hey billi,
My advice to u:
dont bother going and buying the entire store. what i do is buy one or two items from a certain brand (in my case paint) then test and experiment to see what results i get. If i like it i buy in bulk.
What kind of work do u produce? art is usally an expensive hobby so it helps if your clear about the medium you want to use or the kind of effects you are after. try finding ways of using one or two items in a really interesting creative way. remember the best works do not require the most materials but how effectively you explore them, creatively.
p.s watercolour pencils are a really low quality alternative for the actual paints, dont replace them for the actual thing. use the tube paints they are fun and make really cool blooms.
try finding a combination of pencils u like using which are also different from one another and see how they work togther and work in series making quick sketches. the key word is: experiment!
please post your outcomes and Enjoy ! :)
well im not very good at brush so thats y i use pencils instead i do it for fun so no worries really :D