Reddit mentions of Artlicious - Super Value 5 Pack - 16x20 Pre-Stretched Cotton Canvas Panel Boards - Use with All Acrylics, Oils and Other Painting Media

How much are you willing to spend to get started?

Painting doesn't have to be an expensive hobby at all, so if you wanna just try it and see if you like it then here's what I would do:

Canvases

Go to a craft store like Michaels, Joann Fabrics, Hobby Lobby (I actually DON'T shop at hobby lobby for political reasons, but I want to list all the stores I can think of for a rounded example) and look for sales on canvases. They almost always have some size that is 1/2 price or buy one get one free. I prefer stretched canvases, and you can usually find ones sized 12x16 or so for a couple bucks (You might need to buy a 3-pack or something to get a good price...really depends on the store and the day) if you wanna go REALLY cheap you can get canvas-boards. The one thing I would say is don't buy something too-small or too-big until you REALLY know what you want to use it for. Trying to come up with something on a 3'x4' canvas will leave you feeling exhausted and frustrated and trying to make something nice on a 8"x5" can be really hard for a beginner. I would look for something around 9"x12" up to 12"x16" to start with. (for reference, a "regular" sheet of paper is 8"x10")

You can also shop online for canvases, but in my experience you can usually find a better deal at physical stores. However, here is a link to Amazon just to get an idea of the kind of [canvas to look for:] (https://www.amazon.com/Artlicious-Pre-Stretched-Cotton-Acrylics-Painting/dp/B01FOYPERU/ref=lp_12896241_1_14?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1484149402&sr=1-14) Higher quality canvases can get really expensive so don't be daunted if you go in and only see $30 canvases...look for the cheap ones.

Paints

For a beginner, I would stick to acrylics. I have actually only used oils a few times and there is a lot of cleanup, waiting, and in general I find them a lot harder to work with. (I also haven't given them much of a chance so if anyone disagrees with me I won't put up much of a fight.) I actually PREFER the cheap acrylics that are a bit liquidy. (Apple Barrel, or CRAFT.... here's a link just to get an idea of what container they come in: Apple BArrel Set They are usually about 1$ apeice for a 2oz bottle. You should also get a bigger 8oz or 16oz of black and white as you will probably use those a lot more than others. (If you end up painting a lot you will probably want to get 8oz sizes of your basic colors too..) For starting, I would avoid the acrylic tubes...they are more expensive, smaller usually, and (I think) a little harder to work with texture-wise. IF you don't know what you want to paint yet, or if you just wanna try a lot of different stuff, that color set I linked to is a decent palette to start with and there's enough there to mix in order to make just about any color you want. (That set does NOT contain black or white though...so if you go for that be sure to also get black and white).

Brushes

Here's the one thing I WOULDNT cheap up on. Get a decent set of brushes. Get at least one or two TINY brushes, then 3 or four of intermediate size up to about 1" wide. Any bigger than that is useful for covering a lot of canvas, but not REALLY necessary. I don't have any real tips about which brands to buy...if you go to a physical store, just look at them...if they look like super soft, furry, cheap, "kid" brushes, I'd avoid them. Look for ones with firmer bristles..clean crisp points or lines. Sometimes you can find a nice set...I think I usually spend $2 or so apeice (depends on the size) and then I have a few nicer ones I like, but it will take a while to get a feel for what your personal favorite brush size is so don't bother getting better quality until you know you will use it. I like to pick up an extra brush every time I head to the store, so I have a ton now of all sizes but at first expect to spend ~10$ to get an okay set.

Inspiration

I like to do a google image search based on a generic word. Then in the advanced image search tools you can search by color...I find a lot of interesting things that I will then either paint, or use as inspiration for a painting. I think everyone finds inspiration differently, but this is just my own way. I would avoid starting with any people/portraits/etc as the human brain is SUPER critical of any errors we detect in faces, bodies, hands, etc.. YOU can paint a car that is 95% accurate and it will look AMAZING but if you paint a face that is only 98% accurate it will look like a hideously deformed mess. (Im making up these numbers...I dont even know what a percent accuracy would mean for a painting, but I think the general idea gets across).

Technique

Whatever works for you...youtube videos, just trying it out, taking a class...I dont know! I'm self-taught and Im sure I've picked up a LOT of bad habits, but a few things I do that might be helpful that arent obvious:

• Feel free to draw lightly with pencil on the canvas for a start, sketch out your basic shapes and proportions. It's a lot easier to erase (or ignore) a pencil line than it will be to rearrange your picture once you start painting it.
  
• Paint the background/sky/etc first. Even if you have a big foreground object, it will be a lot easier to make a nice sky with a fluffy cloud or whatever that is then partially covered by your cool sailboat than it will be to try to paint the cloud JUUUUST up to the sailboat's sail, and then fill in the little bit you can see between the mast and the sail and then continue the cloud on the other side, than it would have been to just paint the stupid cloud first, and then paint your awesome sailboat over the top of it.
  
• Don't get attached to a part of your work. (This is the hardest thing...) If you are painting a face, and you paint this AMAZING eye, but once you finish it you realize its kind of too far to the left...you can't keep it...you need to move the eye. IF you are painting to LEARN, then you need to rework this in order to gain good skills. IF you are painting to make AWESOME ART then you need to rework this because the eye is wrong and it wont be awesome! (Hey! Why are you painting a face in the first place?! I told you not to do that at first!)
  
• Whiskey
  
  All that said, good luck! Hope you like it!
  

I used to use a box I made out of stretched canvas boards I used whatever I had for lights (most often it was just a regular desk lamp). I DID upgrade to a clamp light (like what you'd use to light a garage, or keep poultry warm.) I could use the light pointed at the canvas board, but because it was a thick material, it would diffuse beautifully. And the boards were cheap enough, that I could throw one out if it got dirty-or if I wanted to paint one black. It was essentially a DIY softbox studio.

My apologies for the quality of the images-these are YEARS old and were taken with a kodak DX7590

Example 1-Orange in a bowl

Example 2-Strawberry

You can buy mini studio's now, some with integrated lighting. They are usually inexpensive. I always preferred to make my own, because I could control some aspects of the light. (Angle, intensity, color, etc)