New to water colour please help

Jim, your post is an absolute gem. I do enjoy starting my day (morning as I post this) with a good laugh.

I'd go along with a lot of that, Jim - not overly keen on having an alligator in my paint water, mind - and I remember being staggered by a professional artist's 'don't tell my partner!' confession that she'd spent £40 on a (very fine) watercolour brush: it was a work of art in itself, and she really wanted it - so I got over my shock and agreed it was a price worth paying. Which doesn't mean that I'd pay it. On the other hand, I've spent £30 on a tube of oil paint - never anything like that much on watercolour or acrylic paints. I didn't regret it - it was in a world of its own in strength and clarity, and metallic pigments ARE expensive, 'Hue' colours so disappointing by comparison in nearly every case. I wonder what you'd do with them if, instead of giving you vouchers, the grandchildren presented you with a set of the highest quality watercolour paints, and an array of Winsor and Newton sables..... would you use them on cheap watercolour paper, or feel you had to go out and stock up on the Arches heaviest weight? Because I think it's the use to which you intend to put them that dictates the price you're prepared to pay for materials. You paint a lot, judging by your postings here - many of yours are studies, immediate reactions to things, expressions of your wide range of interests. I think you don't work slowly, but you express your thoughts directly on paper and move on. I, on the other hand, have a much longer gestation period - the work itself may not take that long, but the thinking about it and planning does, so your work-rate makes mine look funereal. If I were working at your sort of pace, I just couldn't afford the materials I normally employ. That's when I'd reach for the Cotmans, the Bockingford, the hakes and cheaper mops, the Dalon and other synthetics. But I'd still have a juicy Cadmium red on standby, just to wake the more pedestrian colours up a bit. One thing I would spend a bit of money on is the sketch-book - drawing on unsympathetic paper is no fun at all: a good, heavy paper, with tooth but not so much that it leads to marks feathering away from what you wanted to be a sharp line, is essential for me, or I just produce outline sketches, scribbles, and, as it were, drafts. I like the D-R sketchpads with the red and yellow covers, but have used many others - and am always in the market for suggestions, if anyone has any?

DB - I've seen your watercolours: you are ready for the better quality paper now: Arches in particular would particularly suit your clean washes. I'm no great watercolourist, but am experienced enough to know that nothing holds you back more than paper that's more useful for blotting than for painting on - unless maybe it's one of those horrible horsehair brushes they used to supply with children's painting sets, cleverly putting whole generations off painting forever.

DB. Choice of paper, as Robert so wisely says, is one of the vital elements in any successful watercolour. I generally use Fabriano Artistico 300lb these days in the studio, but the Arches gummed blocks that you have are really excellent, particularly for outdoor work. I've got 5 or 6 different sizes and paper grades, very sturdy backboards and well gummed, so no chance of cockling. I always keep a couple of sizes in the car just in case I spot something of interest on my travels. They are great for initial pen work as well, followed by a loose watercolour or ink wash. Not cheap but worth the money.