As I worked my way up from an eleven dollar paint set on card stock - I really relished every increment in quality.
Paper makes an incredible difference, as higher weight papers have greater capacity to hold moisture, handle transitions, and survive rich washes of colour. I've been using Winsor & Newton watercolour pads and been very happy with the quality.
For most paintings the undersketches are done with a number of pens - a vintage Parker with Noodler's Polar Black, a Noodler's Ahab with Noodler's Lexington Gray, and a white Lamy Safari that is loaded with a UV ink called Whiteness of the Whale. All of these waterfast inks are archival. The transition from student grade water colours was a big shift as well - almost all the paintings are made with four core Daniel Smith watercolours, with M. Graham gouache.
