Art for Humans – Art Supplies

Art for Humans – Art Supplies – by Alexander Cardinale.

I love art supplies, I do. I’m sure this may sound initially a bit odd to write about. “Of course, an artist would love art supplies, why are you telling me?” but there’s just something magical about walking through a good art store and seeing all these different tools for different mediums. I’m a digital/pencil & paper artist 90% of the time but that doesn’t stop me from needing to go down the aisle for the painters and the printmakers. I haven’t carved a linoleum square since I was in middle school but I always find myself picking up the fanciest-looking carving tools just to inspect them. I haven’t used acrylic paint since my first semester in college but there’s no way I can’t stop by the brush section and the paint tube rack just to see what’s in stock. I’m certainly no calligrapher but the pen sets just look so nice.

What I’m getting at here is that at least there’s just nothing better than an art store, I feel a connection to the whole body of it when I enter an art store that’s meant for professionals. Maybe it’s a simple respect for the other mediums of art, or maybe it simply comes down to how the supplies look on an aesthetic level. I have no definitive answer for you today but I will always suggest you find a store that sells on a professional level. Sure in these days of Amazon and the like you may feel inclined to just buy your supplies off the internet. I know when it comes to me buying the same Strathmore 9×12 100-page sketchbook for the millionth time, I’ll more than luckily end up just buying it off Amazon too but please if you need anything more than a simple new sketchbook I plead with you to go somewhere like where I’ve been talking about.

Not only will there be everything you need there, but there will also be more, and not just on a physical level. Yes, there will be many more interesting supplies you don’t need but wish to gawk at like a Victorian child in a candy store the same as I always do but more pressing than that is the aura these places give off. I promise if you spend more than a few minutes in there you’ll come out feeling like a brand new artist with probably about a hundred fewer dollars in your pocket and a new set of pencils and sketchbooks but more important than that will be that feeling you walk away. If you’re feeling sluggish about your artistic endeavors, insecure about your skills, feeling disconnected from the artistic world, discontent with your medium, or even just worried you’ll never “make it” as an artist. Whatever your issue is, some time spent in a professional-grade art store will certainly help if not fix it. The auras within these places are an artistic panacea, a cure-all that isn’t too good to be true. Even if you don’t have the budget to lose a hundred or more dollars on a handful of new paints, papers, and pencils I suggest going to one even just to walk around and admire what’s going on.

The place I always go to has a certain mystique to it that I’ve never found anywhere else, the place is deceptively small and if it were possible I would say it was somehow bigger on the inside. It’s filled to the brim with more than everything any artist would ever need. I suppose that’s why every artist I’ve personally met swears by this place. You can find everything from cheap packs of pencils for beginner artists, to some of the highest-end paints. I had to buy, quote, “fancy paper” there for my drawing class in college and spent over a hundred dollars on around ten of these big sheets of paper but in the end, it was worth it. Everything there is of the highest quality and smooshed into a few isles sitting in the middle of a room.  I think that’s something that adds to the magic of the place, how it feels impossible for them to have squeezed all this wonderful stuff in such a small place. It makes you feel as if you’re entering some ancient artistic archive from a fantasy novel. Massive stacks of arcane research and descriptions of supernatural beasts all surround a small reading table waiting for a scholar to pour over the pages that fill the room. Just replace all that fantasy stuff with things like y’know art books, inkwells, pencils, sheets of drawing paper, and you’ll get what I’m saying.

I would take the time to mention the people who you’ll see more in depth but it’s fairly the same everywhere you go. Young beginner artists, amazed at all the things around them, not quite sure what most of the artistic toys they see do but still wish their parents would let them buy it. Art student in a rush, hurriedly trying to grab everything they need while at the same time making sure they don’t spend all the money they got from their part-time job. Older, more experienced artist who only needs one new tube of paint but can’t help but wander around looking at everything, remembering that time they tried out carving linoleum but didn’t like it but feels like maybe this time they will. You might not talk to all these people but they are a part of that feeling of the art store.  Every time you go there you can see someone else on a different part of their artistic journey.

If all you have around you are chain hobby shops like Michaels, a store that every day gets less about art and more about home decor for some reason then I would suggest finding a professional store and going out of your way to get there. Inspiration and creativity ooze out of these places like lava. You’ll wish you went to the art store sooner.

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