im trying to learn watercolor too
the biggest mistake i did was to buy cheap paper

>>2525812
I think when just starting out cheap materials are alright to learn the techniques and get a feel for how the paint works. It absolutely has to be watercolour paper though.

Better (and more expensive) paint makes a huge difference though, if anything just for how dark the pure paints are. If you use cheaper paint you'll have to add black or dark brown which tends to make the darker colours a lot less vibrant.

>>2525621
You can look up the basic techniques on youtube easily. What's more important when working with watercolours than "having the right technique" is to know when to work how. For that I suggest looking up videos of people actually painting. You need to develop a feeling for when to let your paper dry and when to work wet-on-wet and how to control the flow of the paint and water.

And please, for the love of god, never start with dark colours and use very very light pencil sketches. The paint barely masks anything.

OP do you have painting experience? If not I'd suggest you start out with gouache, which are opaque watercolours. Regular watercolours are very unforgiving and pretty much the hardest medium to make something aesthetically pleasing with, which is why I suggest you develop a feeling for painting first with a more forgiving but similar medium.