NHI 1 Basic Supplies

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1. Suggested basic drawing supplies. 

A good lamp.

a magnifying glass

1 kneadable and 1 vinyl eraser

a craft knife

a ruler

fine sandpaper

dividers or callipers

a feather for brushing away crumbs of eraser.

Pencils: HB, 2B, 4B, H

A grip pencil with refillable fine leads.

Notes:

a. You don't need to rush out and buy a holding magnifying glass unless you are sure you will be continuing on with botanical illustration. However they are great because otherwise you either have to hold your specimen or secure it somehow in a vase.

b. A craft knife is a handy way of paring back the wood of a pencil instead of a pencil sharpener.

c. Callipers are very useful for measuring a specimen, but a ruler and a pair of dividers works fine too.

2. Suggested basic painting supplies.
6 pans or tubes of watercolour paint:
lemon yellow, gamboge, cadmium red, alizarin crimson, cobalt blue, ultramarine blue
a palette tray
a cloth or paper towels
jars for water and to hold brushes
a Flat brush for even washes
watercolour brushes: 'Rounds' in the following sizes:
0, 2, 6

Notes:
a. Two flat brushes are shown for examples. You only need one.
b. Windsor and Newton Cotman paints are good quality for a good price. They will give you less pigment on your paper as they tend to have a higher 'filler' content.  (If it says 'hue', it has filler). Windsor and Newton Professional or Artist is next in quality. Top line and most expensive are brands like Holbein, Schmincke, Daniel Smith or Sennelier.  All of these will give you a lovely painting experience.
c. It is personal preference wether to go for pans (or a set of pans) or tubes.  You can squeeze tubes into certain types of pans or just use what you need on a palette.  Watercolour can be re-activated with water after it has dried, and for small paintings a little goes a long way. It is very economical as a media.
d. It's good to start with two of each primary colour: The ones suggested are above, but basically are a lemony yellow, and a warm yellow, an orangey-red, and a purply-red, a greenish-blue and a purply-blue.
With these colours almost all other colours can be mixed.

Suggested basic drawing and painting paper.
Notes:
a. Hot pressed paper is smooth and usually the choice for accurate illustration.
Cold pressed is a more textured surface.  It is nice for landscapes, but Bockingford cold pressed as below can work for illustration too.
b. 300 gsm paper is very thick and usually won't buckle when wet.  Thinner paper will need to be wetted and stretched on a board, then dried, before using.
c. A higher cotton content is usually nicer to use.
d. Brands. Bockingford is ok paper for beginners. Middle range is Fabriano, Moulin du Roy. Top shelf is papers like Arches. Expensive papers are easier to get good results with.  In general you get what you pay for.