Finding substance: Creation over consumption

Theseus entered the labyrinth with only a sword and a ball of yarn. The only two necessary things he needed to achieve his goal: a fight to the death and a way out. And so he did. But why did he succeed? Was his sword magical or was Ariadne's yarn fluorescent? Or did he roll in a portable armoury and a cart of spare yarn balls? Doesn’t seem like it.

His sword was probably sharp and well made and the yarns length was most likely approved by Daedalus who had a good grasp of the floor plan. It seems like a sword and ball of yarn is all he needed and that’s all he took with him. So if that was all that was needed, how come no one else had managed to kill the Minotaur before he took it upon himself?

I recently saw a video on social media of an artist showcasing their studio. There was no indication that this was a paid ad so I’m inclined to perceive it as a genuine exhibition of what that artist owns and needs in order to work.

The artist showed a beautiful custom made build in closet of multiple drawers and shelves, specifically made to accommodate art supplies. The construction filled the entire wall in a perfectly lit spacious room that featured more than one drafting tables. Inside that closet there were enough art supplies for a single artist for an entire lifetime, or enough supplies for a large group of artists for a significant amount of time. There were multiple unopened boxes of the same paint sets, every medium imaginable, an exorbitant number of brushes, pens, pencils, alongside what seemed like hundreds of paper pads of different types and sizes.

I asked myself why I found that video upsetting and the first thought that came to my mind was to sit against myself and pose the question of whether it was jealousy for not being able to afford such a set up. I took a moment with that thought and concluded that no, even if I could afford it, I wouldn’t buy myself this type of set up and I’ll explain why.

I won’t go into the conversation of whether that specific artist needed that many supplies. This isn’t even a critique on the artists level of artistry in correlation to studio set up. For the purpose of this article, lets imagine this is your favourite artist. Someone who in your heart you believe to be the best artist of all time: Does that person need that? Consequently, do you need that? And does anyone for that matter need that?

I will attempt to lay out my thoughts on how, this is not only not necessary in order to evolve as an artist, but can even be harmful in more than one ways, inwards and outwards.

This article will be a critique on how artificial needs created by consumerism can hurt the development of both art and artist.

I’m doing this hoping to make you feel better for the supplies you have right now, better about the supplies you should be looking forward to owning in the future and better about yourself as an artist. I’m hoping to help you identify between a real need and a made up need that might make you feel “lesser than” when all you should care for is your art before anything else.

Needless to say this is my personal take. My opinion and judgment of something I saw online. I’m not trying to shame that artist or you if this is your dream set up. I just believe we are all much more than that. More than products, more than excess, more than a display of ownership. And if that display of ownership is one more obstacle in an already unfriendly world for artists, I would like to share with you a way of seeing things that might help you focus on what you can do with your art, instead of what you can’t, due to a lack of what is in my opinion a fake need.

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In order to lead you to my point I will employ the age old tactic of using my personal life experience and will take you into a trip back in time. I know… pretty trite but inarguably relatable. My introduction was way too long already so lets finally start with the classic “when I was a child”.

So, when I was a child, I was blessed with a mother who supported my art inclination. Yes, I promised relatable and I already started off with something few people had, but bare with me. But (and here comes the relatable part) we had no money. And the main way of obtaining anything like, lets say markers, is money. As I said however, my mother wanted me to be able to make art. And I believe this fortunate and unfortunate equilibrium is what set the basis of how I tackled with the immense limitations that I was going to face in my adulthood.

Since a young age I always had some sort of “art studio”. Having to move from apartment to apartment throughout my childhood, meant that I had to reinvent this art studio, according to the new space and my moms finances. Sometimes, it was a small desk next to my bed with a bed light and a drawer of markers, sometimes it featured shelves with IKEA boxes with more supplies inside, one time, it was even an extra room where I would do my painting and my mom would do her sewing. Every new apartment and my single mom’s income would indicate what that “studio” would look like.

As an adult the set up didn’t change much. The studio was a desk in my living room, more boxes and depending on my finances more or less supplies. When I got into tattooing at 24, drawing became my first priority. I would practice and evolve my drawing and designing skills which also meant exploring supplies that would help me do that. Around that time I discovered alcohol markers and the famous very expensive Japanese brand was all the fad. But back then when I still lived in Greece, they would cost 6€ each. And if you know anything about markers you know that 12 shades won’t do it, we’re looking at 50 shades just to start. Following the advice of an art supplier I used to frequent, I chose an alternative brand (also Japanese) that turned out to be of far more superior quality, at half the price. The difference was in their marketing. This brand didn’t appear in thousands of YouTube videos, social media posts and sponsored articles, so it was fairly unknown outside of Japan. 10 years later and the drawings I have from the famous brand have all faded significantly (as alcohol markers will over time) while the alternative brand is still vibrant.

This was the first time I realized that the most advertised art supply, is not necessarily the best, regardless of how enthusiastic the paid reviewer was. I also learned that the same applies to pricing. The price of a product can go up for reasons other than production cost, like a high importer cut and marketing expenses. Needless to say, it takes a lot for a product to end up in our screens and its necessity and quality is not granted.

Then at 28 I moved to Canada. Not knowing for how long I would stay initially and what my accommodation will look like in the following months, I packed only the most necessary art supplies. My alcohol markers, some rolled up paper and pencils. The first few years I didn’t have a place of my own. I lived with relatives which meant that I had to fit my art supplies in my bedroom and to be fair, at that time I didn’t feel like I needed more supplies. What I had, worked for me and my needs. Then I found a rather small and cheap drafting table and squeezed it in a corner in my bedroom. It didn’t even cross my mind that that’s not enough. I still had after all, pre pandemic positive thinking. Instead of “at 31 you rely on a relatives kindness for accommodation, barely have a studio and make the least money from tattooing the industry has ever seen” I thought “wow, I moved all the way here by myself, I have a place to live, I make a living as an artist AND I finally have a drafting table!”

Then at some point I finally moved into my own place. A small bachelor with large windows and limited space. The bed is technically next to the couch which is next to the entrance door but I felt like I had won the lottery. And the best part was that there was a small corner next to the fridge where the drafting table could fit perfectly! 10 year old me would’ve loved this corner! I have all I need, the table, the ring light over it, a little rolling cart with art supplies and a cabinet across it where I can store more art supplies. For someone who isn’t allowed to consider art, my corner would seem like a temple, a dream come true. For someone who thinks I sell myself short and would be a better artist in a spacious loft, with build in art supply cabinets and thousands of dollars in expensive supplies, my set up looks fairly pathetic. But realistically it's what I have and what I can afford. I can cry over the fact that my brushes don’t cost hundreds of dollars and place less value on me as an artist and my work because I have one set of gouache and not 14 more on the side. Or I can acknowledge the fact that this single set is the exact one I want, and my 7 medium priced brushes are the 7 I need and I have them. If I spend less time overthinking if its the brush’s fault my painting isn’t good enough, I can spend more time learning how to paint. As a rule what I’ve found is that a 10/10 tool won’t make you a 10/10 artist. A bad tool, will set you back, so buy something mid ranged in order to learn. A better tool will always add a little to your skill when your skill is already there. So instead of buying into quantity, buy into affordable quality.

At some point in life, I may find myself in a spacious loft, or a beach house, where I can build myself the perfect studio. Everyone, regardless of skill or success, deserves a space that isn’t limiting. I hope I’ll get a prettier drafting table and I hope I have some cabinets to store my art supplies. I hope I have at least one extra of everything at all times, so that I never run out.

But what I hope the most is that I have the freedom to paint whenever I want and not whenever I can between multiple jobs. I also hope I have developed my skills so much that its more about what I paint than how I paint it. And most importantly, I hope I find a way or a pattern in order to be constantly inspired and have a reason to express visually.

No art supply collection can give me that. If anything it can delay all of the above. Constant spending above my means would force me to work more, and consequently paint less, to accommodate to that spending. Even if I could afford excessive spending, no amount of paints can make me a better artist if I don’t paint with the intention of bettering my skill, which can be done without 20 more sealed packages on the side. And lastly, I’m a firm believer that a tool should serve the maker and not the other way around. Finding the right tool is important because it aids to your self expression, but the tool cannot be the centre of your attention, cause your self expression is about what you need to convey and that’s produced by your mind not your tool.

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The same obsession for quantity is observed in every aspect of every day life, like make up and sneakers. Year after year we accumulate far more than what is needed to see our needs met, yet we find reasons to justify that purchase. What it comes down to is that the purchase itself and ownership of the item is what gives us satisfaction, which is the essence of the habit of collecting. Collecting is one of the most normal and fundamental human behaviours. Our brains are designed to indulge in that habit, which has played an integral role in our species evolution. Consequently, when we act out that behaviour we feel content, which is why even though I may not need 6 different editions and publications of my favourite book, I'm very happy I own them.

The need to collect is hard wired in our brains, since the time we gathered nuts in the forest. Which is one of the numerous and complex reasons why consumerism as a phenomenon exists. And how could it not leak and stick into the thing that absolutely consumes some of us? Art.

We need to be more mindful and aware of out actions and aspirations. If you have one brush, you’re better off than someone who has no brush. Acknowledge this and let the gratitude get you by until you are able to buy a second one. But gratitude alone can’t help you evolve, one brush is simply not enough, you do need more brushes and you do need better quality brushes. But it doesn’t have to be the ones that are typically locked in a glass cabinet at the store because they cost over 100$ each.

Make a plan with small goals. If you have nothing, your goal is to get something. If you have one brush, your goal is to get a second one. If you have a few cheap brushes, your goal is to get one medium priced brush which you’re going to take care of so that it lasts. Your next goal will be to get all the sizes you actually need and use, in that quality.

Organize whatever space you have. Whether its a single drawer or a rolling shelf, use taper ware, boxes or old food containers and give everything its designated home.

Don’t spend too much on that, it won’t show on your canvas.

Your studio set up is in the bottom of the pyramid of what shows in your canvas. One place on top of that would be your immediate tools like paint, brush, canvas paper etc. Your skill is above all this. Then is your consistency. And on the very top is your substance as a person.

I know my perspective isn’t very glamorous. I also know that deinfluencing will never be as much a trend as influencing. But the concept of influencing through content creation, being interchangeable to need creation and consequently consumerism, just doesn’t sit well with me. This pipeline creates a mindset, a way of thinking that can be a distraction to people who can afford to indulge in it and a serious mental barrier to those who cannot.

You can afford or be gifted the most abundant studio in the world. A studio that is practically what a high end art supply stores warehouse would be. It will surely make your technique better, to an extend. And it will take away the stress of not having what you need. Both perks are substantial. But those amount to only a fraction of your final product which is your finished painting.

The relationship between tool and technique is a push and pull game that only works when the two are close enough to each other to attract.

A better brush will pull you up a little, but you have to push yourself upwards too. Once you do that, an even better brush will make you a little better still and so on. If you keep buying more and more expensive brushes but your technique doesn’t evolve in the meantime, the brushes won’t pull you there.

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When I was growing up in the early 90’s there was a very popular TV show aired on the Greek national television channel, called Art Attack. It was a British show (overdubbed in Greek) hosted by Neil Buchanan. The set consisted of giant art supplies that made Neil look like a miniature person walking among spilled pencils and tubes. In every episode, he would show creative crafts, made possible with the typical materials children use in art class, but also using every day items found in the house. Now that I look back at what my 6 year old self was absorbing I can see how one of the sources of my resourcefulness comes from that show. What as a child you would learn watching it, wasn’t the fundamental drawing techniques or how to use specific materials like you would learn in art school. What that show shaped and permanently set the machinations for, was something far more useful: creation with intention, planning, execution and in the end as a consequence we were unbeknownst to us, acquiring one of the most important life skills, that of problem solving.

We were continuously exposed to different ways of hinging things together, using household materials in creative ways to form shapes. We would make our parents keep all the toilet paper and paper towel cores, we’d empty our moms fancy paper napkins for Papier-mâché. We’d make spaceships out of aluminum foil and picture frames out of sponges. Did any of those creations survive? Probably not. But the point of making them wasn’t that. The point was to use our brains, manipulate material into form and make something out of nothing.

It didn’t matter then, whether we do it on the floor or a desk or if the markers are fancy or cheap and the PVA glue that would pop up in every single episode is just PVA glue. The next day it didn’t even matter if the artwork was any good. The only thing that mattered was the joy of “making” the thing.

Over the years, I’ve found myself in and out of sometimes very dark mental struggles. There were times when my life would just happen in front of my eyes like a movie I can’t control. And it all would feel like overwhelming gradients of grey. Sometimes it was light shades of grey, sometimes dark, sometimes black and inescapable. No tube of paint, no brush, no paper no matter how expensive or special is able to paint over this filter. Because a tool is only a tool, but I am the wielder, I am therefore the one with the skill to find a way to control, manipulate and transform the darkness into something. It is that resourcefulness, that mind that can lead me to my personal deliverance, piece by piece, painting by painting. In the end, the most priceless tool any artist can own is their soul, their core, their essence. And this tool needs sharpening, continuous learning, introspection and constant search for understanding.

When I finally started walking on this path of finding myself in every brushstroke, both my inherent and nurtured skills landed in front of my feet as cobblestones for me to walk on.

Theseus' sword can’t have been dull but it wasn’t magical. Ariadne's yarn wasn’t fluorescent, but it was adequate. Both items served the objective and Theseus found his way out of the labyrinth with the Minotaur's head in hand.

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I know that buying expensive tools in a large numbers is easy for some and harder for others. I’m not pretending that for both those predicaments art is or can be the same experience. It is not. But this too, your ability or inability to spend on your craft, defines you. If you find yourself in the group that struggles to even acquire the necessary, don’t lose hope. Remove yourself from the constant bombardment of information. Take a step back, think, plan and execute in your own pace.

If you are lucky to be able to afford a lot of the advertised items out there, I urge you to do the same. Regardless of where you stand socially and financially, take a step back and focus on yourself. I urge you to make finding oneself your top priority as an artist and create a hierarchy of needs and aspirations where ownership and acquisition of material things is a little lower in the list.

Indulging into consumerism is just a distraction in either case. One more item won’t help you dig deeper into who you are and will add nothing to your artistic output.

Instead of letting the tool master you, you should master the tool. Don’t let the material overwhelm and define you, make the immaterial that is inside you do the defining.

In other words, put the material wants on a leash and unleash your heart and mind.