Reddit mentions of MEEDEN Empty Watercolor Tins Palette Paint Case Metal Box with 12 Transparent Half Pans

First off, that's so thoughtful!

I'm no expert by any means. I am very much a beginner with not much to show for it, but I got into watercolor in a roundabout way through calligraphy and hand lettering. Now, despite only putting in some months experience, I have poured hours into finding a nice starter set for myself, so hopefully I can shortcut some of this for you.

I respectfully disagree with the other commenters. As convenient as national chain hobby shops are, they are pricey for that convenience, and I rarely find people who know a lot about one thing versus a little about a lot of things. The only exception I've found to this near me is Jerry's Artarama, but that might be different where you are. If I'm in a pinch and I can't wait the two days for shipping, I will only go into a Michaels or Hobby Lobby if I am armed with one of their 40-50% coupons. Even then, 9 times out of 10 it is more expensive than ordering via Amazon for the materials I am looking for. Additionally, since they can only carry so much inventory, I only find (1) the most basic (cheap in price and quality) items or (2) very famous names.

Watercolors can seem very expensive if you're measuring price per mL, but remember that high quality pigments are meant to be diluted with water, and a little bit goes a very long way. Watercolors are also meant to be mixed! Your SO will want to learn about color theory as she goes (tons of great youtube classes on this too), so that also means to start she doesn't need a massive set. So long as she has most of the primaries she will start coming up with all the colors she needs for her project. Additionally, as she gets more into it, she might find that while she likes her set from X brand, she likes the burnt sienna from Y brand, and the french ultramarine from Z brand. Getting tube colors + an empty watercolor tin will give her a strong base to start painting right away but the flexibility to add her own colors piece by piece as she plans more projects and paintings. Also, when tube paints dry in the tin (you can rewet them/reuse them later), they become portable, giving the same convenience of pan sets.

This was my starter set from [calligraphy] (https://www.amazon.com/Kuretake-Picture-Letter-MC20-36V/dp/B001MPA6W4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1511058329&sr=8-1&keywords=kuretake+gansai+tambi+watercolors). I love the pigments, but in retrospect I could've gotten by with WAY LESS colors. In retrospect, I should've gotten something like this with a tin. Remember, the tin doubles as a mixing palette. Daniel Smith is a very popular American brand, but surely not the end all be all. Windsor & Newton, English brand, is also popular, and they have a fairly good "student" grade line called Windsor & Newton Cotman where you can save some money but not skimp out on too much quality.

Watercolor is almost exclusively done on paper. Now, since water and paper generally don't mix, you'll be concerned with the "pounds" of the paper. For everyday practice, many watercolorists are comfortable with 140 lbs spiral bound pads of cold press (meaning it's a bit rough in texture, not smooth). I like spiral bound because you can flip through and work on a few different concurrent projects (for the love of god, make sure they're completely dry first though q.q). These will buckle and warp with very heavy water application. Final projects, or anything meant for professional scanning and printing or super heavy wet work, you will probably be buying 200 lbs+ paper as needed. These can be bought in blocks/pads or as single sheets. As the pounds go up, so does the price.

Brushes! These can also get very pricey, but as with the pigments, there may be some sense in it. Higher end brushes are affixed with either natural or synthetic (or a mix) of hairs that (1) hold more water than cheap brushes and (2) keep the hairs from falling out into your paints or painting. I personally use Windsor and Newton brushes, but I don't have a lot of different types yet, and that seems to be fine to learn on. A round brush goes a long way, as you learn to put down a lot of color or very fine lines depending on how much pressure you put on the paper. As a starter set you might get two round brushes in two sizes like a 4 and a 12.

Finally, while there are lots of artists in Art Fundamentals, I might post this specifically in /r/learnart or /r/watercolor for more insight. Most of us here are working on constructional drawing with pen and paper, not necessarily painting.