Equipment List

Watercolours

1. Watercolour paper. Buy sheets of the heaviest you can afford: Bockingford NOT, Bockingford Rough, Arches.

2. A palette – paintbox lid, a plate, or a bought palette.

3. Paints – Tubes of Artists' quality, if possible

4. Brushes – No 10 Kolinsky Sable. If you can afford others, buy a No 6 and a rigger if you can afford it. Brushes in sets, even of Kolinsky Sable, don't seem to last as long as top quality singles.

5. Other necessities; lightweight board, 2 water pots, masking tape, rag, 2B pencil and a rubber.

Oils and Acrylics

1. Hogs hair brushes – 1 large and 1 medium flat; and a small round synthetic brush for detail. These wear out quickly, so don't invest too much in them.

2. Paints – the same colours as for watercolours, plus a large tube of white.

3. Canvas board, loose primed canvas pads or stretched canvas to paint on, or hardboard painted with white emulsion or gesso on both sides.

4. Other necessities – a palette; an easel so you can work on a vertical surface; rags; a pencil and a black biro; for oils you will need turpentine or turps substitute, and a dibber.

Pastels

1. Pastel paper – in sheets, Canson Moonstone or Rose grey. Other surfaces, sandpaper, velour, etc., are also available.

2. Artists' soft pastels – don't buy sets. Look at the picture you want to paint and select about a dozen pastels to suit it. That way you can build your collection gradually. You will need a box to hold the pastel colours separately.

3. A small hogs hair brush for brushing out mistakes and a large cloth to catch the pastel which drops off.

4. A board to support your paper. Pad it with half a dozen sheets of newspaper since pastels work better on a cushioned surface. I find it best to use an upright easel.

5. Pastel fixative.

Please email me for more details.