Having taken my fair share of painting workshops, I initially got caught up in the "materials lists" that I thought were required and later discovered that were suggested. I remember spending a lot of money on different pigments hoping to capture what I thought was the magic of the instructor only to realize that their tricks were not rooted in their palettes but years of focused hard work. However, there are a few things that I've learned; cheap surfaces suck and will make your masterpiece cheap and destroy the illusion you're conveying. You can get away with cheap brushes for some things and not for others. We all have instructors that use the Home Depot "chip" brushes for blocking in, but I always found they too many lost bristles which brought me back to the days when my hair was thinning and my tears would make it too difficult to manipulate the paint.  The biggie for me has always been about the quality of the paint. I certainly subscribe to using the best paints you can afford, but I also have found that you can get away with less expensive paints for some tasks. I don't spend a ton of money on burnt or raw umber because I'm usually using them as tinting, under painting or drawing. I buy the bigger less expensive tubes and haven't had an issue.

Ultimately, the thing that I've learned from the instructors I've encountered is that they all have their own unique take on materials. Fortunately or not like everything else in this God forsaken endeavor you'll discover your preferences as you journey through your own miles of high quality, double primed, Belgium linen canvas.     

Do I expect that the requests, inquiries and sales will come flooding in? Um...no I don't. Art is such a personal thing and let's face it, it's expensive. I remember visiting a good friend of mine in his studio and being completely overwhelmed by all of his work. It was truly an emotional experience in the best sense of the phrase. When it came to potentially buying a piece out came his standard pricing sheet and I had another emotional experience, as well as a certain unmentionable acute digestive issue when I saw the cost of his work. It's taken a partial dive into the deep end of the artist pool to truly understand what goes into this passion and why art commands the price it does.  As I dip my toe into the commerce side I'll be fascinated to see what sells, (if anything) and how I'll react. I suspect that I'll be saddened to see some of my favorite pieces go, and I'll try to control my city kid attitude when someone criticizes, rejects or counter offers.  My response to the latter will go something like this: "You don't see me coming down and negotiating the price of your work. Big Macs are set based upon fixed and variable costs plus the many months you've dedicated to frying them...oh, what's that, they microwave them now? Nevermind."