Best Watercolor Supplies for Coloring Books

Watercolor Supplies for Adult Coloring Books

I’ll be introducing my favorite watercolor supplies to use in your coloring books in this article. As always, use caution with any new supplies and play with them a bit in your art journal or a page you aren’t in love with before you tackle a new project. Know that MOST coloring book pages aren’t watercolor paper so you will need to take care to use less water than what you would use for proper watercolor painting. You can always copy the pages in your books to watercolor paper.

Derwent Watercolor Pencils

Derwent has two options:

Derwent Inktense Watercolor pencils can be used wet or dry but when water is added the colors become INTENSE.. thus the name.  Derwent Intense come in tiny packs of 6, or 12 but I would recommend one of the 3 middle sizes. 24, 36, 48(in a fancy wooden box below) or 72. Derwent Inktense Watercolor pencils in the UK and in Canada. These are not actually watercolors but instead are ink in the form of a pencil that activate with water. They are a bit magical. Peta Hewitt’s videos are invaluable in learning to use this watercolor supply.

My favorite instructional artist Peta Hewitt shows you how to use Inktense Colored Pencils in this tutorial video.

Peta Hewitt warns us Inktense Pencils actually aren’t watercolor but rather acrylic ink in the form of a pencil so it does activate with water, but once it dries, then it’s permanent as opposed to watercolors which you can add water too and move the color around.

Faber Castell also has a couple of options for you in Watercolor Pencils

Albrecht Durer Artist Watercolor Pencils

These pencils open new horizons to your artistic creations by combining the advantages and applications of the classical watercolor paints and color pencils. The high pigment density ensures unsurpassed brilliance and the maximum possible light- fastness even for the most delicate shades and nuances.

Wonderfully creamy leads and high-density color make these pencils a perfect choice for anyone who is at all serious about working with watercolor pencils. The colors are more muted than those of Derwent Inktense Pencils, but the marks made can be moved more than once with water, so they serve a slightly different purpose. The two sets combined would be the absolutely ultimate collection a water colorist could desire. 

Click to buy Albrecht Durer’  Watercolor Pencils   US   UK   Canada

Albrecht Durer’s set of 24 includes: White, Light yellow glaze, Cadmium yellow, Dark chrome yellow, Dark cadmium orange, Pale geranium lake, Deep scarlet red, Dark red, Magenta, Helioblue-reddish, Ultramarine, Light ultramarine, Phthalo blue, Dark phthalo green, Emerald green, Light green, Earth green yellowish, Venetian red, Burnt ochre, Raw umber, Walnut brown, Warm grey V, Warm grey II, Black.

Albrecht Durer’s set of 36 includes: 

White, Cream, Light yellow glaze, Cadmium yellow, Dark chrome yellow, Cadmium orange, Dark cadmium orange, Pale geranium lake, Deep scarlet red, Middle cadmium red, Dark red, Magenta, Rose carmine, Middle purple pink, Mauve, Dark indigo, Helioblue-reddish, Ultramarine, Light ultramarine, Phthalo blue, Cobalt turquoise, Cobalt green, Dark phthalo green, Emerald green, Light green, Leaf green, Earth green yellowish, Pompeian red, Venetian red, Burnt ochre, Dark Naples ochre, Raw umber, Walnut brown, Warm grey V, Warm grey II, Black

Albrecht Durer’s set of 60 includes:

White, Cream, Light yellow glaze, Cadmium yellow lemon, Light cadmium yellow, Cadmium yellow, Dark cadmium yellow, Dark chrome yellow, Cadmium orange, Dark cadmium orange, Pale geranium lake, Deep scarlet red, Middle cadmium red, Permanent carmine, Dark red, Magenta, Madder, Rose carmine, Middle purple pink, Pink madder lake, Red-violet, Purple violet, Mauve, Delft blue, Dark indigo, Indanthrene blue, Helioblue-reddish, Ultramarine, Light ultramarine, Phthalo blue, Bluish turquoise, Prussian blue, Cobalt turquoise, Cobalt green, Deep cobalt green, Dark phthalo green, Emerald green, Light green, Leaf green, Pine green, Juniper green, Olive green yellowish, Earth green yellowish, Chromium green opaque, Medium flesh, Pompeian red, Venetian red, Sanguine, Burnt ochre, Naples yellow, Dark Naples ochre, Raw umber, Van Dyck brown, Burnt siena, Walnut brown, Warm grey V, Warm grey II, Cold grey II, Cold grey IV, Black

Albrecht Durer’s set of 72 includes:

White, Cream, Light yellow glaze, Cadmium yellow lemon, Light cadmium yellow, Cadmium yellow, Dark cadmium yellow, Dark chrome yellow, Cadmium orange, Dark cadmium orange, Scarlet red, Pale geranium lake, Deep scarlet red, Middle cadmium red, Permanent carmine, Dark red, Magenta, Madder, Rose carmine, Middle purple pink, Pink madder lake, Light magenta, Red-violet, Crimson, Purple violet, Mauve, Delft blue, Dark indigo, Indanthrene blue, Helioblue-reddish, Cobalt blue, Ultramarine, Light ultramarine, Skyblue, Phthalo blue, Light phthalo blue, Bluish turquoise, Prussian blue, Cobalt turquoise, Light cobalt turquoise, Cobalt green, Deep cobalt green, Dark phthalo green, Phthalo green, Emerald green, Light green, Leaf green, Pine green, Juniper green, Olive green yellowish, Earth green yellowish, Chromium green opaque, Earth green, Medium flesh, Light flesh, Cinnamon, Pompeian red, Venetian red, Sanguine, Burnt ochre, Naples yellow, Dark Naples ochre, Green gold, Raw umber, Van Dyck brown, Burnt siena, Walnut brown, Warm grey V, Warm grey II, Cold grey II, Cold grey IV, Black

Faber Castell’s Complete Set of Watercolor Supplies

Albrecht Durer’s set of 120 includes: White, Ivory, Cream, Light yellow glaze, Cadmium yellow lemon, Light cadmium yellow, Light chrome yellow, Cadmium yellow, Dark cadmium yellow, Dark chrome yellow, Cadmium orange, Orange glaze, Dark cadmium orange, Light cadmium red, Scarlet red, Pale geranium lake, Deep scarlet red, Deep red, Middle cadmium red, Permanent carmine, Dark red, Magenta, Madder, Alizarzin crimson, Pink carmine, Rose carmine, Fuchsia, Middle purple pink, Light purple pink, Pink madder lake, Light magenta, Ligth red-violet, Red-violet, Crimson, Manganese violet, Violet, Purple violet, Blue violet, Mauve, Delft blue, Dark indigo, Indanthrene blue, Helioblue-reddish, Cobalt blue, Ultramarine, Light ultramarine, Skyblue, Cobalt blue günlich, Phthalo blue, Middle phthalo blue, Light phthalo blue, Helio turquoise, Bluish turquoise, Prussian blue, Cobalt turquoise, Light cobalt turquoise, Cobalt green, Deep cobalt green, Hooker’s green, Dark phthalo green, Chrome oxide green fiery, Phthalo green, Emerald green, Ohthalogrün hell, Light green, Grass green, Leaf green, Permanent green, Permanent green olive, Pine green, Chrome oxid green, Juniper green, Olive green yellowish, May green, Earth green yellowish, Chromium green opaque, Earth green, Caput mortuum, Indian red, Caput mortuum Violet, Burnt carmine, Dark flesh, Medium flesh, Light flesh, Cinnamon, Pompeian red, Venetian red, Sanguine, Burnt ochre, Terracotta, Light yellow ochre, Naples yellow, Dark Naples ochre, Green gold, Brown ochre, Raw umber, Bistre, Van Dyck brown, Nougat, Burnt umber, Burnt siena, Walnut brown, Dark sepia, Warm grey VI, Warm grey V, Warm grey III, Warm grey II, Warm grey I, Cold grey I, Cold grey II, Cold grey III, Cold grey IV, Cold grey V, Cold grey VI, Payne’s grey, Black, Silver, Gold, Copper.

You can also order beautiful wood boxed sets for special gifts for the artists in your life.

Albrecht Durer’ Colored Pencils  Click To Order US   UK   Canada

Your third artist grade watercolor pencil option is from Caran D’ache the pencil company that brings you the beautiful Pablo and Luminance colored pencil also has a line of watercolor pencils called Supracolor which compare to the Pablo’s and Museum Caran D’ache Museum Aquarelle Watercolor Pencils which are the Watercolor version of Luminance! WOW! The price reflects. 

Caran D’ache Watercolor Pencils

Oh, MY these are beautiful, just like their Luminance line of colored pencil they come boxed with little pillows for each pencil and that is how I treat my small set of 20.. like royalty. You can purchase these 72 gorgeous sticks of color by clicking here in the US  but they are in limited supply available in the UK here and Canada here.

The Caran D’ache Museum Aquarelle Pencil also sell in a set of 20 Landscape Colors 

Click to Order Amazon US  Amazon UK  Amazon Canada

Caran D’ache Museum Aquarelle Pencil Sets Museum Intro set of 12 colors includes
Black, Yellow Ochre, Brown, Lemon Yellow, Purplish Red, Payne’s Grey, Gold Cadmium Yellow. Light Cadmium Red. Dark Ultramarine, Permanent Blue, Phthalocyanine Green and Bright Green

Click to Order Amazon US  Amazon UK  Amazon Canada

Inexpensive Watercolor Sets

My absolutely favorite for my mixed media art projects but would also be perfect for coloring books are the sets by Prima. Just the tins they come in are worth the full price. They come in color coordinated sets based on what type of art you enjoy.

Prima Watercolor Sets

Decadent Pies Watercolor Set

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Prima Marketing Watercolor Confections: Tropicals 

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Prima Marketing Watercolor Confections: The Classics

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Prima Marketing watercolor Confections: Shimmering Lights 

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Koi Water Color Travel Set – I really love this set as it contains a mini set of 24 pans of paint plus a Koi Waterbrush. This is made by Sakura, makers of Gelly Roll pens. This is the set I have.  I was warned at the art store that these colors aren’t artist grade and will fade with time and exposure to sunlight so if that is important to you, check the lightfast rating.

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Also, a nice budget option for watercolors are the Koh i Noor stack of watercolors with 24 pots of color in a cute stack of color wheels

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Winsor & Newton Cotman Water Color Pocket PLUS Set of 24 Half Pans

This is a student grade of watercolors but still a nice quality that would work perfectly for your coloring books. Each color has good transparency, excellent tinting strength and good working properties.

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Some people have a hard time controlling the water that comes out of water brushes so you can use watercolor brushes. You will need a small and medium round and a small flat brush. You can buy sets of them for very inexpensively to start out or head to your hobby store and buy one or two nice one’s using whatever coupon you have.

Waterbrushes are quite handy and are my favorite one’s particularly on the go as you don’t have to rinse the brushes out,  just blot off the color on your practice paper and go to a near area. See Peta’s video above for two ways to use the water brushes.

Zig Kuretake Aqua Brushes come in two sizes Medium and Zig Detail Aqua Brush

Click to Order Waterbrushes UK      Waterbrushes Canada

How to use water brushes Tutorial Video from Peta.

We hope this helped you get started with watercolor supplies for your coloring, be sure to check out these coloring books designed specifically for watercolors and more video tutorials on watercolor coloring techniques here.