What I like, What I use, What I recommend
Latex paint, colloquially known as "house paint" is really my favorite. It is inexpensive, comes in any color you want, dries quickly, mixes well, has an excellent shelf life, and is suitable for a myriad of surfaces. The colors with asterisks above are my three "primary" colors, all of the others are blended swatches. Latex colors often do not blend cleanly, or how you would expect them to. It is best to do small tests before mixing a large amount. For example, see above how the blue and red do not make pure purple but rather a kind of dusty indigo. When the half-pint sample size is less than $4 (from Lowes) I don't mind buying a specific color when I need it.
1. Studio Lascaux 931 Magenta (85 ml bottle)
2. Liquitex Soft Body Cadmium Yellow Light Hue (2 oz bottle)
3. Studio Lascaux 946 Turquoise Blue (85 ml bottle)
Not cheap (over $10 per bottle) but these are wonderful. Incredibly pigment dense and blendable into such pure tones you could rival Lisa Frank. And it is amazing how far a small amount of paint will go. Of course Liquitex and Lascaux have dozens of colors available, but if you can only afford three I would recommend these. Something that might be distressing to those of us who learned about our primary colors is that I am using magenta, not red. I don't know why, but with these specific paints it works. When I want something red, I have other paints for that. Also worth noting I mix these with my latex colors all the time, no problem.
2. Liquitex Soft Body Cadmium Yellow Light Hue (2 oz bottle)
3. Studio Lascaux 946 Turquoise Blue (85 ml bottle)
Not cheap (over $10 per bottle) but these are wonderful. Incredibly pigment dense and blendable into such pure tones you could rival Lisa Frank. And it is amazing how far a small amount of paint will go. Of course Liquitex and Lascaux have dozens of colors available, but if you can only afford three I would recommend these. Something that might be distressing to those of us who learned about our primary colors is that I am using magenta, not red. I don't know why, but with these specific paints it works. When I want something red, I have other paints for that. Also worth noting I mix these with my latex colors all the time, no problem.
This is a very cool product-- acrylic pigment compressed in a dry block. Rub the blocks with a wet brush and it goes on paper like watercolors. Wet the paper and draw directly with the blocks for richer color. Draw on dry paper with dry blocks and then go over it with a wet brush (like above!) I prefer these to actual watercolor paint because you can layer the ink without muddying the colors below. I have the 12 color set.
Yes, these are markers, and when they cost over $2 each the bill adds up quickly. But they are fantastic. Half of my collection is over seven years old and there has been no drying or fading. Each Tombow has two ends: a "brush" point and a "pen" point. You can dip them in water to vary the intensity of your color. Color on a piece of glass with two markers and use a brush to paint your custom shade. My favorite method is to draw on watercolor paper and use a wet brush to bleed the colors into one another. Some of my markers are stained but it has not affected the intregrity of the ink. I have a problem with promotional photos showing the markers upright in a jar or one of those grid organizers; the markers should be stored horizontally.
Many are familiar with the Precise pens by Pilot. The V7 has a finer line than the V5 (I use both.) It has a visible ink supply, very smooth writing flow, and my favorite part is that the ink is very water soluble. Annoying if you drop your notebook in a puddle, but perfect for shading and watery outlines in art. I also decided to throw a shout-out to an unlikely "winner" the gold inc. Elementz metallic marker I purchased a couple of years ago from Walmart. Yes, the Sharpie pens and markers are often a go-to for silver and gold ink, but they ALWAYS dry out before I am finished with them. This cheap little marker has yet to run out of pigment and is a lovely shiny gold.