They’re Here! My New Art Supplies

A bit later than expected, but I finally got my art supplies!

As I wrote in my previous post, I decided to follow the recommended supply list for my online class strictly, so I ordered the following colors from Winsor & Newton professional range:

• 730 Winsor Yellow – PY154
• 707 Winsor Blue Green Shade – PB15
• 263 French Ultramarine Blue – PB29
• 502 Permanent Rose – PV19
• 74 Burnt Sienna – PR101
• 552 Raw Sienna – PY42 + PR101
• 460 Perylene Green – PBK31
• 507 Perylene Maroon – PR179

I’ve used Winsor & Newton’s Cotman watercolors, as well as a few of the professional half-pans, but these are my first professional tube paints from the brand. I’m very excited to put them to the test and see how they compare to my Sennelier professional tube watercolors, for example.

Of course, I needed a palette to hold my new paints, so ordered Fusion18 by Mijello, as I’ve seen it recommended many times.

As you can see, it has an additional removable mixing tray, which is quite handy and easy to clean:

Maybe I’m a bit spoilt from using a porcelain one, but I was initially a bit disappointed with the palette. The paint was beading and not spreading nicely and evenly as I’m used to. It has now become better, and I can work with it.

I don’t have much experience with the higher quality watercolor papers (only used hot pressed Fabriano Artistico for my botanical paintings), but this 300 gr cold pressed Arches paper feels nice to the touch.

Next thing I was very excited to try was Escoda Versatil No12 brush. I love Billy Showell’s brushes, as well as my favorite Rosemary & Co. No8 travel brush but the Versatil is much bigger and synthetic.

I have to say, it is a beautiful and elegant brush. It does feel a bit different than my sable brushes, maybe not as soft, but I did like painting with it. It has a nice point, and I was surprised that I was able to paint even some details with it.

The other two brushes I ordered are both Winsor & Newton – 1/4″ one stroke professional, and No2 rigger brush from their student range (Cotman).

I haven’t used the flat brush yet but did try the rigger. Don’t make fun of me, but I had no experience with rigger brushes until now, so it felt quite strange and uncontrollable in the beginning. I guess that’s the point of using a rigger – to get some random strokes. I found it quite useful for painting grass details, for example.

Don’t you get excited and motivated to paint when you get new art supplies? What was the last thing you got?