I used to use the tube watercolor on 400lb cold press. But lately I've been easing into using liquitex (I think) liquid acrylic on arches. The arches allows me to blend WAY more smoothly than the cheap watercolor paper does. Also, the liquid acrylic's color is so vibrant, and I feel they're better suited for solid fields of color, unlike the tube watercolors. As far as brushes, I use a cheap flat brush that's roughly the size of a 9 mag for everything I do. I use a Faber-Castille brush pen to line with, and a micron for finer lines, or smaller pieces.