Art materials

[slimfandango]

Are 'art materials' a rip off?

Like gesso: is that not just acrylic?

Canvas..is that not just normal undyed cotton? I just bought some gesso, and it was about 8 times the price of acrylic paint. What's going on?

[mrs.pudding]

I think they probably are if you are just talking about the standard art shop stuff.  I think they see us as a soft touch.

Proper gesso is made with a very fine ground plaster and rabbit-skin glue and is generally only used in gold-leaf gilding.  Good canvas is virtually hand-made and has to be primed properly.  Good quality water-colours use expensive materials to achieve their colours and stay fresh on the paper for far longer than the cheaper ones.  So all these things are going to be expensive.  I don't mind paying if I know the stuff is genuinely a quality product.  Otherwise, I just buy the cheapest I can find.  You can buy a roll of canvas and stretch it yourself -  http://www.lionpic.co.uk/ might do it.  Their catalogue is better than their web site I think.

[slimfandango]

that's a great, informative answer, thanks very much

[mrs.pudding]

i thought i sounded a bit of a know-all - which I didn't mean to!  So thanks for your appreciation.