Waiting for Waves
12 x 9
Sounds so successful, doesn't it? I wish! Sometimes, I start to work on a painter's piece - whether oil or acrylic - and discover that I can't make the paint do what I want it to at all. I can't achieve strong color or robust paint surfaces and coverage, and, in the case of acrylics, I can't work wet-in-wet, as the paint is drying the moment my brush hits the canvas. Invariably, it turns out that the paint on the palette is student grade rather than professional. And, often, the painter didn't know that they had purchased student grade, as paint companies don't like to label it that way on their displays - choosing instead to call it "economical". But it's not!
Student grade paint may use the same pigments as professional (so an ultramarine blue in student is often the same pigment as in professional), but the amount of pigment is considerably - noticeably - smaller. As well, there are a lot more fillers put into the tube to bulk it up and extend it. These fillers are like a diet rich in potato chips. They fill you up, but don't make you healthy - quite the reverse (rats!) In paints, fillers take up a lot of space, but often result in weak colour, color shifts, and poor paint films. And some of the layering and edge effects that I take for granted with professional paints, can't be achieved at all with student grade. What that means in practical terms is that the workshopper who has these paints, is handicapped by them, and that's frustrating.
So here's my case for professional quality paint: though it's more expensive to buy, it's the more economical choice overall, because you'll use a lot less of it to make great color. I can use a tiny bit of cad yellow light and cad red light to make a rich, high-chroma, opaque orange. In student grade, I've piled on many times more of both colours and never obtained an orange that was as bright, or had the same level of coverage. There simply isn't as much pigment by volume, and all the fillers act to mute and distort the colours. Everything ends up gray.
I always talk about paint in food terms, comparing its rich consistency to frosting, butter, and mayonnaise (the real stuff, mind), and, with student grade, the comparisons are more like skim milk, tofunaise, and egg replacements. Some of us may eat those things, but a painting made up of them would definitely feel less luxurious than one made with the full on fat stuff, and we'd have to make all sorts of accommodations for their weird working properties in a recipe.
For the painters who aren't aware that what they have isn't professional grade, it's a simple matter to read the tubes and choose ones that say "artist's quality" or "professional quality". But, for others, there's a psychological barrier that they have to overcome.
I've come across a lot of painters who say that they're just learning, or aren't selling, and can't justify the expense. In my experience, professional paint wouldn't actually break their bank accounts, and, I think, if they delved deeper, it's not about their accounts at all. It's about recognizing that they're worth the expense - that their art is meaningful to them, and they have the right to spend more money to give their paintings a chance at success. They need to stand up to their inner accountants, and say, "yes, it costs more, but I'm worth it!" Because we all are worth it, and our art is worth the expenditure. In non-food terms -not my comfort zone, but here goes - if we yearn for a silk scarf, will we really be fooled or satisfied by a polyester imitator? Neither one is a necessity, but, if we're spending on non essentials, I figure we should get what really lifts our soul. And, in truth, the price difference isn't that dramatic.
So, take up some space, ditch the cheap stuff (and that includes those flimsy, absorbent, Michael's canvases, BTW!) and claim the right to good quality materials. I can guarantee that you'll start loving the process -and the results - as soon as you make the switch. Refer your miserly accountants to me.
I wish you happy painting!
