Favorite Watercolor Paints

As you may know from my past posts and my website, butterflybunnystudio.store, I LOVE watercolors!

But before I could love them, I had to overcome my fear of them!

If you are a non painter or already love watercolors, you may be asking, “How can anyone be AFRAID of watercolors?”

Well, it was all the rules that scared me and it took me YEARS to overcome it.

The #1 thing that helped me overcome this fear was my friend and teacher, Mindy Lacefield, saying during a class that she used to feel the same way but “Rules are meant to be broken!”…

and then she proceeded to use watercolors in the same manner you use Acrylics! (You can learn more about Mindy and her classes at http://www.mindylacefieldart.com)

This was MIND BLOWING to me and I have never looked back! Also, I have never given another serious thought to all those pesty rules.

Now I use watercolors nearly every day and I couldn’t be happier!

I started that first watercolor class with the recommended set of watercolors. I think it was a The Classics set by Prima Marketing Inc. (You can find these watercolors on Amazons and at Michael’s Craft Store)

Initially, having never bought a good set of watercolors before, I thought they were pricey. I talked to Mindy about it and she said I could use any brand set, but I went ahead and got them, so I could use the same colors as she would be using in the class.

I have to say that the set was well worth the money! The colors are so vibrant, a far cry better and more beautiful than any of the cheap watercolors I had used up to that point! Also, they were fun to open because the pans of watercolor come individually wrapped and reminded me of PEZ candy. Lol

What I have learned about buying art supplies since that first class, is that when you’re looking at the prices of quality art supplies, it’s important to keep in mind that generally speaking they will last you years! For instance, those watercolors cost approximately $30, that was 4 years ago and most of the colors barely show any wear, despite the fact that I’ve been using them regularly.

I often use 3 or 4 palettes of different watercolors at the same time and I seldom keep my paints in the container they come in.

I like to add very strong little magnets to my paint pans and then store them in special tins. I use different sized tins depending on how many paints I want to put in them and whether or not I want to carry a paint brush and water in the tin along with the paints.

Sometimes I paint or decorate the tins and sometimes I use tins with clear lids so I can see the rainbow of colors without opening the tin.

It is very difficult to set a number order to my favorite watercolor paints. So instead of trying to do that, I will show you my favorite group of watercolors. There are watercolor brands that I do not care for but I will not touch on those, only on my favorites.

During the spring and summer I love to take my paints with me to my favorite coffee shop, find a little corner outside and paint while I sip coffee and maybe have lunch.

Here are the palettes I use the most…