Associate Links

Welcome! Below are links to products I have personally used and/or recommend based on knowledge from my artist buds. They are primarily Amazon associate links, which means I will get a small commission if you purchase through these links, at no extra expense to you. Thank you for supporting small local creators! While most of these links are related to gouache and watercolour supplies, some may be for other general arts and crafts, gardening and Ontario native plant knowledge, fashion, tech, or fitness.

~ Vormora Nox

Watercolour Paints

For Beginners

The Winsor & Newton "Cotman" line is a fantastic middle-price starter set for beginners. Although you can definitely find cheaper paints out there, you'll experience a lot of frustration with the quality. Buy a small set and learn to mix them using tutorials, links to which you can find at the bottom of this page. I really strongly recommend tubes of liquid paint, not pans, both for beginners and artists; it is really just so much easier to work with. The first link is to the product line, and the second is to the set I recommend a beginner starts with - this or a smaller set (6 paints). Don't get a larger set to start!

For Artists

Expensive but very high quality and lovely to work with. Very pigmented. The first link is to the brand in general, and the second is the specific set I began with when I wanted artist-grade paints.

Gouache Paints

What I Use

I am not able to divide Gouache brands into beginner and artist, as I dove right in to Winsor & Newton Designer Gouache. There are cheaper and there are more expensive brands out there. I am linking both the brand itself, followed by the introductory set of paints I began with.

Be very careful if looking into different brands of gouache; you have to pay attention to whether they are acrylic based (or acryla-gouache) or water based. I use water based gouache because I want the fluidity of watercolour with the opacity, expressiveness, and freedom of gouache. If you purchase acryla-gouaches, your experience will be different than mine; these are not water-soluable and do not reactivate if re-wetted. They are just matte acrylic paints.

Paintbrushes

For Watercolour or Gouache

Generally you're going to want a set of a few different sizes and shapes of brushes. For a beginner, I would not fuss too much about the brand or type of fibre. Get sizes that feel reasonable for the size at which you prefer to paint. A brush at size "2" is very very small, while a brush at size "8" is a medium size. You'll want to get a few "round" tip brushes (typical shape), large flat brushes for washes, small flat brushes for details, and - depending on your style - possibly a "rigger" or "liner" brush for fine details. The lattermost can be skipped for beginners, just buy any set that includes a very small brush alongside a few different shapes of medium ones.

Be careful if using any agents like masking fluid with these brushes.

Surfaces to Paint On

Watercolour Paper

Paper quality will make an enormous difference in how the paint behaves on your page. Three things matter the most when it comes to paper:

  1. What is it made of? Cotton is the best quality, but 50% cotton can be acceptable if (A) on a budget and/or (B) if using gouache, which is more forgiving than watercolour when it comes to paper quality.
  2. Is it "hot press" or "cold press"? Most watercolour artists use cold press - this is more textured paper. Hot press has a glossier surface that shows colours more vividly and starkly, but can take less water than cold press before starting to ruin the surface.
  3. What is its "weight"? For a beginner, 140lb (also called 300 gsm) is generally reasonable. At a higher price point, 300lb paper is beautiful to work with and handles more water before starting to warp and show artefacts.
  4. All else like SIZE, LOOSE PAGES VS. BOOKS VS. BLOCKS VS. POUCHETTES, etc, is all down to preference. Experiment and do what brings you joy.

Brands / products I have used:

  • MEEDEEN has very affordable 160lb cotton cold-press paper I often use for practice pieces.
  • FLUID 100 sells blocks (papers glued together for more stability) and pouchettes (loose paper in a sleeve) that I use often.
  • ARCHES is a more expensive but very well-trusted and well-loved brand.
  • But there are tons of brands to explore.

Painting Journals

I have only tried one brand, but I absolutely love the Tan Painting Journal from Strathmore.

Other Arts & Crafts

Cyanotyping & Dyeing

  • Cyanotyping supplies - all you need is the 2 component sensitizer set, something to dye (fabric or paper), and something to make an impression of (e.g., a leaf).
  • Fabric dye - rit dye works excellently on clothes! Be careful to pick the type you need based on what your fabric is made of.

Clay

Acrylic Paint Markers

Gardening

Information on Native Plant Gardening (Specific to Ontario, Canada)

Miscellaneous

General Associate Link

If I've discussed a product with you that I haven't listed here, feel free to use my general associate link!