Prowling around the forum today just in case I come across any spam to defenestrate (never stop PQing me if you find anyone), I came across this thread by Sosradio who makes SOS Radio which you should check out right now! Some good art to look at there, and an interesting premise!

But back to the thread, the topic was basically around what drawing table to get as a first experience when transitioning from pen and paper to digital.

And while there are some great answers there (and some pretty steep prices too) the idea came to me about tools vs. skills. What makes an artist's art level? The skills or the tools? And should you have state of the art, ridiculously expensive stuff in order for your art to be at its best or will a bottom tier bare-bones tool work for you just as well if you have the talent?

My personal opinion is that good tools will absolutely help. It's not the same to have poor quality watercolors or no watercolor paper, for example, when trying to create a certain effect by several washes and end up with a shrivelled up muddy mess vs. having quality paper that can withstand the watercolor, and watercolor that blends well or dries fast.

On the flip side, if you don't know what you are doing, you could have the world's best, state-of-the-art paint or paper or computer and you will still make completely amateurish stuff with a ton of mistakes and little allure for an audience.

Int hat same vein, if you are a master of your craft, even very low quality tools will bend to your will and produce a gorgeous result, even if you have to make extra steps in order to get there, or find solutions to make up for the tools' shortcoming (you pay for that in time spent).

So what tools should you choose depending on where you are on your artistic journey?

I think there isn't one single correct answer. Anyone and everyone has different opinions and they are all legitimate if based on personal or other experience.

My opinion is that as a beginner, especially if you are still experimenting with a medium or a style, you should have entry level tools. Something that is cheap enough that it doesn't qualify as an investment, and can be tossed in the back of your drawer with impunity if you decide you don't like it or it doesn't work for you. At the same time, it shouldn't be so low-quality that it doesn't have the basic qualities of the tool because that deprives you of a legitimate experience, and you may give up on it simply because your tools were obstacles rather than facilitators. (Going digital with a mouse isn't the same as with a tablet. Both can be done, but one is a better gateway)

Sometimes, dirt-cheap is also good enough to experiment: like a simple pencil and random paper. If you find you like it you can slowly invest in more pencil types and better paper, but you can still use simple pencil and random paper to create something without much standing in your way to hone your budding skills. A very simple drawing tablet can serve you while you learn the new eye/hand coordination required or while you learn a drawing program, and so on.

Some other times, however, you might need to reject dirt-cheap for medium tier if you want to have something you can work with even to learn. Watercolor on the other hand is something you shouldn't try with the cheapest stuff in the market, nor should you experiment on the cheapest watercolor paper there is, because it will hinder your learning. Same for oil paints or acrylic, where color combinations might yield completely different shades, colors, or hues if the paints are dirt-cheap and thus lead you astray or frustrate you if your theory is correct but the practice is off.

When you're a beginner, however, you may not be able to know which is which. This is where asking people farther along in their artistic journey than you comes in handy. Asking what the best tools for a beginner are and following that advice is the way your skills will also get to blossom.

What were your beginner's tools? Are your tools different than when you just started out in art?



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