Hello from Salisbury

Brushes from Rosemary & Co should sort you out more than adequately - you could start with synthetics; indeed, you could stay with synthetics, or Hakes if that method appeals to you. The really cheap brushes are usually very obvious - you don't want anything made with pony hair, or "composition" hair (which could be anything). Such brushes, often with plastic handles, are useless, and sell at anywhere under £1. If buying brushes in a shop, the usual manufacturers - Daler Rowney and Winsor and Newton, are perfectly good, but they do tend to be expensive. If you were to lash out on brushes which should last, Sceptre Gold are worth considering - they're NOT cheap, but a 3/4" flat, a round, and a rigger, will probably be all you'll need. Paint is more difficult - and contentious. There's a huge range available ... of the cheap ones, many people use the Cotman range (Winsor and Newton) quite happily. As a starter, they're pretty good; and if you go to YouTube you'll find the painter Steve Cronin, who never uses anything else. But then he does stick to the darker, earthier colours on the whole. If you're seeking a brighter palette, you're sooner or later going to want to go to Artists' quality watercolour - for colour purity, lightfastness, and strength. Try the Rembrandt range, or Jackson's own range of watercolours. Avoid anything in plastic tubes - often, you'll buying a tube of air with a bit of watery paint in it. If you prefer pan colours, the ranges are just the same but you do have the advantage of being able to open a tin of them and comparing the intensity of the artists' colours with the student ranges - it's very obvious; there almost seems to be a sheen of grey over many student quality pan colours in the higher colour registers, which in itself should warn you off. You can of course buy the cheaper colour ranges in student quality, and add artists' quality for the cadmiums, scarlets and yellows ..... but as the umbers and ochres are the least expensive colours anyway, the saving there is not going to be huge. And finally, be careful of Alizarin Crimson and Rose Madder, especially in the cheaper ranges - but even in the artists' quality, both can fade in light; try Permanent Alizarin, or Permanent Rose/Quinacridone .... quinacridone is the word to look for; it's far more lightfast than the traditional madder paints, but you'll still find people recommending them. There's a balance to be struck, in short - no, the chequebook won't make you a Rembrandt, but cheap and nasty brushes, horrible paper, and wishy-washy colours will hold you so far back that you may never get to enjoy what you're doing or be reasonably successful in doing it. So save for your first lot of equipment as if you were saving for a holiday - spend the money, and gradually supplement your materials over time.

Hi David , Welcome to the forum. My advice to you would be to get your hands on a Jacksons catalogue and go for the cheapest tubes of colour and synthetic brushes. you will also need a plastic palette to mix your colours on. Google Jacksons Art for the Aladdins cave of lovely art materials. In my opinion watercolour painting is the most difficult thing to master and its better to start with cheap student grade materials and ,I nearly forgot, watercolour paper. Get the catalogue and come back here when you have a better idea of prices. When . you get back you can have all your Questions answered by me or others. See you later David.....Syd PS Jacksons dont stock anything thats cheap-nasty so you are all right there for cheaper materials than going to tour local art shop,Im afraid. i could go on but get the catalogue FIRST.!

David good to hear from you. I am just south of Winchester. All good advice above. I remember an art shop in Crane St Salisbury, something like Complete Artist? Hope that isn't the one you mentioned.

Those all sound like good buys - I'd be inclined to go for the synthetics to start with, yes. I haven't used Jackson's brushes, but Syd was right, they don't do cheap and nasty - so at that price you can't really lose. Pans vs. tubes - well.... there's much to be said for both; pans are very portable, you don't have to go squeezing tubes of paint onto a palette, for instance. Some don't like them because they need a bit of scrubbing to release the colour, and that can play havoc with sable brushes - it doesn't do synthetics much good, either. So keep an old brush to hand just for wetting the paint in the pans and loosening it, then pick up the colour with your best brushes. Many artists use watercolour pans, but squeeze tube colour into them, so they're more easily portable. But others again find that they can easily regulate the amount of colour from the pan, starting from a weak wash to a strong one, whereas with tubes you have to be careful how much you squeeze out..... it's all a matter of personal preference. It's conventional wisdom that watercolour is more difficult than anything else to master - but then, I've never mastered it.... Few do. What is really meant by this isn't that watercolour is exceptionally difficult by comparison with opaque paint, but that once you've made a bloomer in a watercolour, it's almost impossible to hide it because of the transparency. Others may disagree, but I don't think the actual application of paint is any more difficult; mastering any medium is more than we have any right to expect - I'm just happy if I can work with it, and get away with the results now and then. Yes, the moment of decision approaches when you have to apply your paint to paper..... if you want to see how one of our veteran members does it, go to Alan Owen's YouTube demos - he does shows especially for beginners, which you'll find helpful.

Oh, and the paper - in a block, ie gummed? Good idea, because that will resist cockling; 140lb is one of the lighter papers, heavier ones won't cockle but are expensive. If you buy lose sheets, you might want to think about stretching them first (there's guidance on here about that if you look, also on YouTube). The watercolour blocks, gummed all the way round but with a little slit in the bottom of the sheet where you can insert a pen-knife and remove the painting when finished, aren't the cheapest way of buying paper but they're a good idea.

Hello David, some sound advice from the members, and I would like to add a couple of things. Robert is right about using the gummed block pads, they are excellent and is my preferred choice particularly when painting en-plein-air, however. One of the problems with starting out in watercolour, or any medium for that matter is that daunting white sheet of expensive paper in front of you, it can lead to the artist being almost 'afraid' to make a mark on it. Initially, you may find the Ken Bromley starter pack of 20 small sheets, all different quality manufacturers and in a size of around 22 x 19 cm. and I think around £8 or so. It also gives information on watercolour paper terms and useage which is useful to know. Ken's website is very competitive in price to say Jackson's, I use both. I believe that it was Ron Ranson who said that when he started in watercolour, nobody told him that it was difficult, thereby eliminating any fear of the medium. Ron's books can be bought on Ebay for a few pounds and you may find his method's useful, employing the 'Hake' brush, just a thought, but his enthusiasm is infectious and I had the pleasure of meeting him when he did a demo at our art club many years ago. As has already been said, I believe that too many brushes and colours can be all too confusing to start with and is not necessary. Three or four brushes, I use synthetic, as I like the 'spring' in them, six or eight paints, I prefer tubes, I think Robert highlighted some of the colours, obviously avoiding black, and you can add later if you feel it necessary. Then let yourself go, don't worry about making mistakes, we all do, and it can be accepted as part of the painting, working lines are always good to see. The most you can ruin is a piece of paper, so good luck and I hope to see some of your work on the gallery in due course.

Won't try and add to the wealth of stuff already. Sorry to hear of CA demise. Enjoy the trip away and show us your sketches, Maybe we could meet somewhere like Pepperbox Hill and work en plein aire.