When I decided last year to begin watercolor painting, I first started with a basic set of 12 Arteza brand student grade paints but quickly realized that I wanted better pigments. I got a half pan set of Dailer-Rowney & a few tubes of Daniel Smith from Michael’s & I was immediately smitten with DS. I absolutely love their granulating paints, & for fun I now have a bunch of the iridescent & duochrome colors! I usually wait for a sale or coupon at Michael’s or Blick’s, but the pigments are so concentrated that it’ll be quite a while before I’ll use up what I have & need to buy more…although DS just added 6 new colors for 2025 sooooo 😂

I love my Paul Reubens set but I’ve traded up to Daniel smith tubes.

Thanks again, Liesl for sharing this. I swapped to a ceramic palette like yours also about 2 years and the difference is amazing. So easy to clean. I intend to try the M.Graham paints this year. I started using Winsor and Newton Cotman paints as they are relatively cheap and come in a good range of colours but they do go hard quickly. I use a lot of Jackson's own brand which I think are made by Sennelier and they are a good quality too at a reasonable price. 🥰x

Thanks for the info Liesl! Someday I look forward to trying other brands of paint after I run out of the colors I have started with. ❤

Blick and St Louis art has Daniel Smith at way cheaper prices than Amazon.I have the paul Rubens 24 set(amongst many others) and they are great paints, especially when on offer. Rosa Gallery and Jackson's own brand are great quality at student grade prices. Also, I really like Roman Szmal. They are comparable to the big names but half the price. Finally, Lukas have a new pro range on offer for $30 that are apparently the same quality as W&N professional. Happy painting everyone.

Thank you for sharing the last 3 days with us, providing great painting supply info. I use some Daniel Smith products and Paul Reubens, but I have others too. Some good, some not so good. What I don't have is a ceramic palette. But with your links, I will soon. 😊 Thanks Leisle. Looking forward to next week.

Wow thanks for sharing your information...I do like Daniel Smith....have some M.Grahm and like... another lesser set I like is Rosa, they seem fibrant .....I will be looking into M.Grahm more .... have a good weekend!!!

I’ve gone through many brush sets, but the ones I go back to EVERY time is my Silver Black Velvet brushes!

This has been a great series Liesl. Thanks so much for all the great information. I've tried castle art and grabie paints also that I like. They seem to have a lot of pigment and work well for an economical choice. Thanks again. You're amazing!

I absolutely love my Holbein paints in tubes! They are more expensive, but the quality is far superior in my opinion.

Hey, when are they available approximately??

Hi Liesl. Another useful review. Like you, I've bought dozens of brushes in the past but my favourites by far are your own Craftamo ones as I like the great points and snap of the round brushes. However, for anyone looking for great budget brushes, I would suggest you try Daler Rowney Simply round brushes which are made for use with Acrylics but are great for watercolour. The points are good and the snap (or stiffness) is good. They have orange coloured handles and the bristles are Taklon. These are really cheap to buy but I use them all the time. Beware though - don't buy Daler Rowney brushes for watercolour with a blue handle as these are poor. 🥰x

Hi Liesl, this is a very useful review. Like yourself, I favour Arches cold pressed 100% cotton paper for any wet in wet work. I also use Saunders Waterford 100% cotton paper which I buy in full sheets or Bockingford for greeting cards. I also buy Arches in bright white cold pressed or Saunders Waterford in High White cold pressed where I want a really light background or bright colours. These are ideal for winter landscapes. 🥰x

Liesl, I LOVE your brushes! Thank you!!

Your blending technique is just flawless! The way the colors melt into each other is mesmerizing. I’ve been experimenting with mini watercolor paintings-would love to hear what you think of them 🥹❤️❤️

Thank you Liesl. More great information! Love your brush set, been using them alot since I received them. Thanks again for doing this series. 😊

It’s so beautiful

I love Princeton Aqua Elite long size 4 , 6, 8 round

Appreciate product comparisons like this. I bought the Artegria brushes a few months back after watching you & I do like them. Nice set for the price. I've also used Dugato which were also very reasonable. I have a couple Princeton velvet touch & I'm not that impressed. Someday I hope I can level up to artist brushes. 😊

💖

I love your craftamo brushes also ....I have a set of Lightwish brushes, they look like mop brushes but do not act like that...they hold paint and water well with a nice snap back ...they are smaller in length for smaller hands....fyi

Hello Liesl I've watched your tutorial for months and months and purchased the Grabbie set you were using BUT I am now the proud owner of your craftemo set and I just love them. Will not use anything else. Thankyou for all the information, looking forward to tomorrow. 😊

Thank you for sharing this video ❤

Креативно❤

Спасибо❤

Hi Liesl, thanks for the info on watercolour paper. I use Arches all the time and love it. I live in Ontario, Canada and I wish I could buy Arches for the price you pay, as I pay 36.00 per pad. Expensive but worth it. Thanks again.

Hi Liesl! Happy to say I have now been watercoloring for one year! So thankful I found your channel. My skills have improved so much and I thank you for your wonderful talent and instruction ❤ I purchased the Grabie mop brushes and I love them for washes. I then purchased the Grabie round brush set and I think they are great too. When your Craftamo brushes came out, I was so happy to have signed up to be notified. They are by far my favorite go to brush. Love them! You really put together a fantastic set! Thanks for all you do and share on your channel. Take care of you my friend. ❤❤

This is beautiful. Thank you

Hello Liesl, this video was so good and true about the Craftamo Brushes! I bought them when you had your promotion on and I love them.❤The quality is great and love the different size of brushes that came in the set. Thank you Liesl. Helene

Baohong and Potentate are both 100% cotton and great quality as well.

Thank you, Liesl! I really appreciate you going through different sets of brushes and showing what you like and don’t like about them. ❤️

Great information Liesl! 😊 I purchased that small sketchbook through your link when you first mentioned it, but haven’t tried it yet. There is a 100% cotton sketch book by Etchr that I absolutely love. It's great quality. I also happen to be a paper snob and use Arches. I've compared pricing and for the 9x13 pad, it really is cheaper than the other quality brands. I wanted to try the hahnemuhle at a time it wasn’t on sale and compared it with the Arches, but the Arches was cheaper. It's great quality and I’m really happy with it. I’ve tried the hot press, but love the texture of the cold press. Thanks so much for the review! I love hearing about what others have tried and what works best for them! I have heard that if you're wanting to fade out some color that the Bockingford rough is good for that. It was someone who uses it for his landscapes. It's not cotton, but excellent quality. It's a British paper and the Saunder's Waterford is supposed to be another great quality cotton paper. Online sources besides Amazon is Jackson's art supplies and Blick's. I've tried both of those. There's also Jerry's Artarama and Cheap Joe's that I haven’t tried yet. Looking forward to tomorrow! 😊💕

Good video - I have tried and agree with your thoughts on the papers you mentioned. An additional paper I absolutely love is Kilimanjaro (bright white) though unfortunately it is only sold at Cheap Joes so I don’t often buy it due to additional shipping costs. Thank you for your videos 😊

Thank you Liesl, the review of the different price and quality of the papers is very helpful

Have you tried Baohong 100% cotton paper? I find it very good and about the same price as Meedon, but I think slightly better.

Thank you Liesl from the bottom of my heart! I’ve struggled with pigment /water ratio for a long time. No matter how small the amount of pigment I mixed with water I still had too much. However,, you gave me a LIGHT BULB moment when I heard you say “there was enough pigment in the RINSE WATER for our base”. Liesl, In my wildest imagination I never would have thought I needed that much water to get the subtle transparent effect I craved! But, there it was! I redid the flowers using the rinse water and it came out so lovely. I not only felt relieved at learning the secret after such a long journey, but I also felt proud of myself because the final piece was pretty to look at! ❤ I know this isn’t a big deal but, that’s how it felt to me. Again, than you

Thank you Liesl! This is great information. Looking forward to tomorrow's video!

love your botanic painting !!!🌹🌺🌸🌼🌻

Hello Liesl, thank you for this informative video on different papers for watercolour! I also want to ask you, if I may, where did you buy your white paintbrush holder with a handle? It looks so practical and very pretty! I look forward to tomorrow ‘s video on various paintbrushes and on Saturday’s video on watercolour paint that you uses. As always, you are so helpful and lovely. ❤ Helene

Great video. I've used most of the papers you presented. I don't think highly of Carson. I have found a Bee Paper Co. 140/300 that is a great everyday paper & great for making cards, bookmarks & recipe cards. Walmart..50 per pad in a 2 pk for 20 bucks. It's not arches but is great if you want to paint every day. I use a fisksar cutter to any size I want. Looking forward to this series of videos. 💕

Beautiful

Beautiful sweet leaves paintings.

I take it that you paste your painting on the front of bought blank cards?

I love 100% cotton Saunders 640 gsm hot pressed 9/12 for my botanical painting ❤

These are so beautiful! I really love your painting style - after watching so many watercolorists on YT, your videos are my favorites! ☺️ I’ve been trying the transparent flower technique, & I’m pleased with my efforts so far. Definitely want to make one of these cards for my very supportive hubby! Blessings on you, Liesl!

Happy Thursday Liesl! This is such helpful information. I tend to choose my paper depending on what I am painting. I love the Arches paper for multiple washes and agree it is the best paper out there. I've had a lot of success with the Hobby Lobby Masters Touch brand and use it often. Very affordable if you purchase while on sale. The paper will buckle some, but I've gotten so good at flattening it out when Im finished. 😅 Looking forward to the next review! Take care of you my friend!! ❤

Another vegan friendly option on the pricier side is Fabriano Artistico. It’s the paper I use most.

Very helpful! Thank you! I love your brush holder.

I love Arches 100% cotton and use it for making cards - cut down to fit individual cards. Thanks for sharing this info for beginners and those wanting to improve their art.