Brushes
There is a wealth of brushes to be found in art shops, this can be very unsettling to a beginner. All we need to start painting is a maximum of 4 brushes. 1 We need a wide flat brush, 1or 1½ inches. This is useful when painting large areas such as skies. Look for a Hake Brush, they are normally made of goat hair in a plain wooden handle and cost about £10.00. 2 Next, two round brushes, either N°'s 12 & 8, or 10 & 6. Now you can buy either expensive brushes or relatively cheap ones. I would suggest you start on the cheap side first, then as you become more confident, supplement your cheap ones with the more expensive. The Daler-Rowney Dalon Series are a good first choice. These will cost around £15.00 the pair. When you are more proficient, buy Kolinsky brushes( a kolinsky is a type of Asian weasel), They are very dear, but should last a life time. The brush sizes I have give you are not small for the reason, I don't want you to get bogged down with to much detail. Our last brush is a rigger. It is a round brush but the hairs are longer. It is called a rigger because this style of brush was used to paint the rigging on sailing ships pictures. A N° 2 or 3 are suitable for detail work.
So the four brushes needed are , a Hake, Two round brushes and a rigger.
Paints
Tubes, Pans, Pencils
Tubes come in a number of sizes from 5mm upward. The consistency of tube paint is much softer to allow it to flow out of the tube. I use these paints myself. They don't get dirty and I find that I can arrive at a colour I want more quickly. A 5mm tube depending colour cost between £3.50 and £5.50.
Pans Here the paint is a little harder than tubes and it takes a takes a little more effort to remove the paint from pan to pallet. They can get very messy and dirty and is the reason I don't use them. You may find them different to me so the choice is personal. You can have ½ pans or full pans the cost of an ½ pan is around the same price as a 5mm tube.
Pencils the paint used for watercolour pencils is the same as the above, but is much much harder so that it can be contained in the pencil wood. I find these useful for quick colour sketches outdoors, with clear water added small washes can be obtained.
Limited Palette
French Ultramarine, New Gamboge or Cadmium Yellow, Light Red or Cadmium Red, Raw Sienna, Raw Umber, Payne's Grey, Lamp Black.
All the above come in two grades Artist and Student. Student paints are cheaper but the they are less refined and therefore granular. Although Artist quality paints are much dearer, I suggest even as a beginner you buy them, with a limited pallet this should not break the Bank of your hobby.