Great video; simple and to the point 👍🏻🙂 Just a note for those interested in liquid watercolour, Dr. Ph. Martin's Hydrus Fine Art Watercolor are actually pigment based and lightfast but their Ecoline Liquid Watercolour line is dye based making them not lightfast.
Great video! Then end made me cry. You are always so encouraging to go create! I started with supplies I could afford (arteza pan set, canson paper, one of those refillable water brushed), knew absolutely nothing, and fell in LOVE! ❤ four years later watercolor has become a very important part of my life.
I’ve learnt so much from this video and although I already have a few watercolour supplies, I feel like I understand them better. Many thanks, I can’t wait to start practicing! ❤
I asked my local library about starting a watercolor class/group, and it's progressing. This video will be very helpful to explain what's needed to get started. Thank you!
Sarah, you are such a wonderful teacher! I, for one, appreciate so much the fun, casual way you go about this whole process. This was a good, informative video - especially for the true beginner, but even for those a little more experienced. You and Michael together are a fabulous team! Thank you so much for continuing to share your knowledge with us! 🥰
I am so so glad I found your channel. You are the first one, I really follow along and a have got the feeling that I can accomplish something good. Thank you😊
Another paint type that is a little more obscure but really nice are the Daniel Smith Watercolor sticks. It is kind of a cross between tube and pan watercolor. I like how creamy it is and it reactivates with very little effort. They are a little spendy but are versatile. You can use them like a pan paint or draw with them on the paper and activate the color with your brush on the paper. Also, they can be cut up and be put into half pans as well. They are my luxury paint that I buy when I want to reward myself.
Great video. Liked the comment - hierarchy of supplies. 100% agree. I find it so annoying when artists push the expensive artist grade products, especially when they talk to beginners. I understand that the artist grade products are great, that 100% cotton paper is the best, but money will not suddenly appear in my purse. I really like how you encourage people who are on a tighter budget. You can always level up your supplies.
Your joy in creating art is so encouraging! I knew all this already, but I still watch it for confirmation and encouragement. I’m growing, revisiting, further developing my watercolor skills in 2025 with a lot of hope, goals and ideas! One thing I’m working on is making bookmarks for gifts and to sell. (Your video on Dorland’s Wax was very helpful and I bought some immediately and it’s how I’m preserving my bookmarks.) The struggle I’m having that’s got me snagged is narrowing down my palette and resisting buying more (another brand). I have lots of Winsor & Newton of all colors, multiples of different hues, I bought on Clearance at Hobby Lobby several years ago (I work there). I’m wanting to choose the best primaries and secondaries to limit a handier palette for more realistic landscape and botanical paintings. I’m planning to make garden type bookmarks (flowers, veggies and herbs from my garden) and scenes from around Kansas City.
An absolutely fantastic and informative tutorial for beginners, and beautifully presented, Sarah! And I love the banter that goes on between you and your hubby --- thank you and keep up the great work, it's always a great pleasure to experience your teachings.
Thanks Sarah, wish I could of seen this when I started out because it would of costs a lot less stress and money. As always, thanks for your generosity of sharing your knowlegde with us. You are amazing!
Great information - as you said, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. Nov 2024 at 68 and still working full time (read had $$), I got caught up in buying too much. I am gradually down to 17 paint colors ... split primary, some DS PrimaTek and a few convenience colors. I love that they all fit in an Art Toolkit Folio palette so I use the same paint at home and out and about ... although I do use a ceramic plate at home ... still the Folio has great metal mixing spaces vs plastic. Paper - I definitely listened to many who said paper was the best place to spend so am happy there. The supply that I have had the greatest difficulty with is brushes. I started with an expensive set used by an artist I was following on TH-cam. Your comment on "snap" makes so much sense to me now. I felt like that first set was too soft and was much happier when I bought a Princeton Velvet Touch 8. But I made some great foliage brushes Ala Sarah Cray from the original set!! Thanks for all but also, now I understand why the softer, non snap brushes were challenging for me and how to look for what works best for me. Love from Northwest Montana ❤❤❤
Great video!! I actually did not know all this basic information 😮 I really appreciate your honesty in a list that’s based on our pocketbook. Thank you
My local art supply store happily cuts large sheets of wc paper to requested sizes. I've also found small-ish ceramic pans and plates, second hand, work great as palettes👍😊
Good suggestions. I have been using less expensive paper. Not super inexpensive. I do fine that when I use my good paper, it is so different that I have issues painting with it. So there you have it. Thanks again for some good tips. You can always learn something.
Love this! I'm curious, since water makes up so much of what we ultimately paint with, have you noticed a difference between using different types of water, e.g. tap, filtered, distilled, etc.?
Do the Dandelion paints need to be stored away from light in the bottle? What is their shelf life? I still have paint from three years ago. Thank you for your wonderful tutorials!
Check out Dr. PH Martin Hydrus watercolor as they are permanent, lightfast and not fugitive. :D Radiance are dye based and fugitive. Hydrus are lightfast. I am glad to see you back again.
I'm kinda surprised that Michael let a good "Mix a lot" joke opportunity go by when Sarah was talking about how much she likes to mix paint :) But I enjoy Let's Make Art content so much. Thanks y'all!
Hi Sara, I am painting a house portrait for my daughter. In the photograph I’m using there is a palm frond in the foreground overlapping a corner of the house. I want to just give a touch of effect but it’s terrifying me! Should I use masking fluid? I have the house almost finished and I don’t want to ruin it.
Hi, friends. I’m VERY interested to learn about different brushes that I own but don’t know how to use - filbert and flat (not washes). Could you teach us about those?
Im struggling with paper types. I would appreciate a more in depth tutorial about paper. I did the willow tree tutorial and it turned out great on cold pressed paper, but i had a lot of skipping on the hot pressed paper. But then I had the opposite experience with the candle tutorial. With the candle tutorial I found the hot pressed paper worked out better.
I own all of your liquid Dandelion Paints. First question, are you going to continue making those? Second question, do you have a conversion chart for Dandelion Paints to Daniel Smith? I’d like to try some tube paints, but would love to incorporate them as some of my current paints run out.
In our Watercolor Facebook Group there are some helpful conversion charts so if you're in the group we recommend checking those out. If you're not and want to join, we'd love to have you! Or if you'd prefer to email us at hello@letsmakeart.com we can email you a conversion chart. We are hopeful we'll be able to offer Dandelion Paint again some day, working through that currently.
Note, you don’t necessarily have to let your tube paints dry before painting with them!! Sarah I have a hard time believing you actually put tube paint on a palette then let it dry over night before painting. Heck no, just get to painting. Lots of watercolor artists use it both ways, dried already on their palette (leftover) and wet or fresh out of the tube. Yes you may use more paint using it straight from the tube but all it takes is a little practice to use it basically like Sarah uses liquids. Put just a little paint on your brush, put that in the mixing area of your palette then add water to it. So you’re using it differently than you would acrylics or oils. That said, you can also use it straight out of the tube to create interesting techniques and textures. One example is the atmospheric painting using a palette knife. Jenna Rainey is a good example of an artist who uses tube paints straight out of the tube.
You truly one of the best teachers for watercolor. You are genuinely interested in wanting artists to learn and not be intimidated-making it feel easier than what we anticipate in our minds. I agree with Sarah that as a beginner, it helps so much to let the tube paints dry so that you learn to control the amount of water and paint instead of wasting paints directly from the tube. So happy that I found you several years ago and have learned so much about painting and feeling comfortable with sharing my artwork❤
How do you find the information about brush lines and which are good for which techniques? Do the brush makers publish descriptions of their different lines and which are good for what techniques?
@@franisaac3949 I learned by watching a LOT of different people here on TH-cam. You can search that topic and find so many videos. Or even online searches if you'd rather read. But different people is key to me bc you get different info. I find that most are generally correct with a few "mis-information's" spread in their videos, like Sarah who is generally about 80-90% correct. But she has times where what she's saying isnt correct either. You just have to do the work and really research your topic. Don't get on one channel on YT and not leave it. I've learned so much since I started watercolor and most of it's been by learning from so many *different* people. If they made a video that is good info, I'll watch and learn. Then I go look it up. Then I buy and experiment for myself. (But before I buy I read a bunch of reviews too!) Imo, it's the only way to go. Sarah seems sweet and has a lot of good info, but she definitely doesn't know it all. I've seen here question many things I know and I've been doing it for less time. But I do think she generally states when she doesn't know, which I appreciate. There have been a few times she was wrong and didn't know it and spread misinformation, but thankfully it's more good than bad, but even saying that, I wouldn't watch just her. Search, search, and research and you'll be grand! 😉 Good luck to you & happy painting! 🎨🖌️❤️
All Daniel Smith paints are fabulous! I love Cascade green, Undersea green, serpentine green, & green apatite, for greens, bc I use a lot of greens. I also love their Nickel Azo yellow, you can get several different tones of yellow with it, it's fabulous! And their Payene's Grey and Neutral tint are two I use so often - love them!! Buff titanium is a great one as well. I hope that helps. If you have any questions I'm happy to help answer if I can. :)
Great video; simple and to the point 👍🏻🙂 Just a note for those interested in liquid watercolour, Dr. Ph. Martin's Hydrus Fine Art Watercolor are actually pigment based and lightfast but their Ecoline Liquid Watercolour line is dye based making them not lightfast.
Great video! Then end made me cry. You are always so encouraging to go create!
I started with supplies I could afford (arteza pan set, canson paper, one of those refillable water brushed), knew absolutely nothing, and fell in LOVE! ❤ four years later watercolor has become a very important part of my life.
I would love to hear more details about ways to straight/smooth out warped paper on finished paintings!
I’ve learnt so much from this video and although I already have a few watercolour supplies, I feel like I understand them better. Many thanks, I can’t wait to start practicing! ❤
I asked my local library about starting a watercolor class/group, and it's progressing. This video will be very helpful to explain what's needed to get started. Thank you!
Sarah, you are such a wonderful teacher! I, for one, appreciate so much the fun, casual way you go about this whole process. This was a good, informative video - especially for the true beginner, but even for those a little more experienced. You and Michael together are a fabulous team! Thank you so much for continuing to share your knowledge with us! 🥰
I am so so glad I found your channel. You are the first one, I really follow along and a have got the feeling that I can accomplish something good. Thank you😊
Another paint type that is a little more obscure but really nice are the Daniel Smith Watercolor sticks. It is kind of a cross between tube and pan watercolor. I like how creamy it is and it reactivates with very little effort. They are a little spendy but are versatile. You can use them like a pan paint or draw with them on the paper and activate the color with your brush on the paper. Also, they can be cut up and be put into half pans as well. They are my luxury paint that I buy when I want to reward myself.
Absolutely so helpful as a novice painter! Thank u!!!
Great video. Liked the comment - hierarchy of supplies. 100% agree. I find it so annoying when artists push the expensive artist grade products, especially when they talk to beginners. I understand that the artist grade products are great, that 100% cotton paper is the best, but money will not suddenly appear in my purse. I really like how you encourage people who are on a tighter budget. You can always level up your supplies.
I really love this! I've recently started working in a similar style myself. I tried something like this the other day, and it was so exciting! 😊
Your joy in creating art is so encouraging! I knew all this already, but I still watch it for confirmation and encouragement. I’m growing, revisiting, further developing my watercolor skills in 2025 with a lot of hope, goals and ideas! One thing I’m working on is making bookmarks for gifts and to sell. (Your video on Dorland’s Wax was very helpful and I bought some immediately and it’s how I’m preserving my bookmarks.) The struggle I’m having that’s got me snagged is narrowing down my palette and resisting buying more (another brand). I have lots of Winsor & Newton of all colors, multiples of different hues, I bought on Clearance at Hobby Lobby several years ago (I work there). I’m wanting to choose the best primaries and secondaries to limit a handier palette for more realistic landscape and botanical paintings. I’m planning to make garden type bookmarks (flowers, veggies and herbs from my garden) and scenes from around Kansas City.
Thank you❤ I love your tutorials. You're a great teacher!! From, a 35 year veteran elementary school teacher
I wish you’d been around when I was buying supplies! Thanks, Sarah & Michael, for a great rub down on supplies. Looking forward to your next tutorial!
An absolutely fantastic and informative tutorial for beginners, and beautifully presented, Sarah! And I love the banter that goes on between you and your hubby --- thank you and keep up the great work, it's always a great pleasure to experience your teachings.
Thanks Sarah, wish I could of seen this when I started out because it would of costs a lot less stress and money. As always, thanks for your generosity of sharing your knowlegde with us. You are amazing!
Great information - as you said, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. Nov 2024 at 68 and still working full time (read had $$), I got caught up in buying too much. I am gradually down to 17 paint colors ... split primary, some DS PrimaTek and a few convenience colors. I love that they all fit in an Art Toolkit Folio palette so I use the same paint at home and out and about ... although I do use a ceramic plate at home ... still the Folio has great metal mixing spaces vs plastic. Paper - I definitely listened to many who said paper was the best place to spend so am happy there.
The supply that I have had the greatest difficulty with is brushes. I started with an expensive set used by an artist I was following on TH-cam. Your comment on "snap" makes so much sense to me now. I felt like that first set was too soft and was much happier when I bought a Princeton Velvet Touch 8. But I made some great foliage brushes Ala Sarah Cray from the original set!!
Thanks for all but also, now I understand why the softer, non snap brushes were challenging for me and how to look for what works best for me. Love from Northwest Montana ❤❤❤
Thank you!
Great video!! I actually did not know all this basic information 😮
I really appreciate your honesty in a list that’s based on our pocketbook. Thank you
Thank you for the relevant info. Appreciate this.
Thank you! This was great.
I got soooo many supplies from LMA. I LOVE this video. And my most favoritist paper is140lb cold pressed 100% cotton.
Loved all the information you shared. Thank you!
My local art supply store happily cuts large sheets of wc paper to requested sizes. I've also found small-ish ceramic pans and plates, second hand, work great as palettes👍😊
Good suggestions. I have been using less expensive paper. Not super inexpensive. I do fine that when I use my good paper, it is so different that I have issues painting with it. So there you have it. Thanks again for some good tips. You can always learn something.
This was a great tutorial for a newbie like me!
Love this! I'm curious, since water makes up so much of what we ultimately paint with, have you noticed a difference between using different types of water, e.g. tap, filtered, distilled, etc.?
I love your ceramic palette. Where did you get it??
Also, this video was very helpful. Thank you! ❤️
Do the Dandelion paints need to be stored away from light in the bottle? What is their shelf life? I still have paint from three years ago. Thank you for your wonderful tutorials!
Check out Dr. PH Martin Hydrus watercolor as they are permanent, lightfast and not fugitive. :D Radiance are dye based and fugitive. Hydrus are lightfast. I am glad to see you back again.
Just a note - the Princeton Aqua Elite brushes are very snappy, more so than the Neptune. The Aqua Elite are my favorite!
I'm kinda surprised that Michael let a good "Mix a lot" joke opportunity go by when Sarah was talking about how much she likes to mix paint :)
But I enjoy Let's Make Art content so much. Thanks y'all!
Are there different kinds of fan brushes? Mine is a full fan but yours looked like the bristles were grouped. I hope that makes siense.
Hi Sara, I am painting a house portrait for my daughter. In the photograph I’m using there is a palm frond in the foreground overlapping a corner of the house. I want to just give a touch of effect but it’s terrifying me! Should I use masking fluid? I have the house almost finished and I don’t want to ruin it.
Sarah could you tell me which one is a good travel journal that is cotton with texture but not expensive
Hi, friends. I’m VERY interested to learn about different brushes that I own but don’t know how to use - filbert and flat (not washes). Could you teach us about those?
Im struggling with paper types. I would appreciate a more in depth tutorial about paper. I did the willow tree tutorial and it turned out great on cold pressed paper, but i had a lot of skipping on the hot pressed paper. But then I had the opposite experience with the candle tutorial. With the candle tutorial I found the hot pressed paper worked out better.
I own all of your liquid Dandelion Paints. First question, are you going to continue making those? Second question, do you have a conversion chart for Dandelion Paints to Daniel Smith? I’d like to try some tube paints, but would love to incorporate them as some of my current paints run out.
In our Watercolor Facebook Group there are some helpful conversion charts so if you're in the group we recommend checking those out. If you're not and want to join, we'd love to have you! Or if you'd prefer to email us at hello@letsmakeart.com we can email you a conversion chart.
We are hopeful we'll be able to offer Dandelion Paint again some day, working through that currently.
I buy a lot of canson XL watercolor pads. Maybe that’s why I get frustrated 😅
100%. Good paper is night and day. ☺️
@ what watercolor paper do you prefer? Thanks!
We recommend Hahnemuhle's "The Collection" paper or Arches.
can you paint watercolor ripples? please you had one in your journal that I love and your husband too
I just purchased the landscape workbook. Do you still have the paint that goes with it?
We no longer have this paint available.
In regards to paper textures, if you would've painted a few strokes on the paper it would've been really easy for everyone to see how each works.
I would like to understand why the quill and how to use it. I missed that box unfortunately.
Firstttttt 😮
What is the best masking agent that you have found?
We love Pebeo's Masking Fluid Marker.
I might’ve missed it - did you talk about rough paper?
Note, you don’t necessarily have to let your tube paints dry before painting with them!! Sarah I have a hard time believing you actually put tube paint on a palette then let it dry over night before painting. Heck no, just get to painting. Lots of watercolor artists use it both ways, dried already on their palette (leftover) and wet or fresh out of the tube. Yes you may use more paint using it straight from the tube but all it takes is a little practice to use it basically like Sarah uses liquids. Put just a little paint on your brush, put that in the mixing area of your palette then add water to it. So you’re using it differently than you would acrylics or oils. That said, you can also use it straight out of the tube to create interesting techniques and textures. One example is the atmospheric painting using a palette knife.
Jenna Rainey is a good example of an artist who uses tube paints straight out of the tube.
You truly one of the best teachers for watercolor. You are genuinely interested in wanting artists to learn and not be intimidated-making it feel easier than what we anticipate in our minds. I agree with Sarah that as a beginner, it helps so much to let the tube paints dry so that you learn to control the amount of water and paint instead of wasting paints directly from the tube. So happy that I found you several years ago and have learned so much about painting and feeling comfortable with sharing my artwork❤
How do you find the information about brush lines and which are good for which techniques? Do the brush makers publish descriptions of their different lines and which are good for what techniques?
@@franisaac3949 I learned by watching a LOT of different people here on TH-cam. You can search that topic and find so many videos. Or even online searches if you'd rather read. But different people is key to me bc you get different info. I find that most are generally correct with a few "mis-information's" spread in their videos, like Sarah who is generally about 80-90% correct. But she has times where what she's saying isnt correct either. You just have to do the work and really research your topic. Don't get on one channel on YT and not leave it. I've learned so much since I started watercolor and most of it's been by learning from so many *different* people. If they made a video that is good info, I'll watch and learn. Then I go look it up. Then I buy and experiment for myself. (But before I buy I read a bunch of reviews too!) Imo, it's the only way to go. Sarah seems sweet and has a lot of good info, but she definitely doesn't know it all. I've seen here question many things I know and I've been doing it for less time. But I do think she generally states when she doesn't know, which I appreciate. There have been a few times she was wrong and didn't know it and spread misinformation, but thankfully it's more good than bad, but even saying that, I wouldn't watch just her. Search, search, and research and you'll be grand! 😉 Good luck to you & happy painting! 🎨🖌️❤️
I'd love to know what Daniel Smith colours you're loving right now!
Indigo, Quinacridone Purple, Quinacridone Gold, Quinacridone Burnt Orange, Quinacridone Coral, Phthalo Blue (Green Shade), Lamp Black, & Undersea Green.
All Daniel Smith paints are fabulous! I love Cascade green, Undersea green, serpentine green, & green apatite, for greens, bc I use a lot of greens. I also love their Nickel Azo yellow, you can get several different tones of yellow with it, it's fabulous! And their Payene's Grey and Neutral tint are two I use so often - love them!! Buff titanium is a great one as well. I hope that helps. If you have any questions I'm happy to help answer if I can. :)
I would add rose of ultramarine ☺️