Do expensive art supplies matter?
Do expensive materials matter?
A lot of artists say expensive materials don’t equal good art. The focus should be on technique and building skill. I’ve heard this over and over on Youtube and in classes. There is a lot that can be said about building skill and learning technique. These are the fundamentals of art. However, I’ve taken many art classes at this point with different instructors for watercolor. I even studied with a master oil painter from Holland. Every mentor I’ve listened to stressed the importance of picking the right materials. It just so happens, those materials they preferred were highly specific and of higher quality.
Which materials are the best?
If you ask a master painter why they use a particular material you will get a different answer every time. They always have a favorite brush, favorite paper, and favorite palette. They might even have a favorite album they listen to while painting to help with flow. If you’d like to hear more about creative flow, I discuss it in another blog. I bring this up because creative flow is part of the artist process. Some artists create beautiful art with no music, cheap materials, and on a budget. Expensive materials will not equal great art. This is true. BUT certain effects can only be achieved with certain materials.
Smooth paper (I go in depth about this in my videos on my Youtube channel!)
Paints that have vibrant pigments
Evenly mixed paints through a high quality palette
The why
I mention these three because they are BIG examples of things that cannot be achieved with cheap materials. There are a lot of good papers out there to use for art. Yet, when I took a botanical art class I learned more about paper, observing the grain and achieving a really smooth and clean effect in floral paintings could only be achieved with a certain type of paper. Along with that, certain brushes will not move a certain way on the paper allowing you to make fluid movements that smooth the color across the paper more evenly. Finally, picking a palette material is important because certain surfaces do not allow you to mix pigments evenly on your palette. This can make your painting look runny.
Conclusion
Artist materials allow the creator to achieve a desired effect. There is no getting around it. I pick a certain palette for a reason. It speeds up my workflow. Check out my Youtube channel. I review different papers and materials on there. I even have an in depth review of Arteza gouache which you can watch below.