Today I’m going to share with you my painting set up for 2020. The materials include the paint and colors that I use, the paper I paint on, and the brushes that I use. I will also share with you my setup. The equipment I use and how I lay everything out. I will even break down the cost for you so you can get an idea of how much is my painting set up!

There is a lot covered in the video, so I strongly encourage you to watch the video. However, I will list out the materials and equipment that I use below. You don’t have to get everything that I use, but I do suggest you find out what materials you are not happy with and compare it with mine.

My equipment and materials list:

Setup

No need to be fancy, but you need a dedicated space!
SoHo Urban Artist Drawing Board - Large painting surface that can tilt.
Have good lighting and enough space for you to step back
I do my painting tilted. You can set it up any way you want, but you need to be able to tilt your paper when needed.
Be sure your lighting is 5500k or above. I use PHIVE LED Desktop Lamp

Material

Aluminum Watercolor Palette 26 well
I use Daniel Smith watercolor paint. But any good quality paint will be good. Don't use student grade paint, because the color intensity is really weak and you end up using more color.
Colors that I use and what I recommend you to have:
Hansa Yellow Deep, , Cadmium Orange*, Cadmium Red Medium*, Carmine, Alizarin Crimson, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Neutral Tint, Cobalt Turquoise, Cerulean Blue, Cobalt Blue, Ultramarine Blue
Some of the colors that I use but it's optional for you:
Lemon Yellow, Raw Sienna, Cadmium Yellow Medium*

*All the Cadmium color by Daniel Smith is Hue color, meaning it's not toxic as the traditional Cadmium colors, it works just as fine for me.

Have some rag on the side for you to get excess water off your brush.
My Paintbrushes
Escoda Aquario #14 and #18 - for big washes
Escoda Ultimo #14 and #18 - synthetic option for big mop brush
(I haven’t tested them out yet)
Escoda Perla #12 and Escoda Perla #8 - for smaller details.
Escoda Reserva Kolinsky #10 and da Vinci Maestro #6 - Softer hair, great to foliage, trees, and portrait
Princeton Neptune #1 rigger - for tiny details and lines
I use Mechanical Pencil with 4B lead, there's a cheaper alternative pencil
Paper
Saunders Waterford Rough - my preferred paper, smoother on the brush.
Arches Rough - Rougher, paint dry slower so can be good when you just get started, has a weird smell when wet...
Bao Hong - A economical high-quality paper. Right now you can only get it from Aliexpress (or Taobao if you can read Mandarin). Some size only offers from other sellers, search around on Aliexpress.