what you like to paint with. If you’re starting out, I’d recommend one large-ish brush, one small, and one very small (keep in mind most of my paintings are under 5x7” - if you prefer to paint larger, you probably don’t need tiny brushes). I’ve used Trekell brushes for years, and been very happy with all of them.

Acrylic Supplies

I love working with Golden’s OPEN acrylics, since they have a lovely buttery texture and are slow drying, giving me plenty of time to work on each layer. The landscape set is a wonderful starting place, and there are some excellent color mixing videos on YouTube. Charvin also makes beautiful paints, but they dry a lot faster, so you may enjoy using a Sta-Wet palette or retarder to give you more time to work before your paint dries. You can paint acrylic on all sorts of surfaces, including paper, canvas, and wood panels.

Oil Painting Supplies

While they require more safety precautions, time, and supplies, oils are lovely to work with and make some beautiful paintings. My favorites are the Gamblin and Charvin oils, and I use Chelsea Classic Studios’ brush cleaner and mediums on a glass palette for easy cleanup.

Diorama Supplies

For the wooden box dioramas, I use the watercolor and gouache supplies discussed above, foam spacers (they’re sticky on both sides to give you consistent space between each layer) or heavyweight chipboard for between the layers, a bit of hot glue or archival glue to keep everything in place, and small wooden boxes. For the glass dome dioramas, I use the watercolor and gouache supplies, glass domes, and super glue. I use an X-acto knife with #11 blades and micro tip scissors to cut out each piece.

General Supplies and Resources

Scanner: Epson V600

Printer: Epson P400 or P900

Filming Lamp: Canvas (it’s amazing, you’ll love it)

Label printer: Rollo

Learning: Justin Donaldson's courses are all excellent; you’ll learn so much!