I started playing with watercolor several years ago, when scrapbooking was all the rage. I found watercolor painting a unique way to add designs to some of my scrapbook pages, as well as being a great way to relax in general. My first set of watercolor cakes were (I say were, but I still have and use them!) the Loew Cornell Simply Art Watercolor Cakes. These paints are very reasonably priced and the cakes last for a long time. An awesome set for beginners as it contains 36 (!) different colors, so you don't have to start off worrying about learning how to mix colors.
One thing I would advise is, if you haven't tried watercolor painting before and want to give it a try, start off with supplies that are a little less expensive. Watercolor is a completely different medium than other types of painting; give it a try for a while and see if you like it before making a huge investment.
The brushes I started off with are the Grace Art Watercolor Brush Set. This set is super inexpensive, and I am still able to use some of them after years of use. There's a good mix of square and round brushes, and they hold the paint and water well. The only complaint is that they become frayed after being used for a while (but what can you expect for this price?). As I stated before, they are great to start/practice with, and I still use them for mixing paint.
As for paper, I get the best bang for my buck with Canson Watercolor cold press 140lb paper. The cost is affordable and it gives you the idea of what actual watercolor paper can do. When I first started I would try to paint on regular paper (not possible for me), and then found I could do pretty well with scrapbooking paper because it's (usually) much thicker than regular paper. Then I discovered that - holy $@% - they make paper especially for watercolor painting! It makes all the difference. Canson is a great one for beginners because you're going to go through a lot of paper, and this one won't break your bank.
Until next time - happy painting!
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