Watercolor Resources

[Note:  These suggestions for vendors does not mean that California State University Fullerton endorses these vendors.]

Local art supply vendors:

  • Art Supply Warehouse is a small store stacked to the gills with art supplies.The staff is usually knowledgeable and friendly and you could spend hours browsing the place. We get most of our mat board here. Prices are usually quite good and they often have great sales advertised in the local newspapers. Store hours: Mon - Fri 9am -8 pm, Sat & Sun 10 am - 6 pm.

http://www.artsupplywarehouse.com/

6672 Westminster Blvd. 
Westminster, CA 92683
Phone:(800) 854-6467

  • Utrecht/Dick Blick in Fullerton is a store near campus.  Their prices for watercolor paints is high but they are conveniently located and often have sales where there are 40% discounts on items.  Store hours: Mon - Fri 9 am - 7 pm, Sat 9 am - 6 pm, Sunday 11 am - 6 pm.  Ask for a card to be a preferred customer as a student to get a 10% discount on non-sale items.

http://www.utrechtart.com/

http://www.dickblick.com/

601 North Placentia Ave
Fullerton 92831-3207
Phone: (714) 528-8790
Fax: (714) 528-2606

Online art supply vendors:

  • Cheap Joe’s Art Supplies has been the main online supplier for this workshop.Their prices are good, the website is very complete with information on each item, and the owner is also a watercolorist. http://www.cheapjoes.com/
  • Jerry’s Artarama has a wide array of supplies, especially for student grade supplies with good prices.  http://www.jerrysartarama.com
  • Dick Blick Art Supply online has a comprehensive inventory and with good prices, better usually than what you get at the local store in Fullerton.
  • Amazon of course has most everything you would want but their prices for art supplies often are not the best, but they often have interesting alternatives that may be OK.
  • The Italian Art Store has professional quality supplies, prices aren’t as good as Cheap Joe’s, but they often carry certain supplies that other vendors do not.  https://italianartstore.com/

 

Watercolor Instructional sites:

Email your coordinator if you find sites that should be added and include a short description and comment about its usefulness.

  • Search YouTube for instructional videos on many topics in watercolor.  Once you find an instructor you like you can subscribe to their channel and be informed when they post new videos.  YouTube is probably the most comprehensive website for finding a myriad of watercolor tutorials. 
  • Cheap Joe's short online videos for basic watercolor techniques.  http://www.cheapjoes.com/artist-resources
  • Susie Short ‘s web site has numerous tips for achieving certain qualities of watercolor paintings that may be useful, especially for beginners.http://www.susieshort.net/watercolor-tips.html
  • A comprehensive website on watercolor media, papers, brushes, palettes, techniques, and color theory BY Bruce MacEvoy.  It has links and scholarly description of the various pigments and qualities of paints, color theory, etc.  : http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/water.html
  • The Painted Prism is watercolorist Pat Howard's website.  It has good ideas for projects to learn specific watercolor techniques and produce a beautiful painting at the end of an exercise.  http://thepaintedprism.blogspot.com/
  • If you're interested in putting together color charts of your palette, check this site for creating a relatively unique version that would provide information about the transparency of a color, its range of values, and the colors produced by mixing with other colors in your palette.  Be sure to click on the arrow in the box on the right of the image to view the process for creating the chart.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/artbydabs/854500371/in/set-72157600909898359/  
  • A pay-for-view website of demonstration videos can be accessed at the Artistnetwork.com website: https://www.artistsnetwork.com/

 

Download useful handouts:

These handouts may be useful to those who are beginning watercolor painters that were created by a former OLLI watercolor instructor, Peg Simmons:

Recommended watercolor brush sizes.PDF File

Recommended watercolor combinationsPDF File .

Principles of composition.PDF File

Suggested supply list for beginners/long-term committers in watercolorPDF File