(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best paper craft supplies

For someone just starting out, quality paper is the most important thing followed by paint and brushes. I recommend shopping online as you'll pay 2-3x more locally (unless you have a Blick store nearby, they usually match their online prices) and you can set your girlfriend up nicely without breaking the bank. I'm not sure what you're looking to spend so I'll try to give you a decent range of options.

Paint

Cotman and Van Gogh are the student versions of professional brands (Winsor Newton & Rembrandt) and the most often suggested for beginners. They come in pans (dried paint blocks you swipe with a wet brush to reactivate) and tubes. Though these are student grade they're both used professionally and very high quality. They're lightfast (won't fade with exposure to sun), use the same pigments that the professional brands do (though with a smaller amount) and are both very reasonably priced. And if she enjoys painting and looks to upgrade in the future, she could pick up the Professional version with minimal relearning how the paint performs (All brands behave a little differently on paper).

Of the two I would suggest Van Gogh as they're extremely vibrant, the pans are very easy to rewet (Cotman pans are difficult to get pigment from in my experience, and for someone learning to paint having to scrub a pan with a brush will be frustrating. The tubes better.) and come in nice compact travel sets that have a built in palette for mixing. The Set of 12 Pans is plenty to start with, you can mix a wide variety of colors from that. The 18 pan + 2 tube set is a great option as well as it gives you a nice variety of warm and cool primaries as well as convenient greens and earth colors, it comes with a small brush and sponge, I'd go with that one. The larger sets of 30-48 aren't necessary as they're mostly colors that are mixed from the single pigment paints included in the smaller sets, but if you think she'd enjoy having a ton of colors available without having to mix those are something you can look at too.

If you wanna ball out a little bit and get her some professional paints, Da Vinci has a ton of pan and tube set options. The 12 Full Pan Set again has everything she'd need getting started. They're as good as any brand out there. The pans are also twice the size of the student brand options and will last a very long time.

There's a ton of great paints out there, I suggest these because they're great value as well as quality and don't include a lot of the weird and rarely used colors you find in a lot of sets. I'd go with pans because they're ready to go as soon as you open them, you don't have to wait for the tube paint to dry for a day or two before you can store it or take it with you, they're very attractive gifts that are nice to look at (if you look on youtube you'll see 100s of videos of people just opening them and showing them off) and you can refill them with your own tube paints later on once you know what you like and start building your own palette. This time of the year there's tons of deals out there so if you find a nice set of Winsor Newton or something on amazon that's a great snag as well. Just avoid "store" brands like Artist's Loft or Masters Touch, or the tons of really cheap chinese sets you'll find online.

Paper

100% Cotton is the way to go. It can handle any technique and can take a ton of water without buckling or falling apart. Even the nicest paint will appear dull on poor watercolor paper and they can't handle much water before they start to give out. It can be a little pricey but it's well worth it. Again there's tons of brands but Arches is the most used and it's excellent so I don't wanna bog you don't with a bunch of brands. You could also grab a 22x30 inch sheet of Arches and tear it into a variety of smaller sheets (this is the most common and frugal way). Cold press is medium textured, Hot Press is smooth and Rough is obvious. Cold press is the most versatile so I'd start there. I don't use sketchbooks but if you're looking for something like that I've heard these are good.

Brushes

Brushes are personal preference, some people only use one for everything and some people like a variety of size and hair types. If you wanna keep it simple a 10 or 12 Round is a good workhorse that can handle small detail and a larger wash. There's sets if you wanna get her a few to see what she likes. Synthetic or a blend is where I'd start as real sable or squirrel is pretty expensive. There's water brushes that aren't "traditional" but are popular for sketching or coloring ink art and are easy to use.

Hope this helps!

To me, watercolors are the perfect a pretty ok way to get in to painting.

1. The supplies don't take up much space. You can get something like this, a brush, and a sketchbook and you're good to go.
   
   
2. On the same note, it's super portable. You can stuff it all in your pocket and venture to the great outdoors.
   
   
3. You can paint in a sketchbook, so you don't need to figure out what to do with a bunch of canvases.
   
   
4. It's really versatile. If you're already comfortable with sketching you can use it to just add bit of color on top of that, or else you could skip the drawing completely and build up a bunch of paint layers.
   
   
5. It's easy to clean up.
   
   A few of my favorite supplies:
   
   

• Bee Creative Watercolor sketchbook - This is my favorite sketchbook. 100% cotton paper is so nice, and this book is actually pretty well priced.
  
  
• A kneaded eraser - If you're doing pencil sketches first, a kneaded eraser will go a long ways in reducing smudges
  
  
• M. Graham paint - I find this re-wets better than all the other paints I've tried. It's really nice.
  
  
• MEEDEN tin - I have the big one and the small one and like the small one better. You can fit an extra row of half pans in the middle (which for some reason you can't do in the bigger one).
  
  
• Silver Brushes - A mix of synthetic & squirrel. They've not very snappy, but they hold a ton of water.
  
  And a few of my favorite watercolor youtube channels:
  
  
• Tim Wilmot - I love the way he explains his thought process. His style is also really neat, and surprisingly beginner friendly. His videos are pretty long, so for best results maybe turn it up to 2x speed, or don't feel bad about jumping around a bit.
  
  
• Liron Yanconsky - A bit more hit or miss for me, but still has lots of great videos.
  
  
• James Gurney - Less instructional than the other two, but his paintings are great and seeing his process is really interesting.

/u/albatrossd covered most of it, but I just wanted to add a few things from personal experience.

When grinding the ink, be patient. Don't use too much water or it will be unusable. Start with a few drops and move the stick of ink in circular motion. To be honest, I recomment buying bottled ink for chinese/japanese calligraphy, you can probably find some on amazon. Like this one. After you finish with a session, the ink will dry out, but the next time you use it, you can add a few drops of water and just grind it out again. That way you save a lot of ink compared to cleaning it every time.

For the first time you're using the brush, leave it in a cup of room temperature water for a few hours to a day. That will soften it up and allow you to actually write with it. The top one with yellow coloured tip is probably weasel hair and the bottom one is probably sheep. The sheep hair brush will be softer and easier to use imo so i'd start with that one.

Oh and you also need paper, i think this would work pretty well. And although not necessary, a mat like this can prevent ink from seeping onto your table.

I love chinese calligraphy, it's a great way to relax and meditate and takes your mind off everything else.

I bought this one from kikk-k, it's the large watermellon "live what you love" time planner. This was USD$79.99 when I ordered it a couple of months ago, but right now it's 20% off for USD$63.96 - nice!
I also bought the Rapesco 6-hole punch off of Amazon & I just marked with tape the place to punch specifically for the Kikki-K & my own custom inserts I wanted to start/have started making for myself (slightly different dimensions than the Kikki-K). There's a tutorial on google/youtube if you look for it! :) also I have just a regular hole punch and just use a Kikki-k page as a template of where to punch the holes. I really love the quality of this planner & the ability to literally put WHATEVER I want in it and can change it all the time. I would say just the beginning investment of the leather organizer can be an investment, but right now with the sale, these last for a long time I've heard if you take good care of them! Also you can always just buy more inserts from Kikki-K or other places that sell A5 6-hole punched inserts like on Etsy. Maybe try the personal size if the large is too big? Slightly less expensive too I would expect.
Hope this helps!
-K
[EDIT: phrasing]

Based off of my own experience... see if you can find a physical shop instead. Ordering online is going to be somewhat iffy. Sets are almost always tourist traps with low-quality brushes and ink, made more to be seen than to be used. I would suggest buying the equipment separately and packaging them up yourself.

So! Actual stuff:

• Paper: Rice paper, full stop. Something like this would work - Japanese and Chinese calligraphy share tools, so it doesn't really matter if you use one or the other. Gridded paper would also be nice.
  
  
• Ink: Get black sumi ink, which should be available at art supply shops as well as online. I recommend the bottled stuff to begin with, because it's just so much less of a hassle than trying to get the appropriate level of thickness if you're grinding an inkstick. If you do decide to get an ink stick, be sure to get an ink stone as well. I prefer the rectangular ones, but that's personal preference. You add a little water on the deep end, then dip the end of your inkstick in the water and grind on the flat portion at the top until the ink is as thick as you want.
  
  
• Brush: I'd say a medium sized wolf or goat hair brush, like this one.
  
  
• Other nice things: something like this practice book might be nice. Look for water-based practice sheets - the idea is you write over it in water, let it dry, and then you can reuse it. From my brief look at the preview, this book looks decent and also has good reviews. I like its stroke-by-stroke breakdown with examples.
  
  One thing's for sure - if your boyfriend isn't already learning the language, it will kick his ass, because the writing system is just so different. If he's not learning the language, he will also be limited to whatever words come in the instruction book, because it's not like in alphabets where if you know all 26/52 symbols you can write what you want. Each character is unique, and though there's a standard stroke order, you have to just be able to recognise the character in order to write it.
  
  Learning Chinese calligraphy from written sources is going to be hard. If at all possible, see if your local area offers Chinese calligraphy classes for beginners. It really, really helps to have a teacher who can correct your brushwork. A lot of the expressiveness and beauty of Chinese calligraphy IMO comes from understanding what it is that you're writing, and how it should look proportionally, and these things are hard to understand just by reading.

I would suggest this Winsor and Newton Cotman set. It comes with a nice round brush. May seem a bit pricey but it will last a long time and the quality is well worth it. If I was starting over, this is what I would get.

This is the best paper for the price that I've found, but also Strathmore is pretty good.

That's really...all you need to get started.

Maybe a few more brushes would be useful here or there, but just about any watercolor brushes will work.

Get the 40% or more off coupon code at Michaels, you can use your phone. See if you can get 40% off all, instead of just one item. Otherwise bring a friend and use it on the expensive items.

• 15$ to 30$ - Paints like Winsor & Newton or Reeves or Prima I would avoid Artist Loft's paint as I have no experiance but other Michaels stuff is hit or miss. I think cakes is easiest to start with.
  
• 2$ - Palette or something to mix on. Dollar Store is probably good enough, otherwise like 5$.
  
• 20$ Paper - Canson or Strathmore make good tear off sheets. Make sure it says watercolour. A pad of paper is easier to start with then a bound sketchbook. These are usually on a buy two get one free type sale.
  
• 15$ - A brush set or Waterbrush if she travels with it (if you get this get it on amazon its overpriced in store) aim for something soft and labelled student or professioinal. Basically not Crayola.
  
• EDIT a WATERPROOF Sharpie.
  
  Depending on sales you can probably get everything for 50$. You might be able to get under 40$ but it'll be damn hard. The drawing pencils and kneaded erasers are cheapest at an art store where they will be sold loose for a few dollars, however with Christmas coming up also keep an eye out for sketching sets as they will use a like 5.99$ one to get all the art students back in stores and tempt them with other things

http://www.stampalbums.com is by far the most accessible and easy to use pages. It's also the cheapest solution out there with little to no effort involved. For I think $20 you get a subscription for a year I think. You can download every country he's built albums for in that year. He updates pretty normally and will answer any questions you have.

Another option is page layout software. The prices vary wildly from $19 - $100. This is pretty labor intensive and just as bad as using graph paper. Regardless of what you use it's the paper that's most important. It needs to be acid and lignin free paper (archival safe). I use a heavy card stock paper http://www.thepapermillstore.com/astroparche-blue-card-stock-8-1-2-x-11-in-65-lb-cover-vellum-30-recycled-250-per-package.html

It holds up very well, but makes for thick binders. The pages don't flex and cause you mounts or hinges to break bond.

Edit... I forgot to mention a few more customizations to pages that will help. I round the corners with this http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000B7S4FK and also use cloth hole reinforcements on the ring holes like these but made of a fabric http://www.viking-direct.co.uk/a/pb/Avery-Reinforcement-Rings-Clear-Box-Of-500/id=43409/

If you're in the mood for bargain hunting you can find vendors that sell the lighthouse three hole binders with dust jackets on the cheap. They often sell then in packs of three.
http://www.lighthouse.us/epages/lighthouse.sf/en_US/?ObjectPath=/Shops/leuchtturm_us/Products/VARIOG3RNGBL/SubProducts/VARIOG3RNGBL



Edit edit.... Ok deleted my other comment so this is the only one you should see.. No confusion that way. This should be just about everything you need to make a better album. Mix it up and use your own colors pictures scalloped page edges etc... It's the neat part of the process. It also looks much better than a plain jane album. It will last a really long time and it's something about the hobby that you can say you contributed in.

I've spent some time looking into this for my own filofaxes (one planner, one university notes), but unfortunately I've not been able to find anything. Filofax paper isn't very good for fountain pens, as a general rule.

The two things I use:

• A4 bank paper, halved and then hole-punched myself. The paper is very lightweight (45gsm) but also very sturdy and takes fountain pen ink well - although it's probably too thin for felt tips, I would imagine.
  
• Dotted A5 from dotgrid.co., again hole-punched myself. The paper is thick and sturdy at 104gsm and I've never had any problems with bleed through or the like. It can take watercolour pretty well, too.
  
  For my hole punch, I use the Rapesco adjustable punch. It's a bit annoying because you have to effectively punch every sheet twice (you have to punch one set of three and then turn it around and punch the other set) but it does the trick. I usually sit down for an hour or so of cutting, punching, and filing sheets in my two filofaxes every month. It's a bit laborious, yes, but the end result is pretty much perfect for my needs so I don't mind!

You can get aluminum channels with frosted covers to mount your LED strips in.

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01LL2SLME/ref=psdc_14325671_t2_B01MYF2P2I

___

Here is an alternate idea I have been kicking around for a while for creating a cheap and easy LED strip light diffuser, but I have never tried it: The materials are parchment paper and 2" wide clear packing tape. You can probably find both of these at your local grocery store. You will also need a hand saw and a miter box.

Remove the parchment paper roll from its cardboard package and make a pencil mark one inch from the end of the roll. Holding the roll gently but firmly against one side of the miter box, cut off the end of the roll at the mark using a hand saw (avoid power tools for this operation). Unroll the resulting one inch wide roll of parchment paper and secure in place over the LED strip with a length of 2" wide clear packing tape.

As you're studying zoology I'll tell you an animal story!

Me and my friends went to a Caribbean carnival where we live. And we saw probably the coolest thing every. A PARROT RIDING ON A DOG. It was so cool. The parrot was picking up food from the owner and giving it to the dog. It was so cute. Most wonderful time

Also, I'm starting volunteer work at a zoo this Sunday! I can't wait. Hope you enjoy your third year and good luck!

I'd very much like this or this as I'm trying to get back into drawing!

Perhaps something to do with flower pressing might be a good companion to a journal, I don't know a great deal about it but something like this kit might be nice, but it's out of stock on amazon at the moment, maybe you can find something similar?

Also these photo stickerbooks are pretty fun and would add a personal touch.

Here's a Koi set on Amazon that always seems to get a lot of love. And here's the Arches paper I was talking about. I checked- the half off price at Michael's is about the same as it is on Amazon, so if you want to stick with Amazon, there you go. And yes, yes the paper is that expensive for only 20 sheets, but as a learner, it's fine to use both sides of the paper :)

Also, don't worry about easels. Since watercolors are... wet, painting on a flat surface helps the paint not run all over the paper.

The photographer had an excellent choice in notebook. That is a wirebound art alternatives sketch notebook. They are by far the most economical multi-medium notebook. I have used them in various design and architecture classes, and now use them to take notes in math classes. They handle any pen/pencil without bleeding through to the next page, and the hard covers provide an excellent backing when no support is available. They are simply the tops. I love them so much that I can recognize them based on the binding, and I see nothing wrong with that.

Buy another copy? The second one could be trashed as long as the cover is in good shape. Then notate that the "real" one is in the other place. If you can get one from the $1 bin, you're good!

My impression is that this particular overlap is going to be pretty limited in scope for most folks, so an extra record for the cover might not cause a financial burden. If this idea were to be expanded for the dreaded "featuring" or duets, etc, it might get expensive.

Maybe some properly sized card stock with the name of the record and where the real record is located would suffice. The ultimate would be something like this - blank white LP covers. Expensive, but pretty much perfect.

I am sorry, I hope you have a great day today! :3

Well I can see you like origami so here is some cute paper so that you can venture on to bigger projects than stars, which i love but can't make!


Here is a storage box to keep all of your paper organized and safe!

Last time I printed business cards it was with a 405 yellow and a 300 yellow screen with Speedball acylics. Printed 8up on a letter sized 110# smooth cover (Classic Crest ). You need to air dry the sheets but you can set up a fan to speed that along. Pretty straight forward but also pretty expensive when you can get 500 cards printed for under $20 USD now a days.

I'm not the best artist...and when I do artistic things, I use acrylic paints, however, in order to give you first-hand advice, I did my drawing using an ink pen. [Here is it] (http://i.imgur.com/tFoet3O.jpg).

Now that I've drawn with ink, I can for sure tell you that you're going to want a fine-tip pen. Maybe [this one] (http://www.amazon.com/Sakura-Pigma-Sensei-bullet-fiber/dp/B00DUGZE7A/ref=sr_1_5?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1415657750&sr=1-5&keywords=fiber-tip+pen). It has a fiber tip which is good according to my research.

I also like to keep a Moleskine notebook handy for ideas and doodles.

Oh, and based on my little foray into pen and ink, you're going to want [bleed-proof paper] (http://www.amazon.com/Paris-Paper-For-Pens-9X12/dp/B0007PC9C0/ref=sr_1_1?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1415658228&sr=1-1&keywords=bleedproof+paper) for sure!

Happy drawing :)

Looks like she's using acrylics? We don't know what she already has, so it's harder to make suggestions. If she's using student grade acrylics, she'd probably be super happy about artist grade.

You could also get her a pretty badass set of professional watercolors and paper for that price if you think she might like that kind of medium.

Or oils, or markers....

As a buyer, I would except the same thing as on Amazon, where marking as a gift means they omit the price from the packing slip.

As a seller of non-bulky items, I offer free kraft paper gift wrapping on all of my items & it delights gift-givers (and a giant-ass roll of kraft paper is only $20 )

Ooooh yes, there's a few things like this on my Amazon wishlist.

Arches watercolor paper is expensive but worth the cost.

Kolinsky Red Sable brushes are the best. I didn't really believe it until I bought this set. Amazing.

1.) Something that is grey.

2.) Something reminiscent of rain. (I think the colours in this are reminiscent of rain, it's the closest I have anyway!)

3.) Something food related that is unusual.

4.) Something on your list that is for someone other than yourself. Tell me who it's for and why. I wanted to get these for my fella because he likes to play card games a lot but sucks at keeping cards :| Maybe if he had these fancy ones he'd look after them!!

5.) A book I should read! I am an avid reader, so take your best shot and tell me why I need to read it! I can't tell you why you need to read this exactly because I haven't read it myself, but I love the look of it! It's about a world where stuffed toys have taken over. The author writes very bizarre fiction! And I like that, so I want to read it!

6.) An item that is less than a dollar, including shipping... that is not jewelry, nail polish, and or hair related!


7.) Something related to cats. I love cats!


8.) Something that is not useful, but so beautiful you must have it.


9.) A movie everyone should watch at least once in their life. Why?

10.) Something that would be useful when the zombies attack. Explain. Do you ever see zombies attacking giraffes? Enough said.

11.) Something that would have a profound impact on your life and help you to achieve your current goals.

12.) One of those pesky Add-On items.


13.) The most expensive thing on your list. Your dream item. Why? My dream is to become a professional illustrator and this would be incredible!

14.) Something bigger than a bread box. EDIT A bread box is typically similar in size to a microwave.

15.) Something smaller than a golf ball.


16.) Something that smells wonderful.

17.) A (SFW) toy.

18.) Something that would be helpful for going back to school.

19.) Something related to your current obsession, whatever that may be.

20.) Something that is just so amazing and awe-inspiring that I simply must see it. Explain why it is so grand. THIS GIRAFFE IS 4FT, IT'S LIKE A REAL BABY GIRAFFE AND I WANT ONE SO BAD

Fear cuts deeper than swords

My secret to not having this issue is I use parchment paper for everything.parchment paper on amazon

I line all my pans with this whether I am baking wings, potatoes, cauliflower, yam fries etc. Line bread pans and you never have to waste your time on clean up.

To clean this pan oven cleaner might do the job, but make sure you have good ventilation that stuff seems quite toxic.

Amazon has really cheap options for 1000 sheets of paper; but like @ilykeurface mentioned, best get more sheets - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001J2YI7E/ref=sr_ph_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487343266&sr=sr-1&keywords=1000+paper

I usually buy that size to make kudusamas too

I think you'd have more luck searching for wirebound sketchbooks, which often come with perforated pages. You can either browse local art stores or B&N and find exactly one you like or search Amazon. From a quick search I've found the following:

Pentalic Sketch Book

Art Alternatives Sketch Book

Pro Art Sketch Book

With sketchbooks, there's also a lot more choices in sizes if you're not committed to A4-ish paper:

Canson Universal Sketch Book

Unfortunately, sketchbooks tend to be a little on the expensive side... But they're not impossible to find for cheaper prices:

Piccadilly Sketch Book

Sterling Publishing Co Sketchbook

Sometimes local art supply stores or bookstores have sales on sketchbooks. Like Half Priced Books usually has sketchbooks for $3.

Hope this helps!

Your best bet is to search for an "embossing heat tool." Hair dryers push water around, whereas heat tools are higher temps with less strong winds.

Here's an example I found on Amazon. I don't have any particular recommendations, since mine is okay but not mindblowing :). I mostly use it for embossing and quickly making cards. For my artwork I get better blends if my colors fully air dry.

Some ink splatter experiments using J. Herbin 1670 Emerald of Chivor on cheap paper because I can't afford Tomoe River right now. (Entertainingly, this paper isn't nearly as cheap now as it was when I bought it 5 years ago!)

Written using a Noodler's Niponset with the music nib. This isn't technically a caligraphy pen, but I hope it's still appropriate for this subreddit. :-)

The splatter was done using an ink syringe to spray a tiny (<1 ml) amount of ink onto the page, then blowing on it with my mouth, then dribbling a tiny bit here and there to fill in gaps before blowing again.

As an aside, I was able to control the spray/mess by cutting the bottom off a 1.5L bottle of water and setting it on the paper, then doing the spray through the mouth of the bottle. No need for aprons or cleaning off your desk!

Fun stuff. Unfortunately, the sheen of this ink is very poor on paper like this, but it still turned out reasonably well. Rhodia, Clairefontain, or Tomoe River tends to work much better for fountain pen ink than Paris Paper for Pens, but I don't have any of those without dots or grids right now.

I bought these from amazon...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001J2YI7E?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image

And just created 23 boxes in order of the shades :) there are 50 colors plus gold and silver but I just picked out the most vibrant ones. The 👍👍

There is a product sold at most arts and crafts stores called 'a corner rounder'.

I've used them to great success when marking or indexing regular decks of cards!

Google to make sure it would fit a regular bicycle card well, but I think this one might work:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000B7S4FK

Get yourself a flower press. Something like this. Really you don't need anything special, absorbent paper and a couple of heavy books works just as well.

Next, and this is the hard part, find someone who knows plants in your area. Here in the states there are 'nature walks' where you'll spend an afternoon rambling around identifying plants and wildlife. Public garden tours are also a good option, but may not want you to take cuttings.

Collect cuttings by putting them in labeled baggies, go home and press cuttings, mount them when they are dry, label your mounted plants with the local and Latin names. Use them as flashcards.

I did this as a kid for a hobby and having more experiences with a plant besides a picture in a book really helped in memorization. (I climbed that steep hill, and this was in the rocks at the top, it tasted like lemon, that flavor comes from oxalic acid, it's oxalis alpina)

I’ve got the one on the right of this set. I can’t find it separate right now but it’s nice to have some shapes. I like the process flow stencils the most in it.

Stainless stencils

I use this to carry an assortment of 6x6 and smaller papers around with me, as well as a small pair of exacto scissors and a bone folder thing. It all fits inside as long as I only keep like 300/400 pages in it. It's become very handy and I feel like I take it with me everywhere just in case I'll get bored.

For larger papers or if I'm just grabbing a few, I'll take one of my daughters hardcover books and put them inside of it. Or for some of my 4x4 or 3x3 paper, I'll just put it inside of an old Christmas card or something and put it in the inside pocket of my jacket lol.

Unfortunately, I cannot read Japanese, so I can't read the specs on the paper. However, it looks like it's very thin. Maybe it's intended for calligraphy, not sure. For watercolor painting, you typically want a very thick (at least 300gsm/140lb) paper that has a high cotton content or is 100% cotton. These will allow you to paint using wet-on-wet techniques and will not warp as much as thinner paper. I use this: https://www.amazon.com/Strathmore-361-9-Watercolor-Press-Sheets/dp/B0027AAIS0 and it's a good value.

You guys are awesome!!! This is exactly what I need!!

Do I need to buy a heat gun or could I get away with a hair drier? lol


Link to video - process

Link to heat gun on amazon

Link to Heat Shrink Tubing Sleeve - prob should order the correct dimensions or cable

I make at least one (and usually a couple) of copies of the patterns I use a lot on Swedish Tracing Paper. It is easy to write and draw on, can be folded and refolded a million times without tearing and comes in a nice, big, wide roll. Oh and it can be sewn - and so useful for muslin-ish draping and testing.

Thank you so much. I'll poke around to see if it's good for printmaking techniques! Here's what I found: https://www.amazon.com/Classic-Crest-Cover-Solar-White/dp/B000JFDE5Y

Sometimes amazon ships using packing paper instead of the air bubble protectors, I save those and use them as wrapping paper.

And here’s a 30” roll on amazon for $20
https://www.amazon.com/Kraft-Paper-Roll-150ft-Brown/dp/B01N6584SD

It’s just translucent paper used for arts and crafts, which is useful for aligning your drawings to your grid. You can get a lot of mileage over big rolls like this.

Honestly keep it simple, people are suggesting quite a bit of different things on here which can be overwhelming.

Pick up a Koi watercolor set and some watercolor paper. I suggest 100% cotton paper, but get whatever you'd like. 2 links below should be everything you need.

Sakura XNCW-30N Koi Field 30 Assorted Watercolors with Brush Sketch Set https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BKABXOA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_P6mWDbWD23SV6

Arches 140 Lb CP Watercolor Pad 12 Sheet https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EQHJH10/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_P7mWDbKZR4QNA

I found metal ones pretty similar to those on Amazon Here

Trace the size(s) you're using onto nonwoven fabric-y Swedish tracing paper, then work with that for alterations, etc. The tissue pattern stays in the envelope for easy storage.

Vinyl Record Jackets - White Coated w/No Center Hole | 25-Pack. Thanks adayinalife 2 days ago.

Like these: https://www.amazon.com/TunePhonik-12-Vinyl-Record-Jackets/dp/B06ZXXH2J7

Amazon keeps recommending these to me: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KBRWKLI/

Swedish tracing paper.

https://www.amazon.com/Swedish-Tracing-Paper-Sewing-Transfer/dp/B00E3DG2KW

https://www.amazon.com/Borden-Riley-Paris-Paper-White/dp/B0007PC9C0/ref=sr_1_15?keywords=pen+and+ink+paper&qid=1558857056&s=gateway&sr=8-15

this is the one that I use. It's just a block of nice watercolor paper, with all of the edges sealed down.

It looks like you've got a little warping there; you should try painting on block watercolor paper - the pages are glued to each other around the edge so you don't need to stretch the paper or worry about it ever warping (Something like this, but not necessarily as expensive). Other than that, I'm digging the colors on this. Nicely done.

Yes! I trace most of my patterns onto tracing paper, and then modify and cut out that. My pattern tissues get folded back up and put away, unharmed. I use Burda Style tissue paper which I buy locally, but a lot of people swear by Medical paper, Swedish tracing paper, or freezer paper, which you can buy at the grocery store.

Oooh this is a fun game:

https://www.amazon.com/MEEDEN-Empty-Watercolor-Palette-Paint/dp/B01MRYR1VI/ref=sr_1_40?ie=UTF8&qid=1526303405&sr=8-40&keywords=watercolor

https://www.amazon.com/Winsor-Newton-Cotman-Water-Studio/dp/B000XYHYI4/ref=sr_1_43?ie=UTF8&qid=1526303405&sr=8-43&keywords=watercolor

https://www.amazon.com/Field-Artist-Watercolor-Journal-Hardbound/dp/B075ZN6XT3/ref=sr_1_66_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1526303688&sr=8-66-spons&keywords=watercolor&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Artify-Watercolor-Miniature-Carrying-Flannelette/dp/B078SQT3NW/ref=sr_1_72?ie=UTF8&qid=1526303688&sr=8-72&keywords=watercolor

https://www.amazon.com/Daniel-Smith-285610005-Essentials-Introductory/dp/B00WT5VRF6/ref=sr_1_94?ie=UTF8&qid=1526303776&sr=8-94&keywords=watercolor

https://www.amazon.com/Moleskine-Watercolor-Album-Sketchbook-Spanish/dp/8883705629/ref=sr_1_107?ie=UTF8&qid=1526303816&sr=8-107&keywords=watercolor

https://www.amazon.com/Paint-Brush-Brushes-Watercolor-Painting/dp/B00ZO90S1I/ref=sr_1_114_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1526303816&sr=8-114-spons&keywords=watercolor&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Watercolor-Block-Cold-Press-X12/dp/B0007XDHGO/ref=sr_1_115?ie=UTF8&qid=1526303859&sr=8-115&keywords=watercolor

https://www.amazon.com/Dr-Ph-Martins-400262-XXX-Watercolor/dp/B005TFSDF0/ref=sr_1_147?ie=UTF8&qid=1526304003&sr=8-147&keywords=watercolor

sorry for stupid long links