Holbein CMYK Gouache Mixing set

This is a high quality set for a good price.  Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black and White are magical, you can mix pretty much any color from these, they’re the same colors your printer uses after all.

Palette/Paint Box

Cheap, lightweight and durable plastic jewelry box, doubles as palette and paint box.  Fill compartments with premixed paint:  water + paint, milkshake consistency.  Or use paint pots so you can switch colors around easily.  The lid is used as a palette and to hold your watercolor paper block.  The whole paint box setup sits on your lap.

Camping Chair

Essential!!  This one folds, fits into a small backpack and weighs almost nothing.  There are also some pretty luxurious camp chairs out there.

Watercolor Cold Press Block

This is nice heavy paper, glued along the edges to a thick backing board, so it won’t warp.  4”X6” is a great size to work quickly with the added benefit of being able to fit in any picture frame or photo container.

Watercolor Hot Press Block  

Smoother surface than Cold Press

Washi Tape

Washi tape is very low tack so it won’t rip your paper.  Get those clean borders

If you’re using masking tape stick it to your pants a few times before sticking it to the paper to avoid tears.

Mini Spray Bottle

Especially useful on hot dry days to keep your paints wet.

Watercolor/Acrylic/Gouache Flat Brushes

Any brand should be fine.  I’m using Princeton Umbria #6 and #4

Start your painting with the bigger brush and save details to the end with the small brush.

Colored Pencil or Pen

For planning out your painting.  Sometimes it’s nice to see some of the original pencil drawing showing in the final painting.