Brushes – a wash brush, (which is a soft brush that can carry a lot of water. I like a squirrel hair brush called a “petit gris”), a detail brush (like a synthetic hair round or filbert brush) and a rigger(which is a brush with very long thin bristles – useful for painting details).

Watercolour paints come in students’ quality and artists’ quality – buy the best you can afford – there is more pigment in artists’ quality paints. The minimum you need are the primary colours - 2 reds, 2 yellows and 2 blues. This amount forces you to learn to mix colours and you can add more colours later. If you are working in Acrylics or Oils – you will want a white. I make a “black” from mixing red, blue and yellow together – it’s a dark purple but can look like black.

Watercolour paper – use 140lbs/300gsm or heavier as it does not cockle and go for a reliable brand. Cheap papers cockle and need to be stretched.