Anna's Standard Kit

Below is a brief outline of the equipment Anna uses for most tutorials. It's not essential that you have the same supplies Anna uses, but you'll get the best results if you do.

Please visit the Knowledge Base for more detailed information about the equipment.

You can find links to buy the below equipment on this page.

Essential Supplies:

Brushes

Watch a video about brushes here.
Anna uses the 'Anna Mason Set' of synthetic 'pointed spotter' brushes, in sizes 5, 3, 1, 0 and 3/0. These are made by brush makers Rosemary & Co. in the UK and they can ship worldwide. If you're looking for alternatives, look for: synthetic hairs, shorter length hairs (known as ‘miniature’ or ‘spotter’ brushes), small sizes, short handles.

Paper

Watch a video about paper here.
Many of the tutorials can be completed in a quality sketchbook (see details below), especially those in our foundation course Realistic Watercolour 101.
For larger paintings or pieces you might like to frame, Anna recommends 'hot pressed' watercolour paper, which has a smooth surface and is ideal for painting details. Anna recommends paper that comes glued in a block/pad, as it helps the paper to stay flat and prevents buckling. The Nature Studio tutorials are mostly demonstrated at the 9 x 12” size but a few are at the 12 x 16” size (however you can resize the outline drawings when you print them). Anna uses the brand Arches, but any hot pressed paper that is made from 100% cotton (for good absorbency) will be fine. Use cheaper watercolour or cartridge paper to test colours on as you paint.

Paints

You can use the paints you already have, but you'll get the best results here if you use the same paints Anna uses. Watch this video to understand why Professional quality paints will give you far better results than student paints can.
Unless otherwise stated, Anna paints with Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolour paints.
Limited (6 paint) Palette - Many of Anna's tutorials, particularly the first classes we recommend new members begin with (in our Realistic Watercolour 101 foundation course), can be completed with a Limited Palette of 6 paints. See the details here.
Complete (11 paint) Palette - The vast majority of tutorials in Nature Studio can be completed with Anna's 'Complete Palette' of 11 paints - see the 'Complete Palette' details here. These 11 paint colours can be used to mix a wide range of colours in nature and pretty much any tutorial in Nature Studio with a bit of colour mixing. We recommend you aim to collect the 11 colours as you progress through the tutorials, or if you feel like treating yourself to them all in one go, these 11 paints are what we recommend.
Extended (18 paint) Palette - in some tutorials, Anna uses extra colours that aren't in the Complete Palette but can be mixed to a fairly close match from the 11 paints. You can read the full details here.
The Tutorial Library can be filtered by Palette.
Substituting brands - If you have Professional (or Artist) quality paints in similar colours to Anna's made by other manufacturers, check the pigment numbers to match them rather than the name, as different brands can use different names for the same pigments.

Other equipment

Watch a video here about other equipment and setting up.
Palette - Anna recommends using a flat white palette - ideally a ceramic white plate or tile.
Pencil - for making outline drawings. An HB is ideal. Anna uses a 0.5mm mechanical pencil.
Eraser - handy to have nearby for lightening heavy lines in your drawings and fixing any drawing errors. A polymer eraser (rather than a putty rubber) is best.

Sketchbook

Anna highly recommends keeping a sketchbook as a place for experimentation, making notes and capturing inspiration - even if you're mostly painting on a paper block (we have a course about How to Cultivate a Sketchbook Habit).
Anna has tested out several sketchbooks and you can see her review of them here. The winner for Anna is the Stillman & Birn ZETA series.

Where to buy essential supplies:

Buying links to all of the essential supplies listed on this page can be found on this page (including suppliers in the UK, US, Canada and Australia).

Optional extras & where to buy them:

There are some optional extras Anna sometimes uses, like a wooden table easel for added comfort, a daylight lamp for seeing colours accurately after dark, an iPad stand for making it easy to have the reference photo next to you, and more.

You can find details of these optional extras, and buying links, on this page.