I'm a glutton for punishment and I love a challenge. Those are two of the reasons why I decided to go ahead and dive into watercolor when I had been using nothing but digital (Illustrator) after I finished college. I have admired painters for as long as I can remember, all types, and I was intimidated but curious. I always heard it was one of the hardest mediums and so unpredictable. Mostly I would see landscape and watercolor married together which isn't really my thing. But when I started to see more and more illustrators have different styles with watercolor, that intrigued me even more.
One day I was talking with my friend Christie about our art loves and we found that were both curious about watercolor so we took a class together, four years ago. Our assignment was to paint our birth month flower (I didn't even know this was a thing), and from there the curiosity grew. What are the best brushes? Sable or synthetic? I have a couple Isabey squirrel brushes but the ones I am drawn to over and over are my cheaper Princeton synthetics. What papers do I choose? I prefer cold-press Fabriano when I can find it.
Although I love digital still, I was turning into a tinker-er and me and the Undo button were a little too close. You can correct to a point with watercolor but not as much as digital. The fiddling was affecting when I would call something done on my computer and when I work traditional, it is much easier to have an end point. I don't zoom in trying to fix pixels that no one can see with the naked eye. Watercolor has pretty strict rules and rule number one is not to overwork it. You have to embrace the unpredictability because that is what makes it special and what people usually love about it.
These are some of my favorite watercolor supplies and resources that have worked for me so far.