News: To hear first about upcoming classes; request class content; and receive pre and post-class material for further study, please join our private study group. You can also check out free tutorials on our YouTube channel Soho Life Drawing
Ann's 2024 Material List and Faq
*I have no sponsorship or business relations with brands recommended/used in classes
Watercolour Media
Koh-i-Noor Anilinky 12 Set Brilliant Watercolours (note: be sure the box has "brilliant" on it or it's not the same media)
Imitation Squirrel Watercolour Brushes inc. round brush and flat brush
Cold-Pressed Watercolour Paper min 300 GSM
White Gouache
Masking Fluid
Masking Tape
Pencil/Watercolour Pencil/Water-soluble crayon
Candle (sub white crayon, white oil pastel)
Total cost to student; Around £20 for all of the above via Amazon
Material List FAQ
Why are we using Anilinky Watercolours?
-We are using anilinky watercolours so that we can all explore wet-on-wet watercolour techniques and achieve the same tonal range as artist grade watercolours without buying expensive paper or watercolours. This means that students will not have limits on their ability to reproduce any given image based on their media—i.e. not being able to get dark enough colours or work wet-on-wet without destroying paper. It also means that I can standardise my lessons, and that you can practice the techniques we cover in class as beginners and prepare drafts for final paintings without wasting expensive resources.
What's the white gouache for?
That's for making cooler, more pastel like colours when mixed with the watercolours. We can also use it to make coloured gouache by blending with dye based watercolours.
What is Masking Fluid?
It's a gum you put on watercolour paper to keep paint off highlights and other areas you want to keep dry.
How are Anilinky’s different from other watercolours?
Anilinky watercolours are dye based, which means they have more intense colour and tone than pigment based watercolours at a lower price point. This means that they can be used with less expensive paper as well, as you need fewer water layers to achieve intense colour.
Why not just use student grade, pigment based watercolours?
Several reasons. 1. Using Anilinky’s allow me to standardise my classes. Paint colours are not standardised, so one persons burnt umber may look very different from another’s depending on brand. Here we can all be on the same page
2. We can do wet-on-wet techniques with less expensive paper, as each layer is more intense,
3. Students can practice without being over-cautious in the amount of paint they use because of expense.
4. If you wanted to replicate a photograph with these paints—you could. This makes them valuable for learning about tone and hue in the natural world, and doing studies on replicating value.
What are the downside’s to using Anilinkys?
Anilinky watercolours, like most low-cost watercolours, are not particularly lightfast—which means you’ll want to keep your paintings out of the light to avoid bleaching. You also will be limited in your ability to rework them once they are on paper and will not have any of the granulating effects of pigment-based watercolours. Finally, they are a bit more difficult to use at first because the colours in the palette are not necessarily the same as the colours they are when water is added. However, I’ve weighed these downsides in usage against the upsides in result.
How should I choose pigment-based watercolours?
With pigment based watercolours, cost is associated with pigment content—and it’s always better to invest in artist grade watercolours than student grade. Student grade watercolours have less pigment and more binder, which means that you need to use more media to get the same depth of tone as artist grade watercolours. If you’re a beginner who is using student-grade paper as well, this means that you will not be able to reproduce certain paintings with dramatic tonal ranges or apply certain water-based techniques— regardless of how hard you try to copy what someone using better supplies is doing.
Should I get the multi-colour set as a beginner?
I would recommend you stick with the 12 colour palette. It is important to learn how colours interact with one another, and usually no more than 6 colours are needed for any one watercolour painting. Once you learn to mix colours, you will be able to achieve a very wide range. Afterwards, I'd recommend graduating to artist-grade watercolours if realism is your goal. Using too many colours in one painting often leads to greying, as certain hues dull each other. It's better to know a few colours backward and forwards than have a lot of colours that you don't know very well.
Should I use pigment-based watercolours/I already have watercolours I’m happy with, can I use them instead?
Absolutely! Just invest in quality, and take the time to get to know your colours. If you feel confident with your current palette—by all means use it in class! My main goal here is to prevent students from getting frustrated with themselves or thinking they’re doing something wrong when the fact is what they’re attempting is simply impossible with the media they’re using. It also seems unreasonable to suggest that absolute beginners invest in only artist-grade supplies when practice (i.e. making a ton of bad paintings!) is essential!
I want to put together a palette of artist-quality watercolours and paper-can you help me?
Sure! I’ve got my own recommendations, which I’ll cover in class, and will also provide a reading list of books I’ve found helpful in understanding watercolours which include the authors palette according to their focus.
What exact colours are in the 12 set?
Because these colours are dye based, rather than pigment based, I can only give a general approximation for their analogues in pigment-based watercolour. I’d describe them as follows:
Black: Lamp Black
Blue 1: Pthalo Blue
Blue 2: Ultramarine Blue
Purple: Windsor Violet Red
Yellow 1: Lemon Yellow
Yellow 2: Orange Yellow (nothing similar—very bright)
Red: Cadmium Red Deep
Brown: Burnt Umber/Raw Sienna Mix
Green 1: Sap Green
Green 2: Jungle Green/Windsor Green Blue
Grey —N/A
White—N/A
Koh-i-Noor Anilinky 12 Set Brilliant Watercolours (note: be sure the box has "brilliant" on it or it's not the same media)
Imitation Squirrel Watercolour Brushes inc. round brush and flat brush
Cold-Pressed Watercolour Paper min 300 GSM
White Gouache
Masking Fluid
Masking Tape
Pencil/Watercolour Pencil/Water-soluble crayon
Candle (sub white crayon, white oil pastel)
Total cost to student; Around £20 for all of the above via Amazon
Material List FAQ
Why are we using Anilinky Watercolours?
-We are using anilinky watercolours so that we can all explore wet-on-wet watercolour techniques and achieve the same tonal range as artist grade watercolours without buying expensive paper or watercolours. This means that students will not have limits on their ability to reproduce any given image based on their media—i.e. not being able to get dark enough colours or work wet-on-wet without destroying paper. It also means that I can standardise my lessons, and that you can practice the techniques we cover in class as beginners and prepare drafts for final paintings without wasting expensive resources.
What's the white gouache for?
That's for making cooler, more pastel like colours when mixed with the watercolours. We can also use it to make coloured gouache by blending with dye based watercolours.
What is Masking Fluid?
It's a gum you put on watercolour paper to keep paint off highlights and other areas you want to keep dry.
How are Anilinky’s different from other watercolours?
Anilinky watercolours are dye based, which means they have more intense colour and tone than pigment based watercolours at a lower price point. This means that they can be used with less expensive paper as well, as you need fewer water layers to achieve intense colour.
Why not just use student grade, pigment based watercolours?
Several reasons. 1. Using Anilinky’s allow me to standardise my classes. Paint colours are not standardised, so one persons burnt umber may look very different from another’s depending on brand. Here we can all be on the same page
2. We can do wet-on-wet techniques with less expensive paper, as each layer is more intense,
3. Students can practice without being over-cautious in the amount of paint they use because of expense.
4. If you wanted to replicate a photograph with these paints—you could. This makes them valuable for learning about tone and hue in the natural world, and doing studies on replicating value.
What are the downside’s to using Anilinkys?
Anilinky watercolours, like most low-cost watercolours, are not particularly lightfast—which means you’ll want to keep your paintings out of the light to avoid bleaching. You also will be limited in your ability to rework them once they are on paper and will not have any of the granulating effects of pigment-based watercolours. Finally, they are a bit more difficult to use at first because the colours in the palette are not necessarily the same as the colours they are when water is added. However, I’ve weighed these downsides in usage against the upsides in result.
How should I choose pigment-based watercolours?
With pigment based watercolours, cost is associated with pigment content—and it’s always better to invest in artist grade watercolours than student grade. Student grade watercolours have less pigment and more binder, which means that you need to use more media to get the same depth of tone as artist grade watercolours. If you’re a beginner who is using student-grade paper as well, this means that you will not be able to reproduce certain paintings with dramatic tonal ranges or apply certain water-based techniques— regardless of how hard you try to copy what someone using better supplies is doing.
Should I get the multi-colour set as a beginner?
I would recommend you stick with the 12 colour palette. It is important to learn how colours interact with one another, and usually no more than 6 colours are needed for any one watercolour painting. Once you learn to mix colours, you will be able to achieve a very wide range. Afterwards, I'd recommend graduating to artist-grade watercolours if realism is your goal. Using too many colours in one painting often leads to greying, as certain hues dull each other. It's better to know a few colours backward and forwards than have a lot of colours that you don't know very well.
Should I use pigment-based watercolours/I already have watercolours I’m happy with, can I use them instead?
Absolutely! Just invest in quality, and take the time to get to know your colours. If you feel confident with your current palette—by all means use it in class! My main goal here is to prevent students from getting frustrated with themselves or thinking they’re doing something wrong when the fact is what they’re attempting is simply impossible with the media they’re using. It also seems unreasonable to suggest that absolute beginners invest in only artist-grade supplies when practice (i.e. making a ton of bad paintings!) is essential!
I want to put together a palette of artist-quality watercolours and paper-can you help me?
Sure! I’ve got my own recommendations, which I’ll cover in class, and will also provide a reading list of books I’ve found helpful in understanding watercolours which include the authors palette according to their focus.
What exact colours are in the 12 set?
Because these colours are dye based, rather than pigment based, I can only give a general approximation for their analogues in pigment-based watercolour. I’d describe them as follows:
Black: Lamp Black
Blue 1: Pthalo Blue
Blue 2: Ultramarine Blue
Purple: Windsor Violet Red
Yellow 1: Lemon Yellow
Yellow 2: Orange Yellow (nothing similar—very bright)
Red: Cadmium Red Deep
Brown: Burnt Umber/Raw Sienna Mix
Green 1: Sap Green
Green 2: Jungle Green/Windsor Green Blue
Grey —N/A
White—N/A
Designed for life drawers of all levels--including complete beginners-- Ann's friendly and non judgmental Zoom classes are designed to equip members with toolkits to approach a wide variety of life drawing subjects.
Taught by Ann Mackowski
Taught by Ann Mackowski