You will need to bring:

This very comprehensive list is designed to accommodate different needs and budgets, so take a look and buy what fits your needs best. Please reach out if you have questions.

Lightweight and Portable Plein Air Painting, Suitable for Hiking, Traveling, and Quick Sketches:

• Ziploc bag with the following:
  • HB pencil and plastic eraser
  • The smallest possible watercolor paint set filled with pans or cakes of watercolor: Some possibilities: Van Gogh Watercolor Pocket Box, Sennelier Bijoux Watercolor Set, Winsor and Newton either Cotman (inexpensive) or Winsor Artist Quality (expensive)—all of these make very small sets. The price varies depending on the quality of the paint used. You can decide how important the paint quality is to you. For the lowest cost, a Prang student set works.
  • #4 and #6 round watercolor brushes, ¾” flat brush, ½” flat brush
  • Water and water container
  • 140 lb. cold press 100% rag Arches paper, available in single sheets which you can cut to the size you need: bring a lightweight board and clips or a rubber band to secure the paper. You can also make your own Arches sketchbook—FedEx Office will spiral bind the paper for you, and you can cut it to your preferred size.
  • Other choices include Hahnemühle 100% rag bound sketchbooks (paper is not sized, so it can be a little harder to work on than Arches, but still a good choice) and Stillman and Birn sketchbooks (not 100% rag, but try the ones for mixed media or wash).
  • Paper towel or rag
  • Optional: water-soluble pens and pencils

Heavier Weight Plein Air Painting, Suitable for Longer Periods of Outdoor Painting:

• Portable easel
• If you prefer sitting: a portable lightweight chair, plus a small table or camp stool on which to place your palette, water, and brushes, or a sit pad for working on the ground.
• Drawing pencil HB (for watercolor undersketches)
• Artist eraser, white Mars plastic (made by Staedtler)
• Paper: Arches 140 lb. cold press watercolor paper, 100% rag cut to your preferred size for painting. Check out the new horizontal and square format blocks, too. See above for other sketchbook choices.
• Lightweight board for paper mounting for ease of painting if you use single sheets with clips or rubber bands
• Brushes: Sable or sable/synthetic blend watercolor brushes: #6 and #4 round, ¾” flat. Other sizes and types are optional. Synthetics are fine for #4 and smaller sizes. Molly likes Da Vinci Maestro sable rounds the best, but they are expensive. A sable/synthetic blend works well and is cheaper. Other brushes she likes using are smaller flat brushes with chisel edges (useful for softening edges and lifting out), riggers, or liners for small line work.
• Water and water containers or water brushes
• Old plastic water bottle for discarding dirty paint water safely
• Palette: Alvin 18 pan with blue waterproof seal, filled with tube paints listed below in Studio Paints:

Warm/Cool Primaries:

• Molly uses Daniel Smith watercolors
  • Reds: Cool: permanent alizarin crimson, Warm: pyrrol scarlet
  • Blues: Cool: phthalo blue (green shade), Warm: phthalo blue (red shade) or French ultramarine blue or ultramarine blue
  • Yellows: Cool: hansa yellow light, Warm: hansa yellow medium
  • Additional colors:
    • Violet: carbazole violet
    • Browns and golds: quinacridone burnt orange, yellow ochre or raw sienna (you can substitute burnt umber or burnt sienna for the quinacridone burnt orange)
  • Other colors Molly may recommend adding, in order of their usefulness:
    • Cobalt blue
    • Hansa yellow deep or new gamboge
    • Perylene green
    • Pyrrol orange
    • Indanthrone blue
    • Winsor and Newton permanent white gouache
  • Fall Color: quinacridone magenta, pyrrol orange, hansa yellow deep
• Paper towels, rags

For Studio or Classroom Painting:

• Drawing pencil HB (for watercolor undersketches)
• Artist eraser, white Mars plastic (made by Staedtler)
• Arches 140 lb. cold press watercolor paper, in single sheets (22 x 30), cut to your preferred size for your painting. It’s also available in blocks: 7” x 10” or 9” x 12” are good sizes.
• Gator board and gummed paper mailing tape, for stretching paper
• Sable or sable/synthetic blend watercolor brushes: #12, #6, and #4 round, ¾” flat. Other sizes and types are optional. Do not buy a synthetic brush in #12 or #8 size: they are too stiff and do not lay smooth washes. Synthetics are fine for #4 and smaller sizes. Molly likes Da Vinci Maestro sable rounds the best, but they are expensive. A sable/synthetic blend works well and is cheaper. Other brushes she likes using are smaller flat brushes with chisel edges (useful for softening edges and lifting out), riggers, or liners for small line work.
• Required colors—a warm and cool hue of each of the primary colors, plus a few neutrals:

Warm/Cool Primaries:

• Molly uses Daniel Smith watercolors
  • Reds: Cool: permanent alizarin crimson, Warm: pyrrol scarlet
  • Blues: Cool: phthalo blue (green shade), Warm: phthalo blue (red shade) or French ultramarine blue or ultramarine blue
  • Yellows: Cool: hansa yellow light, Warm: hansa yellow medium
  • Additional colors:
    • Violet: carbazole violet
    • Browns and golds: quinacridone burnt orange, yellow ochre or raw sienna (you can substitute burnt umber or burnt sienna for the quinacridone burnt orange)
  • Other colors Molly may recommend adding, in order of their usefulness:
    • Cobalt blue
    • Hansa yellow deep or new gamboge
    • Perylene green
    • Pyrrol orange
    • Indanthrone blue
    • Winsor and Newton permanent white gouache
  • Fall Color: quinacridone magenta, pyrrol orange, hansa yellow deep
• Paper towels, rags

Paint Palettes:

• Whatever you currently have is fine, but if you are buying something new, Molly recommends the following:
  • Studio work: Molly’s favorite is the John Pike Watercolor Palette—it’s large and has a cover.

Provided by instructors:

Watercolor pencils

Gouache

Brush markers of various colors