OK, I'm laughing at myself a bit here, but only partly, partly I am serious.
This whole thing started a couple of months ago, when I started using Crimson instead of Rose madder to make purple because the Rose was running low. There was sitll some paint left and honestly, I could go on using this Winsor & Newton set for a while, but the notion that the rose will end one day (and the 2 blacks and the aquamarine, which were all running low) made me really nervous.
I've had this set since 2002 I think, I bought it after my previous set, A van-gogh I think, was lost after my backpack was stolen. I've been carrying it around with me most of the time since then. It visited 4-5 different countries and 3 continents. I've used it so much and still, there's enough paint in most of the pans to keep going. Usually, I don't buy anything new as far as supply is gone until the old stuff is all used, broken or lost.
And yet, a visit to an art store last week, trying to replace just the Rose and blacks, got me thinking about tools and different needs and commitments we make by investing in good quality supply. I went home tried ot do some reading and were missing a lot of info, strangely enough though the internet is full of info, there's still no real serious art supply review site!
Today, I went to a different store and got a really wonderful explanation and attention from one of the best art sellers in NYC. He made a really big effort in trying to describe the different in texture between different paint manufacturers (on pans, apparently not so much, aside of one manufacturer that uses honey mixed with a gum Arabic) and nature of the color, which is a really difficult thing to describe. I ended up buying a different brand then I intended to, Schmincke Horadam, and not the Artist Grade Winsor & Newton.
It was very odd to open the new set and then opening the wrapping on each pen, they look and feel just like candy or chocolate, and for a moment I though that maybe I should open just one color each day, just like I always swore to do at a kid when I got a new bag of candies (and always failed), there are 24 colors so that would be a month before i could actually use them so I gave up on the idea.
The other really strange thing is how, because they are so new and clean, my old batter set looks so much more impressive and professional then a brand new one.
I still feel really strange and mortified at the notion of spending a little over 200$ on paints. It's odd, I bought a 800$ camera last year and Ned and I just bought an extra light that was lamost 3,000$. But somehow, the idea of buying new paints because I'm a pro artist and should have pro artist equipment is really scary.
Now I just have to master the courage to actually use them.
1 comment:
Oooh, they're so pretty! So shiny and new! And they do look like candy!!
In my totally non-artist opinion, anyone who spends a little over $200 on watercolors is definitely a "real" artist. (whatever a real artist is...) But on the other hand, I know that even if you were working with watercolors from the dollar store, or mud mixed with water, or whatever, your painting would still turn out beautiful. And THAT to me, is why I think you're a "real" artist. And a good one.
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