A collage of various sticker designs, including pumpkins, animals, trees, and nature scenes, with a prominent red sticker featuring a leaf and text about a watercolor challenge, and an orange sticker encouraging painting on it.

Close-up of a watercolor paint set with various colors, a paintbrush, and a color chart in the background.

A red box containing multiple tubes of watercolor paint, a bottle with a white cap, and a few small plastic containers.

What websites did you first use to learn how to watercolor paint?

The vey first website I found and loved was The Postman’s knock and they even had a few things to print and a walk through of how to paint and what you might buy. I found it beautiful and very helpful. There, I learned how to paint a blue sphere, an orange and a basil plant.

https://thepostmansknock.com/painting-with-watercolors-for-beginners/

The second website I found helpful was Splatter & Bloom. She does this amazing free paint along the whole month of October where you register and get YouTube videos daily of fall and Halloween themed things to paint and if you painted them all and took a picture of your paintings for that whole month at the end of the month, then she would send you some free goodies as well. I had so much fun with that. I highly recommend it.

https://splatterandbloom.com/?srsltid=AfmBOopl4BeHagDk8iHbs0-SfmgiR7fLQ_M-JADaTeg5Pi5GdWL9XSLV

What paint do you use?

When I first started I got a Windsor & Newton Cotman watercolour paint set that had an eraser, pencil and travel paintbrush. I still use it often actually and I highly recommend it. It’s the most affordable good set that I could find that has everything you need in one place.

This is the exact set that I first bought:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001DMO5P0?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

I now have been making my own palettes and trying lots of new colors by buying tubes and squirting them into empty palettes. I have mostly Cotman watercolours that are considered the student grade and just two whole tubes of Windsor & Newton professional watercolour paint tubes because they didn’t have those colors in the student grade tubes. I also have some Da Vinci Artist Watercolors. I think the Da Vinci colors are a bit brighter than the Cotman or Windsor & Newton watercolour paints. I think the Cotman and Windsor & Newton watercolour paints are closer to nature and truer colors and I admit that I prefer them. But depending on my painting, I will change what paints I use.

What paper do you use?

I really do like Arches watercolor paper like everyone seems to and I use 140 lbs. hot or cold pressed, depending on my mood. There are lots of kinds of paper out there and not all watercolor paper is the same. I kinda thought that might not be true but recently I was given a stack of a bunch of little paper and tried it and literally the paint wouldn’t absorb in the paper at all, it was like someone had put wax all over it or something. I tried piece after piece of it, thinking I was insane, but nope, all the same, It was crazy. That was the first watercolor paper that I threw directly into the garbage. So try what you can afford and see how it works for you and if you can, try to get a piece of Arches sometime and see what all of the fuss is about.

What brushes do you use?

I use two Loew-Cornell 7020 Ultra Round Watercolor brushes almost exclusively which of course are no longer made. My watercolor teacher actually sold them to me because she made two left and I really like them. They really hold up to my sometimes rough use of them. I tried some other brushes and they started to fray way too quick for me. Now there are supposedly other brushes out there that were made to replace these brushes, but I haven tried them. If you find some other brushes that you love, let me know! I’m worried about what will happen if one day I need another brush since the ones I loved are no longer made.

Now I do daydream however of one day owning a size 7 Series 7 Kolinsky Sable Brush - Round from Windsor and Newton which their website says that back in 1866 Queen Victoria asked the company to make the best watercolor brushes and they made them for her. And apparently she said a size 7 was the perfect size. I think this is a bit funny since I don’t have this size, but I’d love to get one day. Oh yeah, that brush I dream of, it’s only $241.59.

Who is your watercolor teacher?

My teacher’s name is Jes Reger Davis and she is phenomenal. If you’re in the area or want to purchase her online three class bundle, I highly recommend it and it is crazy affordable too. I bought them. I haven’t finished them, but I have really liked what I’ve done so far. And I liked that I could pause and rewind and go as slow as I needed. She also has one free online course of a monarch butterfly. Check her and her stuff out!

https://www.thepaintersnest.com/

Do you sell original paintings or paint anything on commission or do you have any online classes or in person classes?

Yes, I can teach in person classes and I’d be willing to teach from an online platform as well. While I don’t have any corporeal paintings for sale on this site at the moment, if you email me at christina@setmefreewatercolor.com about a specific painting idea you have, we can discuss that.

pink and green pads of watercolor paper and text, labeled 'Archies Aquarelle Watercolour'. The pink box is for grainy, hot pressed, 300g, 300g/m2 paper, and the green box contains cold pressed, 300g, 300g/m2 paper.

Two paintbrushes with black handles and foam grips inside a clear plastic storage container.

A watercolor painting of a bird with red, orange, black, and brown feathers, and a small card with a black and white illustration of a bird and the text 'Painter's Nest'