Can anyone give me some advice about choosing materials for watercolor painting as a disabled person who has to spend most of my time in bed?

penpencilbrush🇨🇦

@temporal_spider Then there's watercolour pencil sets which are fun and convenient.
Not meaning to promote this particular company, but just because I know where to find products there. Anywhere from Amazon to the brand websites can provide options.

https://opusartsupplies.com/products/derwent-inktense-pencil-sets

CynBlogger™️Resists Tyranny!

@temporal_spider
Another option to consider is digital painting with an iPad, an Apple Pencil & Procreate. No supplies. No mess to clean up. A bit of a learning curve as the app is powerful & therefore complex, but challenging is good, right?

I switched from oil painting to all digital a while back & I’m going to donate all my supplies. (I’m also disabled, stuck on the couch most of the time.)

YouTube has lots of channels on Procreate art, if you’re interested. (Other tablets work also, but with different apps.)

penpencilbrush🇨🇦

@temporal_spider Here's an article about the various watercolour brands, not sure what's available in your area. They all have strong and weak points. Part of the fun over the years is trying different brands to see what you prefer. A lot of artists use some of each.

https://finearttutorials.com/guide/best-watercolour-paint/

Carolyn

@penpencilbrush @temporal_spider This is a good paint set. Make sure you paint on acid-free paper, heavy enough to withstand the medium. Good paper can be as important as nice paint.

neville park

@temporal_spider You can get brushes with barrels that can be filled with water, like these (https://midoco.ca/products/yasutomo-niji-waterbrush-3pk)!

Mati Rangel

@temporal_spider I am a starter too and my art teacher recommended me Nevskaya Palitra, it's amazin comparing to supermarket watercolors and has good quality/price balance. Be sure to choose a set with the basic colors.

james is here

@temporal_spider i was gifted one of the Sakura field kit sets and it's perfect for limiting the mess. The included water brush solves the water issue - that does limit the technique a bit since it has a certain flow rate, but if you really wanted to add more water you could also use an eyedropper. You can also mix the pan color with watercolor pencils - those will activate just by touching the tip of the pencil to a wet brush, producing bold lines of color.
https://www.sakuraofamerica.com/product/koi-water-color-field-sketch-kit/

ratfactor

@temporal_spider I second the recommendation for water brushes. Squeezing them just the right amount to get the brush wet without dripping takes a bit of practice, but is totally do-able.

There are a bunch of great watercolor pan sets that are a step up from supermarket, but are still quite inexpensive.

What I've done is start with a small, cheap Sakura Koi travel set and as the colors ran out, I've refilled with nice tubes. When the tube paint dries, it works just like the pans - wet and use!

ratfactor

@temporal_spider Here's my current setup. I use this for all of my art. Koi travel set. Cheap synthetic brushes. Very compact.

Expensive tube paints normally not out, but shown as example - I only have to refill every couple months, if that.

A water cup can be glued to a piece of board or cardboard to make spills less likely. This is our little secret, but I just do a quick rinse on my cup and brushes after use. It's fine. Synthetic is very forgiving.

cathos

@temporal_spider i've also used the water-filled brushes, but there are other solutions like this water pot that won't spill even if tipped over (you have to overfill it and really try to get it to spill): https://www.atlantisart.co.uk/c-a-childrens-non-spill-brush-pot-extra-wide/
I mostly use watercolor pencils right now, so I'm not much help on the paints.

Deborah Preuss, pcc 🇨🇦

@penpencilbrush @temporal_spider absolutely. For watercolour in bed: perfect (I can attest! ).

Deborah Preuss, pcc 🇨🇦

@temporal_spider @nev I can help - have tried out many different sets, looking for best bang-for-buck for students.
What country are you in? That will help me recommend.
Also: do you like to mix your own colours or have a palette with lots of pre-mixed colours (which won't mix as cleanly together, but will be pretty!)
do you care if they fade over time? (In daylight, that is. In a sketchbook most paints son't fade).

Maija Koivula

@temporal_spider Like others have mentioned, the brushes you can fill with water are nice, I have a whole set and use them frequently. The pencils are nice too, and you can paint the water on them with a water-filled brush, or use the pencils to add detail to a painting.

There are a lot of expensive quality water colour palettes, my teacher wanted all of us to graduate to Schminke, I don’t know what kinds you have available to you. I currently paint with Ukrainian company’s Rosa watercolours, which are lower mid tier in price, but just looking at colour wheels I’ve made with my paints, you can tell they’re packed with pigment.

I hope you find useful information to your situation and that you get to do some painting!