A watercolour kit on three budgets

Beginners often buy too much or too little when they start watercolour. Too little, and cheap student paint and thin paper make everything look muddy. Too much, and money goes on colours and brushes they never use. Here are three kits we put together often, at our prices.

Around ₹1,500 is the minimum for a fair start. A pad of 300 gsm cellulose watercolour paper costs about ₹450, a round size 8 synthetic brush ₹320, and a student set of 12 half pans around ₹650. Add a water jar from your kitchen and a cotton rag. The paper matters more than the paint; thin paper buckles and pills.

Around ₹4,000 is where painting gets much easier. Our artist-grade 12-colour pan set costs ₹1,850, the brush pair of round 6 and 10 is ₹690, and a block of 300 gsm cotton paper, glued on all sides so it does not buckle, about ₹1,200. Add masking tape and a pencil. Artist paint has more pigment and mixes cleaner colours, which beginners notice at once.

Around ₹8,000 suits someone who knows they will keep going. Add a large flat brush for skies, a rigger for fine lines, a few single tubes in colours you use most, a full sheet of Sanganer 600 gsm paper for bigger work, and a folding palette. Whatever you spend, buy good paper first, a good brush second and paint third. Things to leave for later include masking fluid, special-effect salts and large sets of 36 colours. Twelve well-chosen colours mix almost everything.