Those choices are bad: watercolor supplies need to have be of high quality to not frustrate the painter. Otherwise you'll have bad result (destroyed paper for example, oversaturated or muddy color) and will have to fight every bit.
When I was studying illustration, our teacher would advise us to avoid those kind of kit and paper.
I've tried the one from children: that's not a pleasant experience.
Last thing: watercolor is one of the hardest technique you can try. You need to be able to work fast, be precise and not overwork it.
Yeah, "brush quality doesn't matter" is horrid advice. My watercolor teacher required us to buy only one brush, a pricey squirrel hair. The difference between that and a cheap acrylic brush is so great they shouldn't even have the same name.
Came to say the same, though there was a lot of bad advice in the thing.
It isn't that brush quality always matters: I'm not as concerned with brush quality when I use acrylics. Watercolor, however, it matters. Upgrading my brushes to Kolinsky sable brushes seriously improved my watercolors. It doesn't need to be sable: Folks have good success with others too. They do need some quality, though.
I came to say the same thing. I paint in oil but I would imagine with watercolors being so delicate and sensitive materials would make a big difference.
I don't read this is a "watercoloring guide for experts" but more as a "so you've seen those children's watercoloring books at walmart and you want to take things a step further".
Last thing: watercolor is one of the hardest technique you can try. You need to be able to work fast, be precise and not overwork it.