To spend more money on my art stuff? (Also watercolour people, I need advice)

[Sloppybollox]

I think DH is getting a bit irritated with the amount of money I’m spending on art supplies! I started off using oils, didn’t have the patience for all the cleaning so went to acrylics, don’t like how messy they look so went to watercolour. I love the look of watercolour but I need better stuff! I did this this morning and gave up because the paper is shit and kept buckling. My argument is if I can get better at it, I could maybe get to a point where I can make money from it. DH’s argument is that I swap and change my style/medium that often that I’m just throwing money away.

YABU - stick with the stuff you have until you’ve used it up
YANBU - buy stuff to help you improve!!

Also - what’s the best watercolour paper to use to stop this bucking??!

I'd keep your rubbish paper for practising and get some nice stuff when you decide you want to make something to keep

Maybe sell the paint you don't want on Facebook?

I think it depends
How your finances are shared
If you can afford it
How much money you each get to spend on hobbies and if its equal

Do you stretch and wet your watercolour paper in advance? I thought you were supposed to tape it down and then wet it and dry it before starting

I think it would be best to think in terms of what you would like to spend on your hobby, rather than investing in a money making opportunity. I might be wrong and apologies if so, but you don’t sound very experienced (eg it’s easy enough to buy heavier weight water colour paper and tape it down).

And maybe some classes would be a better investment than more kit? Your painting is v nice btw.

I recently spent £90 on a set of oil painting brushes from Rosemary & Co and I'm going to spend £70 on a decent easel. You've got to invest in the best tools to give yourself the best possible chance of success IMO. BTW I much prefer oils to watercolour as it's so much easier to correct mistakes! Also, your painting is beautiful, keep it up.

I use winsten and newton paper.

You could always play around with the acrylics, using them as you would water colours?

I do think try to master what you already have.

Agree with spending money on a watercolour class, as summer term is coming up soon, look for Local Authority classes near you?

Are you stretching your paper first : wet it, stick it to a board with special tape around all four sides and let it dry. Then paint on it while its still stuck on the board. That way the paper won't buckle. I think I've done this with some very ordinary sketchbook paper in the past.

What does he spend on his hobby?

@Appalonia I’m the opposite! I spend lots on brushes but can often be found ‘painting’ with eyeliner or whatever I can find I think if you can get the technique right then you can use anything.

If you stretch your paper on a board then it will dry completely flat. Also no money spent on art supplies is unreasonable in my opinion!!

You don't need super heavyweight paper to improve OP. Not really. It's nice to have, but if you're just starting out a better thing to learn would be how to stretch your watercolour paper to stop it buckling.
You need a roll of gumstrip and a drawing board to stick it to.
Wet paper by submerging in water briefly.
Smooth onto drawing board.
Tear 4 pieces of gumstrip off the roll, one for each side. Wet them and apply covering overlapping the paper's edge. Leave to dry.
I would think there are you-tube videos showing how OP.

Your painting is lovely.I hope you carry on with your art.

With the paper: it comes on different weights ie, different thicknesses. Lighter weight paper needs to be stretched on a thick plywood board - a thin board will buckle. Don’t use mdf. Thoroughly dampen or wet the paper and tape it down using 2in/50mm brown paper tape. Be aware that you will need to cut the paper away from the board so you will ‘lose’ the brown tape margin from the finished piece. Thicker paper is less likely to buckle (cockle) and the very thickest is almost like thin cardboard and won’t need stretching. They are different to work with though. The other thing is paper texture - hot pressed (smooth) , not (middle surface texture) and rough. It varies by brand - you just have to try them!

You can get sample packs of paper from various suppliers - Ken Bromley used to do them also try Jacksons Art (in the UK).

You may well find you return to your other media - you can paint over watercolour with acrylic and you can paint over acrylics with oil, just don’t try to paint over oils with other media!

A class with a good teacher will demonstrate all of the above to you.

Good luck and keep going. You won’t know what you like unless you experiment - the answers are rarely fixed and certain at the beginning. In my view, you can never have too much paint!

Thanks for the advice everyone. I did try to stretch this but I obviously didn’t wet it enough, I just kind of painted it with water then taped it down with masking tape.

I like the idea of painting classes, I’ll have a look to see what’s on

Any hobby costs a lot of money. My mum is an amateur watercolour artist and she spends a good amount, plus she goes to classes. My dad doesn't mind if it means she's happy.

DH used to make Warhammer models in the 90s and still had quite a few untouched when he rediscovered the hobby during the lockdowns. So he sells the 90s stuff (which is in demand and coveted on various sites) and buys the cheaper modern models to paint. The older ones are metal but the newer ones are resin, so the older ones have value. I don't mind because he part-funds his hobby through selling his antique collection and painting/modelling is good for his mental health. The official Warhammer paints are pricey, but get the best results.

Definitely try better paper and for watercolour especially this is important for practising too as the paints and water behave differently - look for 100% cotton 140lb. If you work quite wet and don’t want to stretch try a paper block (all sides are glued down and you release the top sheet after your painting has dried)

You don’t say what paints you are using now and you don’t have to go super expensive, Winsor and Newton cotmans are good enough for most colours.

Also try mixing your blacks rather than using a tube or pan black, and I would also suggest watching some you tube videos on introducing some more soft edges for the style you are going for - again this is far easier to achieve in good paper.

Have a look at gouache paint too. Water based but builds up colour more than watercolours. I use it to paint animals.

Heavy paper (250gsm and above) in blocks (rather than pads or loose) help with buckling. I don't know where you are based but you can order good paper from Jacksons, Ken Bromley or Great Art.You
Classes can really help expand your techniques and give you the confidence to exoeriment. Maybe also look into mixed media classes.

I love your picture. Really good capturing the dog, and the style is lovely, and pretty modern.

I would buy them!

(disclaimer - I know nothing about art, complete amateur, just like the picture!)

Definitely sell the paints you're not going to use, recoup some of the money!

I really like your dog picture!

I think the amount you spend on your materials and whether it's reasonable depends on how much that money actually means to you and whether it's shared with your DH, etc. If money is tight and you buying more art supplies is going to leave you short as a household, then obviously it's going to be a problem.

But assuming buying things like paints and paper isn't going to leave you unable to pay the bills, I really don't see the issue with spending a little bit more on decent materials. And as for switching from oils to watercolours ... I think everyone has to experiment a bit when they're starting a new hobby. I don't paint but I do some other vaguely arty hobbies and I think it's normal to try out new materials and so on until you get a feel for what's best for you. I've just given away a set of coloured pencils because although everyone raves about the brand, they're just not right for me and I've replaced them with a set by a different manufacturer.

Making money from art is, of course, very difficult, even for people who have a lot of talent, so I don't think I'd use that as an argument for buying more art supplies. But presumably your DH spends money on things that he likes sometimes? I don't see why you can't do the same, if you can afford it.

[quote TabithaTittlemouse]@Appalonia I’m the opposite! I spend lots on brushes but can often be found ‘painting’ with eyeliner or whatever I can find I think if you can get the technique right then you can use anything.[/quote]
I totally agree! I've used make-up brushes, sp onges, scrunched up bits of tissue papers etc, but I splashed out on expensive brushes in the hope they'd make me a better painter! Lol

As an art teacher, I would do as other op's have said and invest in a basic course, which would help you choose the right papers/paints/papers. Worth the smallish investment to avoid wastage.

@Mabelface

Have a look at gouache paint too. Water based but builds up colour more than watercolours. I use it to paint animals.

Your car is lovely! I've only been doing oil painting classes a few months but I'm really proud of these pairs I did in my class as I finally made something look 3 dimensional, which is hard!