Testing Art Materials to Balance Performance with Cost

My studio is always full of tests (well, it's always full of lots of things!). Here is a current acrylic medium product test I'm doing today.

Anyone who has taken one of my painting courses, or even attended one of my talks, will have heard me describe my studio as a laboratory.

I call it that because I am always experimenting, trying out new ideas, but also testing very specific things like I am today.

Curry's Art Store has a relatively new line of self-branded mediums. I was disappointed with their first product about a year ago, but they seem to have re-formulated so I've bought their gel and medium+varnish products specifically for testing purposes.

If they turn out to work well then they will provide a lower cost alternative to the premium brands. Some of the cheaper brands are not worth their apparent cost savings because they simply don't perform well. That's why I test!

Stevenson (officially D.L. Stevenson & Son Ltd.) is another line to consider if you're trying to lower your cost while keeping professional artist quality. Maybe I'll discuss them more in a future post.

Personally I will use the premium lines like Liquitex and Golden for most of my work, but not everything I do needs the top product lines, and many of my students are looking for affordable options whenever they're viable.

If you work (or play!) with art or craft materials, do you have a favourite way of saving money that you wouldn't mind sharing in the comments?

Some of the cheaper brands are not worth their apparent cost savings because they simply don't perform well.
That's why
​I test!