If I were starting watercolor again, I would buy a small set of good paints rather than a giant palette of colors. Six to twelve useful colors are enough to learn mixing, washes, layering, and how watercolor actually behaves.
I personally like watercolor pans because they’re portable, quick to set up, and easy to use in a sketchbook. Tubes work well too, especially if you want larger amounts of fresh paint, but I don’t think a beginner needs an elaborate setup in either format.
Of the paints I’ve used, the watercolor brands I would look at first include Winsor & Newton, Holbein, Daniel Smith, and Sennelier. They don’t all behave exactly the same way, so I’ll explain what I like about each and what I would actually buy first.
Best Watercolor Paints for Beginners at a Glance
| Watercolor | Why I’d consider it | Best fit |
|---|---|---|
| Winsor & Newton Professional | Strong color and smooth mixing | A small general-purpose palette |
| Holbein | Smooth, vibrant color | People, nature and sketching |
| Daniel Smith | Strong pigments and distinctive granulating colors | Expanding your palette over time |
| Sennelier | Creamy feel and compact sets | Travel and sketchbook use |
I wouldn’t buy all four. For a beginner, I would choose one line, start with a small range of colors, and learn what those paints can do before expanding.
Which Watercolor Is Best for Beginners?
For me, the best beginner watercolor is one that gives me predictable color, mixes well, and doesn’t require buying dozens of paints.
I would rather start with a smaller selection of paints I enjoy using than a large inexpensive kit where many colors barely leave the palette.
A limited palette also forces me to learn something important early: how colors mix.
If every possible green, purple, brown, and grey is already sitting in the box, it’s easy to spend more time searching for a premixed color than learning how pigments interact.
Making your own watercolor mixing chart is one of the easiest ways to understand what a small palette can actually produce.
How Many Watercolor Colors Does a Beginner Need?
I would start with roughly 6 to 12 colors.
That’s enough for me to learn mixing without making the palette overwhelming.
A small palette might include:
- A warm yellow
- A cooler yellow
- A warm red
- A cooler red
- A warm blue
- A cooler blue
- Burnt sienna or another useful earth color
- One additional dark or neutral color if you find it useful
I don’t see that as a rigid recipe. The point is simply that I don’t need 36 or 48 colors to start painting.
Watercolor Pans vs. Tubes for Beginners
Both work. I prefer pans for the way I paint and sketch.
| Pans | Tubes | |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | Very quick | Requires squeezing out paint |
| Portability | Excellent | Less convenient unless filled into a palette |
| Sketchbooks | Very convenient | Also works well |
| Large washes | Requires more brush loading | Easy to prepare more paint |
| My preference | Yes | Useful, but not my first choice for travel |
I like having a small pan palette that I can open and use immediately. That fits naturally with sketchbook drawing and painting outdoors.
Tubes make sense when I want a larger amount of paint readily available. They can also be squeezed into empty palette wells and allowed to dry, so the distinction isn’t always as rigid as it sounds.
Winsor & Newton Professional
Winsor & Newton Professional is one of the watercolor lines I’ve used and would consider for a small beginner palette.
I like the color strength and the way the paints mix. If I were going to buy fewer colors and learn them thoroughly, I’d rather have a small useful palette than a box filled primarily because the color count looks impressive.
Winsor & Newton also makes its less expensive Cotman line, but when I’m choosing purely by the painting experience I prefer the Professional paints.
Holbein Watercolor
Holbein is another watercolor line I enjoy using.
The paints feel smooth and give me strong color, which works well for the observational way I like to paint people, natural subjects, and sketchbook scenes.
I also like having colors that I can layer and mix rather than trying to locate one exact premixed shade for everything I see.
Daniel Smith Watercolor
Daniel Smith is especially interesting once you start paying attention to the individual behavior of pigments.
The range includes strongly pigmented colors and options with noticeable granulation, which can create visible texture as the paint dries.
I wouldn’t let the enormous color selection convince me that I need dozens of tubes. I’d still start small and add individual paints later when I know what my existing palette is missing.
Sennelier Watercolor
Sennelier is another line I’ve enjoyed, particularly for compact painting and travel.
The paints have a creamy feel, and the smaller sets make sense if you want a palette that can live in a sketching bag rather than taking over a desk.
For me, portability matters because watercolor is often something I use alongside drawing rather than as a large studio setup.
Student-Grade vs. Artist-Grade Watercolor
You don’t need expensive paint to learn watercolor.
But I also don’t think the cheapest enormous set is automatically the best value for a beginner.
What matters to me is whether the paint lets me learn the behavior I’m actually trying to understand:
- How much pigment a brush picks up
- How colors mix
- How transparent or opaque an application appears
- How a pigment moves in water
- How it behaves when layered over another color
If the budget allows, I personally prefer buying fewer paints that I genuinely enjoy working with rather than maximizing the number of colors.
What Type of Watercolor Should a Beginner Buy?
If I were putting together a beginner setup from scratch, I’d prioritize things in this order:
- A small set of watercolor paints with enough primary and earth colors to practice mixing.
- Decent watercolor paper that can actually handle the water.
- A few useful brushes rather than a giant assortment.
- A simple palette if the paint set doesn’t already include one.
- Clean water and something absorbent for controlling the brush.
I wouldn’t worry about specialty brushes, dozens of pigments, masking fluid, elaborate storage systems, or other accessories until I know I actually need them.
Don’t Spend Everything on Paint and Ignore the Paper
Paint isn’t the only material that affects how watercolor behaves.
The paper underneath it changes how washes spread, how easily I can layer, how much the surface buckles, and how visible its texture becomes.
If you’re starting from scratch, I’d rather balance the budget between decent paint and decent paper than spend everything on an enormous paint set and use a surface that fights the water.
I explain the differences between types of watercolor paper separately. For actually painting on it, see my guide to using watercolor paper.
You Only Need a Few Watercolor Brushes
The same idea applies to brushes.
I would rather have a few brushes that cover most situations than a large bundle where I don’t understand why I own half of them.
Round brushes are particularly versatile because the point can make smaller marks while the belly carries enough water for broader strokes.
For the specific sizes and brush types I’d start with, see my watercolor brushes for beginners guide.
Is Watercolor Good for Beginners?
I think it can be, as long as you expect watercolor to behave like watercolor rather than trying to force it into complete control.
Water moves pigment. Edges change as the paper gets wetter or dries. Colors mix on both the palette and the page. Some marks spread farther than expected.
Those things can feel unpredictable at first, but they’re also what makes the medium interesting.
I find it more useful to experiment with a small palette and learn how the paint responds than to expect every early sketch to become a finished painting.
What Should a Beginner Paint First With Watercolor?
I would choose something simple enough that I can concentrate on the paint rather than solving an extremely complicated drawing.
A leaf, piece of fruit, shell, simple landscape, cup, rock, flower, or other familiar object can work well.
I look first for the large light and shadow shapes rather than trying to outline every detail.
The point of the first studies is to learn things like water control, paint strength, edges, layering, and color mixing.
A Simple First Watercolor Exercise
Before worrying about a finished painting, I’d make a small page of tests.
- Choose two colors from your palette.
- Make one strong swatch of each.
- Add more water and make progressively lighter versions.
- Mix the two colors together at several ratios.
- Paint one color, let it dry, then glaze the second over it.
- Compare the layered mixture with the colors mixed together while wet.
That small exercise teaches me far more about a new paint than reading the color names on the palette.
The Beginner Watercolor Setup I’d Choose
If I had to simplify everything into one recommendation, I would buy:
- A small watercolor palette with roughly 6–12 useful colors
- A watercolor sketchbook or watercolor paper
- Two or three useful brushes
- A water container
- A rag or paper towel
Then I’d stop shopping and start painting.
Once I understand what the small setup can’t do, I’ll know exactly what is worth adding rather than guessing.
Start Small and Learn Your Paint
That’s the main thing I wish I had understood sooner.
The best watercolor for a beginner isn’t necessarily the box with the most colors. I want paints that encourage me to mix, experiment, and learn how water, pigment, paper, and the brush interact.
I would start with a compact palette, use it repeatedly, and learn what each color does before adding more.
For everything else in this medium, including paper, brushes, mixing, sketchbooks, and techniques, continue to my main watercolor guide.