18-31 May 2026

Material Lists

The most important materials and tools you'll need for the summit's lessons are watercolours or gouache, round pointed paint brushes and paper suitable for mixed media as well as a sense of adventure.

Each instructor has put together a list of materials that they've used in their lesson. The lists also contain some great hints and recommendations regarding what the teachers use in their daily art practices.

Please not that these aren't prescriptive lists: adapt and use what you have available. These are for guidance and substitutions are welcome.

Miriam Bos

Brushes In the video I’m using a Dynasty Black Gold 1/4th Dagger brush but the W & N brushes from the Cotman series are quite nice to use too.

Gouache Paint I’m using gouache from several brands

Holbein gouache: G861 - Myosotis Blue
W & N Designers gouache: burnt Sienna
ShinHan Pass Watercolour & Gouache Hybrid Paint : permanent yellow
ShinHan Pass Watercolour & Gouache Hybrid Paint : yellow ochre

Extra colors

Horadam Gouache titanium white
W & N Designers gouache: perylene violet

You’ll alsoo need:

Tear-off palette (palette with sheets)
A jar of water
Sketching pencil with (kneadable) eraser
(Optional) coloring pencil - Derwent Coloursoft, Persian Grey C660 to add some extra details for shading
Pad of transfer papers
Sketchbook, or a couple of sheets of 180 g/m² paper to draw/paint/sketch on.
Hot pressed watercolor paper for your final artwork.  I’m using a Dutch brand called Terschelling (300 g/m² / 140 Lbs - 18x24cm / 7”x9,5”) But it could be any other brand.
The inspiration photos I provided for this class - or you could use photos of your own if you have them.

Claire Desjardins

Gouache (melon, warm yellow, pea green, Yale blue) or similar. White.
Optional, if you want to add, later on: Black, Burnt Umber and Sienna.
A variety of paint brushes: rounded and pointed, square brushes and some very small ones ranging up to quite wide (1.5")
Paper, A5 watercolor paper, 300 GM, 140 pounds.
Paint palette
Small pots of water (milk cartons with tops cut off)

Tansy Hargan

A colour-graded flower - preferable one with a scent to enrich the sensory experience of painting mindfully.
Watercolour paint - a limited palette inspired by the colours (or component colours) of any flowers with colour gradients in their petals, buds, internal parts or stems. In my lesson I use Esté's Colori Combo Rose, Raspberry, Wine Red, and Banana because I know I want the extremes of deep pink and light yellow, plus the gradient of oranges between. I add a neutral grey which leans toward blue because the stamens of my freesias are violet. And a white, to lighten my yellow, which isn't as soft as banana.
Watercolour brush - size 8 - 10 with a round head, full belly of bristles, and ability to form a nice point.
Watercolour paper - at least 300gsm in weight, preferably in a block (gummed on four sides to keep is taut as your paint will be very wet.
Ceramic palette - one with lots of little dimples for colour mixing is best. I say ceramic because water spreads nicely on it (rather than beading like it does on plastic), making the task of mixing colour all the more captivating.
Jars of water - one for washing your brush and one for rinsing it.

April Howlett (Monkey Mintaka)

Sketchbook: Pitch Cara Cara
Derwent Drawing Pencils: Deep Atlantic, Mustard, Smoke Blue
Faber Castell Polychromos Pencils: Bluish Turquoise, Cadmium Red. Dark Cadmium Yellow
Caran d’Ache Luminance Pencils: Grey Blue, Permanent Red
Derwent Inktense Pencils: Golden Sun, Persian Red
Karst Woodless Pencils: Orange Red
Caran d’Ache Neocolor 2: Amazonite, Golden Yellow, White, Cobalt Blue, Vermillion
Caran d’Ache Neopastel: White, Vermillion
Caran d’Ache Neoart: Permanent Red, Ice Blue, Yellow
Liquitex Acrylic Goauche: Cerulean Blue Hue
Dr Ph Martin’s Radiant concentrated watercolor: Turquoise Blue, Persimmon
Lefrance Bougeious Flashe: Bleu Cendre
Dr Ph Martin’s Hydrus: Gamboge, Brilliant Cadmium Red
Faber Castell Albert Durer Watercolour Marker: Scarlett Red, Cobalt Turquoise, Dark Chrome Yellow
Ecoline Brush Pen: Vermillion
Derwent Inktense blocks: Deep Indigo, HotRed
Royal Talens Gouache: Orange, Yellow, Liht Blue (Cyan)
Holbein Gouache: Vermillion, Gardenia Yellow, Kerria Japonica Yellow
Windsor and Newton Designer Gouache: Permanent Yellow Deep
Turna Acryl Goauche: Pale Green, Pale Blue
Kuretake Gansai Tambi: No. 31

Dar James

Matte/Fluid Acrylics- Quinacridone Magenta, Phthalo Blue (GS), Cadmium Yellow Medium, Titanium White
Heavyweight Mixed Media Paper – Canson Watercolor 9x12
Lighter Collage Paper – Kozo/Mulberry, Abaca/Teabag, Patterntrace
Matte Medium
Variety of Brushes
Scissors
Colored Pencils, Crayons, Markers, Dot Tools, etc.
Spray Fixative (optional)

Esté MacLeod

TBC

Katie O'Shea

Bristol paper, 9x12"
- I cut it down to 8x8" so that when we cut it again it's going to be 4x4".
2B pencil and eraser
Arrtex acrylic markers
Scissors

Rowan Sivyer

Stamp-carving

A drawing of a flower
Soft-carve rubber - here in Australia I use Renoir Ezy-carve but pink Speedball rubber is also
great.
Carving tools (my favourites are by Pfeil)
Tracing paper (for transferring your design to the rubber)
Craft knife

Gel-printing

Paper
Acrylic paints
Brayer
Gel plate (Gel press or Gelli Arts are my favourite brands)
Stencils, textured items (bubble wrap etc) for creating texture on the plate

Collage

Textured papers (thinner the better)
Matte medium
Versafine inkpad (oil-based, pigment ink)

Janet Skates

Paper & Surface

Arches 140lb Rough Watercolor Paper (Alternative: Other high-quality cold-pressed or handmade watercolor papers)

Drawing & Ink Tools

Speedball Super Black India Ink
Dip Pen & Nib
Water Dishes: Please bring several to ensure a constant supply of clean water.
Paper Toweling

Brushes

Assorted Watercolor Rounds: Sizes #3, #6, and #10 (Janet’s favorites: Escoda and Princeton)

The Color Palette

Winsor & Newton Water Colour: Terre Verte
Acryla Gouache: Mustard
Holbein Gouache: Leaf Green
Holbein Water Colour: Mars Violet
Holbein Gouache: Safflower Red
Holbein Gouache: Opera
Holbein Gouache: Marigold
Holbein Gouache: Titanium White

Carrie Smith

Paints

Choose paints that are opaque whenever possible as they will produce the most vibrant color for our base shapes. Here's what I used for my limited colour palette:

Lavender - Brilliant Purple (Liqutex)
Sand - Unbleached Titanium (Liquitex) & Ash Yellow (Gouach)
Maroon - Burgundy (Winsor & Newton)
Hot Pink - Medium Magenta (Liquitex)

In addition to these colors, please also include a fluid white paint. We will use this to paint many of our fine details.

Materials

One pre-cut, 5 x 5-inch, heavyweight (140 lb.) watercolor paper square
Pencil
Ruler
Fine-line paintbrush
#4 round paintbrush
Dot-making tool. If you don’t have or want to purchase this, you can use the tip of a pencil to make your dots.
Round sponge brush pack: 1 ½ inch, 1 inch, ¾ inch, and ½ inch widths
10-15 standard-sized cotton swabs
A jar of water for cleaning your brushes
Paper towel
Flat paint palette with ample space (I will be using a sturdy paper plate!)

Julie Sydenham

Watercolour sketchbook
Masking tape
.03 black pigment fineliner pen (waterproof)
Watercolour Pans
- Warm: Ultramarine Blue, Quinacridone Gold, Cadmium Red
- Cool: Pthalo Blue, Permanent Rose, Lemon Yellow
Watercolour Pencils
- Delft Blue, Cadmium Orange, Red Violet, Dark Orange, Black
White Gouache
Paper towel