MATERIALS

The following is a list of materials used in these lessons as well as links for purchase. Feel free to use your own favorite materials!

• I'm an affiliate of both Blick art Materials and Rosemary & Co. and receive a small commission when you click any of these links. Thank you!
• THIS LINK will take you to a huge list of additional sources for purchasing materials.

PALETTE 

This hinged plastic palette contains 18 wells and is available in larger sizes. A plate will work just as well.

PAINTS

We use Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolor Paints. The small, 5 ml tubes last a long time. These colors will be used in our eye lessons. If you don't have some of these colors, feel free to substitute others. I encourage you to experiment - it's all about what you wish to achieve in your paintings and you can do a lot with the standard colors.

Suggested colors for the first lesson (brown eyes:)

• French Ultramarine Blue
• Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber or your favorite brown.
• Winsor Lemon or your favorite yellow

Additional Colors used in further lessons

• Cobalt Blue, Cerulean Blue, or your favorite blue
• Indian Yellow, New Gamboge or your favorite yellow may be used
• Payne’s Gray
• Permanent Rose or your favorite pink/red
• Scarlet Lake or your favorite red
• Winsor Blue (Green Shade)
• Yellow Ochre
• Lamp Black - optional

PAPER:

We will use Arches Natural White 140 lb. watercolor paper in these lessons. You can purchase the paper in blocks, single large sheets that you can cut to size, and sometimes in packs of sheets.

BRUSHES:

You will see three brushes in these lessons, but feel free to use what you prefer.

• Small brush: Michael Klein Synthetic Pointed Round Brush, size 2, by Rosemary & Co. This brush is made in the U.K. , also available for purchase in the United States at Wind River Arts!
• Medium sized round brush for larger areas: A general-purpose round watercolor brush will be fine - any that you have on hand. In these lessons, I might use...
  • Princeton Velvetouch Long Round Brush, series 3950 size 6
  • Ultrecht Synthetic Sablette Round Brush, Size 7
• Optional old brush for mixing paints so you can save your good brushes for painting. I’ve used same old synthetic round brush for years.

Additional brushes recommended by members of our online school:

• Lowe-Cornell Ultra Round Brush, size 2 or 4
• Princeton Velvetouch Long Round Brush, series 3950 size 2, 4, or 6
• Silver Black Velvet round brush, size 2
• Billy Showell Synthetic Pointed Round brush, size 2 or 4

Additional Materials

• Optional tracing Paper: I use Canson Artist Series Tracing Paper Pads to create the initial drawing and then transfer it to the watercolor paper. Tracing paper is not required. There are other options for transferring the drawing to the watercolor paper.
• Sturdy Container for Water - I use a large plastic container so the water does not have to be changed often.
• Paper Towels, kitchen towel (tea towel) - for cleaning brushes, blotting, and cleaning up

PREPARATION:

It is not necessary to "stretch," or soak the paper in water before beginning the painting, because our eyes will be pretty small.

Need Assistance?

If you have any questions, comment below or contact me, Rebecca Rhodes at [email protected]. I am happy to assist!