I can only speak from recent and personal experience after resuming watercolour painting after a break of ten years.
Paper? Really only three grades and each performs differently but otherwise not much to worry about. Each manufacturer's product is pretty much the same as any other once it has paint on it.
Paints? One teacher says only use Artist grade, the other (a professional who earns his living from selling his art) says Student grade is good enough unless you're turning professional. Until then, don't worry.
Brushes? Both teachers use synthetic brushes or a mix of Squirrel and synthetic. I bought two very expensive pure Russian Sable brushes (the Leicas of the brush world) to try them out as "everyone" says they're the "best", but actually my Prolene synthetic brushes handle better for my taste and needs. Comparison? Try $20 compared to $94.
So although I'm seeing interest in having "good" tools and equipment I'm certainly not seeing "obsession" over them. By amateurs or professionals. And the "best" may not be the best after all - for my needs, anyway.
Leigh only three grades is an understatement there are a lot more. Different weight, different surfaces, differences in absorbtion rate, etc... wether its Chinese watercolour Paper,Nepalese Kalahari paper or Hahnemühle Aquarell etc... all these parameter play a role in defininig the end result. 🙄
A lot of pro use cheap paint because its cheap and they use a lot of it.
A highly pigmented paint looks very different to paint with smaller amount of pigment not better just different and I would advise any beginner to use both for different effect.
But I agree obsession is maybe too hard a word in most cases. But denying the fact that people (any profession) are talking about the merits of certain tools over others is ludicrous.
Dominik
Cool to see other painters here. I'm currently on hiatus from watercolor, though I did spend about three recent years completely obsessed with it. As a serial hobbyist, I obsess deeply about one hobby at a time, and my current horse is photography (which I've been on-and-off since I was about 13).
I thought of watercolor immediately, when I was first started reading this thread. And yes, people most certainly obsess about tools, paint, and paper. Go check out wetcanvas.com and see what I mean.
I do care about the tools of painting, as someone above said, because they respond the way I want and/or expect. As Dominik says, even within 140lb cold-press paper, I hate Canson and love Arches. Huge difference (to me). I find that sable, or squirrel/synthetic mix brushes are best (for me).
Others care, too. Check out handprint.com, where the site owner reviews many, many watercolor paint brands and describes, in incredible detail, his impression of their handling, good and bad (in his opinion).
I am a software developer. So is my wife. My computer and the software I install to get my work done are important to me. I can only stand to work on a Mac (or at least Unix). She doesn't really care. She just likes solving problems.
Anyway it's just a long way of saying that some people care a lot about equipment and some people don't, and it doesn't matter the area of interest, or the level of experience. It's impossible to make broad statements about it.
Fun to talk about, though
🙂
