Neighborhood Exhibits
A local cafe slash community gallery held a draw-together event sponsored by lesser-known art supplies companies. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the supplies were in fact quite good. Many participants expressed similar sentiments, and I could see myself buying this for kids or newer people who would want to try painting.
We found out why they weren't more well-known though. One of them is a legacy brand owned by a family that has zero interest in doing things differently as they had always been done, so artists aren't clamoring for their supplies since everything is packaged like those crummy children's sets (not even the good ones). The other is only two years old, makes things in small batch, and has almost zero internet presence. Both of them can't be bought unless you know where to look, almost literally. Even us participants in the event who wanted to place an order could only do so via ye olde "write your name on this piece of paper and we'll contact you after the weekend". It's...amusing?
I got to try pastels (both oil and soft). Surprising that I could manage a recognizable spread in my sketchbook... But "fun" as they might be to play with on a paper the size of a dining table, I won't be getting them for my home studio. They're really messy. A 12 years-old did a very good self portrait, the exhibitors shared tips, everyone had an all-around good time.
Then the gallery! There really is no substitute to seeing a real artist's work up close in real life. They let us thumb over sketchbooks and sketches, arranged from old to new, a real glimpse at progress. The venue is close enough to my place that I'm now considering taking the workshops while I could. I think I have managed to cobble together an education on my own so far, but a semistructured set of lessons (delivered face to face nonetheless) seems nice. However, I'll have to make sure I have the stamina to dedicate two weekends for these all-day classes (plus a sketchwalk session on each day).