A Mop Brush is a must in my book for painting the best loose watercolor florals possible. Mop brushes hold a tremendous amount of water making painting loosely a breeze.

I have the da Vinci, pictured left. There is a link to it if you click on the image. It is a little expensive, but it has held up well over six years and still going strong. I’d love to have more sizes, so I am planning to purchase this more affordable set of three below soon.

Do you want to be a better painter immediately? Who doesn’t, right?! I can’t guarantee results, of course, but for me, these Silver Black Velvet brushes were that transforming. Leaves seem to magically glide right off the tip of these super smooth bristles. I have numerous sizes, but the most used are 4, 8 & 12. And those three come in a set, so it’s a good value.

The Royal and Langnickel, Jumbo Brush, Extra-Stiff Bone Taklon, Filbert #50 is one luxurious brush despite the low price. I almost didn’t buy this brush because I thought it couldn’t be any good for a brush this size with such a low price. But, I figured I wouldn’t lose much if it didn’t work out.

Well, it worked out beautifully. I can’t adequately describe the buttery soft flow of this brush. It’s amazing. If you like to paint big, it’s well worth trying it. It says it’s “extra-stiff”, but honestly, I don’t think of it as stiff. I guess I’d have to compare it to the other classifications to know for sure. It’s perfect for me though.

This brush makes me feel like I should be in an Italian piazza with an easel and paint stained hands, sipping on a glass of wine intermittently between strokes.

I’m not going to lie to you, Wedge Brushes can be challenging. Certainly, there are easy strokes to be had with this brush, but to truly master all that it can do takes practice. I am still discovering it’s hidden talents! Whenever I want to explore new textures & strokes, I reach for this brush. It’s well worth having a few sizes to grow with you.

Tombow Brush Pens are simply lovely to use. For my purposes, the tip is the perfect size and they glide well. I use them mostly to add details to my watercolor paintings. I have not quite mastered the artistry of calligraphy, but I do get a better result with these than I have gotten with some other brush pens. They have a fine tip on the other end too, which is a nice addition.

Micron pens are my go-to waterproof pens. They are good for many uses (drawing, detailing, writing, etc.). There is one set that has a good variety of tip sizes & colors, one of them being a really nice black brush pen. I use the micron brush pen when I want black or brown ink and the Tombow brush pens above for when I want a colored brush pen. Micron has a huge variety of set options if one of these do not meet your needs:

Set of 8 Various Tip Sizes + 8 Assorted Colors — nice set if you do a lot of drawing and need colors and multi tip sizes

Set of 4 Black Brush Pens Only

Brause Calligraphy Steno Nr. 361 Blue Pumpkin Nibs. Don’t you just love that scratchy sound and feeling of an ink nib? Not everyone does. :)

I have had these for 5 years and I am still using the first one from the box. The ink flows well from these nibs and they hold a good amount of ink. Some have complained that thin inks don’t do as well as thicker inks with this nib, but I really haven’t noticed a big difference between other brands. It has a good general tip, not as thin as some, and not as broad as others. Also, to me, it has a medium flex to it, which is perfect for me. So, if you need a good general purpose nib, this one is a good one to try.

This is the Kuretake Zig Cartoonist Ink Dip Pen. At the moment, it is not available. Sorry about that. Maybe it will be by the time you are reading this, so try Goggling it. I have a number of dip pens and this one is my favorite. It fits my hand well and the cushioned area really helps with hand fatigue.

Every artist has their favorite paper. At the moment, mine is the Baohong Papers. I have a great review on YouTube about these papers. Check it out here.

If you are just starting out, get yourself a Windsor and Newton palette. This is all you really need to get started. They come in a variety of sizes.

Tip: when you finish a color, don’t throw the pan away—refill it with paint from a tube. I learned this the hard way. I threw my first few away thinking any refills I purchased would fit. They do, but they don’t fit well. They keep falling out of the tray. It’s annoying.

When you are ready to branch out, add some tube colors from a variety of brands to explore. I prefer W&N, Daniel Smith, and Holbein.

This one is the W&N Cotman series palette. It was my first watercolor set. I love this case even though the extra fold out tray broke off a long time ago. The Cotman’s series is their student grade paints. They are more affordable than the professional grade. The only difference is the pigment load is less saturated than the professional grade. When you are just learning watercolor, the savings is worth it, especially when you are getting this great palette that will last a very long time.

Kuretake Paint Palette is loved by many artists. They have some interesting colors. As you can see, the reds are my favs.

This is a fun little kit by Artistro. The colors are bright and are lasting a long time. This is the palette I take when I travel. It has some brighter colors I don’t have in my everyday palette, so I it comes in handy quite often. There are even a few florescent ones. And it has some of the basic colors too. And, as you can see, plenty of travel accessories! They are not as pigmented as bigger name brands like Winsor & Newton, Danielle Smith, etc., so I would not use this as my one and only palette.

The best gold I have found is Schminke’s Aqua Bronze. Check out my YouTube Christmas Gift Tag Tutorial to see it in action!

This is the lamp everyone is going crazy over. Regardless of whether you film videos, take pics of your work, or just need a lamp for you work space, the Canvas lamp is very handy. It has three color settings. Check it out their website for full details.