My Must-Have Bottle Painting Supplies

When I began delving into bottle painting, I felt overwhelmed trying to figure out exactly what supplies I needed. If you’re like me (lazy), you just want to have a perfectly outlined shopping list - and of course you want to be sure you’re investing in quality tools and supplies.

Well look no further - after some personal trial & error, and consulting some other expert bottle painters, I’ve created this all-inclusive list for you!

Paint Brushes: FBP Beginner Bottle Painting Brushes (6pc Set)

It should be no surprise that my favourite paint brushes for bottle painting were created by expert bottle painters themselves. Michelle (Juniper Calligraphy) & Floryntina (LovingA Designs) have created these beautiful, sleek & aesthetic high-quality synthetic paint brushes. This beginner 6pc brush set comes in the perfect sizes for painting the perfect details on your client’s luxury goods. Since I received them, they have been the go-to’s for all my events. My only advice is to buy 2 sets!

Alternative Brushes: Bright Craft Detail Paint Brushes (12pc set)
These are the alternate paint brushes I used prior to the FBP brushes being available. They are a decent price for the # of brushes you receive (though to be honest, I do not use all 12), but definitely a great alternative that’s readily available on Amazon Canada. The one downside to these brushes is that I do find the hairs split occasionally with frequent use.

Acrylic Paint: Folk-Art® Multi-Surface Acrylic Paint

It’s always an amazing feeling when good quality meets affordability! The FolkArt paints feature a “patented polymer resin system” that can be used on a variety of surfaces. I have used this paint for all my painting gigs because of its affordability, ease of application, and longevity on products!

The colours that I would recommend starting out with (but you’re certainly not limited to):

Wicker White
Camel
Baby Pink
Engine Red
Lime Green
Thicket
Daffodil Yellow
Freshcut Grass
Bark Brown
Light lavender
Lavender
Wisteria
Ink Spot
Licorce

Michaels and Walmart also sells them in bundles which give you a good set of colours to start off with. Of course I recommend picking colours you gravitate to and feel will serve you and your services best! To be quite honest, at $2.50 per bottle, it’s hard not to buy them all. If you’re wondering about alternative paints, I highly recommend checking out this blog post by the FBP team where they do an extensive deep dive between different acrylic paints available on the market. Of course this is just my opinion, so you can consider trying other brands as well to determine for yourself what works best for your needs!

Paint Saver Box

This one’s not absolutely necessary, but has definitely been a game-changer for on-site events! With this paint saver box, I don’t need to lug all my bottles of paint to events and additionally it saves me precious desk space! I hate clutter because it can add to the stress during on-site events, so it’s great to have this compact box with all my paints perfectly laid out and ready to go. Believe it or not it keeps my paint fresh for weeks (seriously, I’ve kept them in there for 3-4 weeks, and they’re still perfect!)

Stabilo Acquarellable Pencil (White)

For those experienced calligraphers/hand-engravers, this tool needs no introduction! Often I will use this for drafting designs on bottles prior to painting.

Mixed Media Paper: Canson® XL Mix Media Pad

I know it’s hard to find surfaces to paint on (I mean, who has a handful of beautiful Jo Malone bottles just to play around with?). When I need something to practice or try new designs with I always use my sketchbook. This one by Canson is great because it’s affordable and you can experiment with a variety of mediums like acrylic paint & watercolour due to its heavyweight paper. It comes in a variety of sizes and I love the spiral bound sketchbooks because the pages are much easier to turn.

Paint Palette

You’ll definitely need some sort of palette to mix & blend your paints. I use this stunning paint palette that I got from Michelle at Juniper Calligraphy (unfortunately I don’t have a link for it). However, you definitely find palettes at any art store, or alternatively use a simple ceramic plate. Here’s a link to one that’s simple, cheap and aesthetic!

Other Miscellaneous Things!

Rinse Cup or Jar (I use a mason jar I already had at home)
Isopropyl Alcohol
Alcohol Dispenser (I prefer the push-down ones for on-site work)
Cotton Pads
Paper Towel
Q-Tips

Learning Bottle/Product Painting

So you have all your supplies now, but don’t know where to start? Here are some suggestions on where to start!

Fundamentals of Bottle Painting with Juniper Calligraphy
Fundamentals of Bottle Painting Advanced with Juniper Calligraphy x Roessein Art (coming soon)
Virtual Workshop with Someday Art Co.

I hope that you’ve found this post helpful - feel free to share & pass along!
As always, you’re welcome to reach out if you have any questions!

C.

Disclaimer: This blog post is not sponsored, and recommendations are based on my tried and true experiences. However it does contain affiliate links which means I may receive a small commission with your purchases.