Botanical Drawing and Watercolor Supply List
Here is the supply list for the upcoming Botanical Watercolor Workshop.
For a guide on where to buy art supplies in Berlin, go HERE.
Check List:
- Hot Press Watercolor Block, 300g, A4
- Watercolor Set (Malkasten) – cakes in a box with space for mixing colors
- Watercolor Brush round size 4-6, size 1-2
- Pencils, HB and 2B
- White eraser
- Paper-towel
- Water cup
- Notebook for taking notes and testing colors
- Optional but highly recommended for Lockdown version: Masking Fluid
Long version with explanations and all details:
Paper:
Hot Press Watercolor Paper (also called smooth, Glatt, Glad) 300 g, A4.
- Botanical Illustrators have traditionally used Hot Press Watercolor Paper for their work because its smooth surface is conducive to fine detail.
- Watercolor paper can be purchased as a block (edges glued together so paper doesn’t buckle) or as individual sheets. If you choose to work on loose sheets, you will need a board to tape your paper to.

purchased at Boesner – cost 7 Euro
Brushes:
These are the minimum required brushes. Look for the brushes marked for watercolor with the short handle. The larger brush must be real or synthetic sable – this is the fibre that the brush is made from and can be referred to as Sable, Kolinsky-Sable, Rotmarderhaar (de). Real Sable brushes are made from animal hairs are are superior to synthetic brushes.
- #1-2 round brush – for fine detail
- #4-6 round brush – Sable, Kolinsky-Sable, Rotmarderhaar (de), or synthetic sable
Watercolors:
I recommend buying dry cakes of watercolors in a box (Aquarell Malkasten).
The fewest colors you can get by with would be these 6 colors below, the three primaries in warm and cool versions. If you have a watercolor set, bring that along and we can see if some colors can be substituted. Different brands also have different names for the same colors sometimes.
PRIMARIES | COOL COLORS | WARM COLORS |
BLUE | Phthalo Blue or Prussian Blue | Ultramarine Blue or Cobalt Blue |
RED | Alizarin Crimson | Cadmium Red or Vermillion |
YELLOW | Lemon Yellow | Cadmium Yellow |

Additional optional colors: Cobalt Blue, cerulean blue, Payne’s Grey, Burnt Sienna, Violet, Green Gold, Sap Green, Viridian Green, Permanent Rose/ quinacridone rose, Yellow Ochre, transparent yellow, your choice!
White Gouache (opaque watercolor) – titanium white
Other:
- Pencils: HB, H, 2B and white eraser
- Notebook for taking notes
- Water cup
Optional:
- masking fluid (and a cheap small brush to use with the masking fluid)
- masking tape
- additional palette for mixing colors
- magnifying glass
- knife
- pigment Liner 0.1 (artist archival ink pen)
- kneadable eraser
If you have any questions, let me know!
Check out our GUIDE TO BUYING ART SUPPLIES IN BERLIN
