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Professional equipment
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Message
Posted
It's odd isn't it, that suppliers of anything sell "professional " equipment. I've been perusing Ken Bromley again and was taken with the professional bamboo wood box...not that I'd buy one, but it's quite nice. Then I thought hang on, the only professionals likely to buy such a costly thing are more likely to wield the law than a brush. Then I thought it's the same in my industry, flying. You can buy professional headsets, sunglasses, cases, you name it. In reality what we professionals buy is, by and large, the cheap stuff off eBay! If not that then stuff that works well day in and out and is cost effective.
I'm sure most professional painters use decent but economic brush holders and paint and an ice cream tub as a water holder.
I remember a piece of excellent advice I once received from a man teaching me to fish. I commented on my old rod and asked whether I should spend much on a new one ...he said David, remember, shiny rods catch fishermen not fish.
Saturday's thought for the day.
David
Posted
professional means the person has a profession otherwise known as a job . We presume the professional is paid for his /her work .
Professionals insist on quality in all things , tools , materials etc.You will not get a cabinet maker working with a blunt cheap chisel and so you wont find a professional working with poor brushes , paints etc.However some professional painters are known to use cheap student quality paints for some reason. On another tack I was a fly fisher and when i started out i used an old split cane that had seen better days that had belonged to an uncle. I caught fish with it but it handled like a broom shaft and so I decided to get a plastic( forget the name ) one which was great , but the one I finished with was a carbon fibre beauty and I caught the most good fish with it . Happy days ....The rod wasnt shiny and I didnt have any meany advising me to keep using the crap old rod by some " wise" old saw.....Syd
Edited
by SydEdward
Posted
See what you mean, and I cut any corners I possibly can - but: while I'm no sucker for shiny brass fittings, ebony brush handles, 'boutique' paint, I still want the best I can lay my little hands on, and research the best as distinct from the most fashionable and the 'latest thing'. Great brushes, painting knives, and paints don't need to cost the earth and by and large don't - though the best paint is always going to be expensive. I see too many painters satisfying themselves with cheap canvases, and student quality paints - they may get good results from them, but the canvases won't help their technique, and will fail in time, and the cheapest paints are more likely to fade.
Laying out a fortune, should you have it, doesn't guarantee quality - but you just need to look into the quality of your pigments and tools, and buy the best you can: certainly, price is not the ultimate guide (e.g., Rosemary & Co's brushes aren't expensive) but buying the cheapest supplies from a hobbyist company's range isn't a good idea in itself - which isn't to say that there's nothing to be picked up there, just that you need to discriminate if you're going to do yourself justice.
Posted
Like most I try to use good quality paint and medium, brushes and grounds but am happy to economise on brush holders, dippers, self made palettes etc. etc. I have a friend who started painting in watercolour some time ago and got very discouraged and asked for advice (from me on watercolours!!). She had good brushes and paper and all the gear one could wish for but was using a cheap brand of 'student' pan watercolours. A change to a well known 'artist' brand soon produced more encouraging results.
Posted
There are people who buy professional kit because it's better quality and they feel more comfortable using it, and then there are people who buy professional kit because it makes them a professional. There's a name for people like that in our parts...'All the gear, no idea'. In other words, a proficient artist can achieve a result with crap equipment, but a terrible artist will still be a terrible artist, even with top-notch kit.
Posted
Got all the gear.....yeah...I've seen a few of those in my time...freshly retired company director, huge posh sable brushes, massive big box of watercolours (it's always watercolours, dontcha know?) and the p-oh-sh accent to go with it. I'd agree though that the money is best spent on the paint and brushes quality, plus the supports. Other goods like water-jars, palettes, bags, seats and suchlike can be scrounged cheap, and maybe better ones purchased later on.