I recommend you start with as few colors as possible.

I say this for two reasons; one is

because it is cheaper to start off this way, and the other reason is that you will have much
more control your paintings if you learn to use fewer colours.

Try and buy the best quality paints that you can afford. ‘Student’ paints are cheaper, but
they are also not as strong and therefore you will use more of them. ‘Artist’ quality paints
are a little more expensive but are much stronger and you will use less paint, and be able to
mix it with less effort.

Pans or tubes? I always buy tubes because you can fill up your
palette with them and none is wasted. You can always keep a
good supply of paint in the palette, unlike hard pan paints which
end up as little crumbs of paint that you have to scrub out of the
pan.
Don’t worry if you have pan paints, just buy some tubes and
keep them topped up with fresh paint as you need it.

Which colors? Start off with two reds, two blues, two yellows and two ‘earth colors’.

Reds: Alizarin Crimson and Cadmium Red

Blues: Ultramarine Blue and Cerulean Blue
Yellows: Lemon Yellow and Cadmium Yellow (medium or deep)
Earth colors: Burnt Sienna and Yellow Ochre (or Raw Sienna)

Try and buy a palette that has deep wells for mixing paint, and a lid that can close.

Palettes are usually plastic or metal – either

type is fine to use.
 Brushes come in all shapes and sizes, but you will only need a few to begin with. They also
come in different qualities.
There are brushes which are made purely of synthetic man-made fibres which do not cost
much, but which I would not recommend. There are brushes which are a mix of synthetic
and natural animal hairs, and these generally are very good – they keep their shape and they
also hold lots of paint. The best quality are pure animal hair, but these can be pricey.
You can start with just a few brushes. I would recommend just a couple of round brushes (size 10 and size 4), and a
flat brush as a basic starter kit. When choosing a brush make sure it has a good point.

If you want to add more, then a size

Size 16 Size 10 mop
1cm flat
round

Size 8 round

Size 4 round

Size 0 rigger

Always, always, always use watercolor paper! It is made for that purpose.
Watercolor paper has a coating of ‘size’ which slows down the rate at which the paint sinks
into the paper. In fact some papers do not absorb paint at all but just let it dry on the surface.

The ‘size’ makes it easy to control the flow of the wet paint, and also to remove dry paint if necessary. Papers
such as cartridge paper will just soak up the paint and leave it looking dead, and other papers will wrinkle
when wet paint is put onto them. Watercolor paper is especially produced to keep the paint looking vibrant
and to make it easy to manipulate.

Paper comes in ring-bound books, in blocks with glued

edges, or as loose sheets. Any of these are good.

It comes in various weights; I use 140lb (300gsm),

and with a variety of surfaces, some rough, some
smooth. A surface called ‘NOT’ is a good all-rounder.
 There are a few other bits and pieces you will need.

A jam jar or other water container

Masking tape (or similar) for fixing

your paper to the board

Kitchen roll

A pencil (and possibly an eraser!)

A wooden board (mdf or hardboard) on which to put your paper, and an old book to rest it on at a slope.

And that’s it! You are now ready to paint!