Avoiding the Number
One Beginner's Mistake
by Anne Olwin
What is the biggest mistake beginning
artists make?
They devalue their efforts.
Most beginners approach art with the
idea they can purchase the least expensive materials while they learn because they
are uncertain whether they will be successful and stay with it. Often heard by many
an art teacher: "I'm just a beginner."
A cheap tool, especially brushes,
paints and paper, are a handicap. Poor tools actively undermine the best efforts.
Students enter classes with these materials believing the supplies will serve them
well in the initial process, only to become disheartened by paints that are murky
and lack luminosity, papers that fight against them and brushes that splay or go limp.
A bad tool is a bad investment and there is no way to recapture it or (for some people)
to recover from the frustration of working against it. There is NO way to achieve
professional quality results with inferior quality materials.
Students who spend a little more on
perhaps fewer, but better quality materials, find they spend much less money in the
long run while maximizing their potential for success. For
good reason, professional artists buy professional quality materials.
A very little of the right tools,
quality instruction, determination and an "I can" attitude takes beginners a long
way. It doesn't have to cost a lot; add more as the budget allows.
Repeat after me: "I'm learning and
my efforts are worth it."
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