Originally Posted by
BellaBoo
I have taken several art classes, beginner watercolor and several oil. Not one instructor said not to use the best quality paints or canvas because it didn't matter for a beginner. Some ordered from an artist catalog some went to Hobby Lobby. The work done with the best paints and canvas looked better then the work done with the less quality even if the art itself was rather bad. LOL. Nothing compares to the best quality of anything from food to life.
With art, it doesn't matter about the quality of the tool if the art itself is bad. The art is everything! I only went to one art school, not painting classes. The advice there was consistent in the scuplture classes, painting and metal working classes. Until your skill justifies it, don't spend the money for top notch tools. A canvas for a beginner could be had at HL. A top notch canvas would cost then between $50-$100 for a smaller size 20x24 and take a good 24 hours to gesso, sand, gesso, sand, gesso, sand until it was ready for a skilled painter. Most beginners couldn't even tell the difference by looking at the two canvases. Perhaps the instructer didn't say best quality paints didn't matter for a beginner, but I'll bet that when you were having trouble getting the precise shading in a glaze he explained , or should have, the difference in the quality of paints and mediums. Also, many classes don't even begin to explain the multiple oil mediums, drying times, varnishes, etc. Many of these differences are left to advanced students.Just as all art schools start with color theory and art history and painting classes don't. However, color theory is a very necessary tool as is art history. I think it compares to thinking a writer could produce a best selling book without studying literature. There is much more to the tools of painting than canvas, brushes and paint, but even these come in grades- usually listed as student, artist and professional.