Well, I tend to practice at least 4 or 5 hours a day (I'm homeschooled so I have plenty of time). As for paint, I use Amsterdam acrylics (along with some grumbacher, but I only have it in some colours), Winser and Newton watercolours, and a mix of grumbacher pre-tested, daler-rowney Georgian and Winton (Winsor and Newton) oils. The reason why I have so much better watercolours and oils than acrylics is that a few years ago (before I started doing art seriously) a friend of my parents was clearing out their mother's attic (who has recently died) and found all these paints, and gave them to me because she had no use for them, so I ended up with hundred's of dollars worth of paint.