like yes i obviously know why this philosophy exists and why people say it so much, and yes, there is validity to it. but it only makes sense as a way to confront one specific situation: the neophyte artist who first put paint on canvas two weeks to a year ago, finds their work unsatisfying (insert entire ira glass "killer taste" quote here) and has come to people they consider Better Artists to ask "am I using the wrong brushes?"
yes, it's valid to reply to that person by saying that, you know, da vinky could still have painted the mona lisa with a house painting brush dipped in cowshit. that's true and poignant, but people love to throw this phrase around the same way forum nerds use "RTFM", as a shutdown to any and all questioning about technique and tools, and that's where it becomes insulting, dismissive, and often just wrong.
i cannot tell you how many times i've seen someone reply "RTFM" to a question that is not answered in the manual. and I cannot tell you how many times i've seen someone ask about technique or tools and get told "just try harder sweety :)" tools matter beyond an objective measure of quality.
yes, two paintbrushes may be "basically the same", two pencils might be "basically the same", and a skilled artist can notionally produce anything they like with dollar store versions of either one. but a brush with a particular texture lends itself to specific kinds of results, and even as an extremely inexperienced artist I can tell you that there is a massive difference between shading with a #2 Ticonderoga and doing the same thing with a Blackwing. they are "the same", but they aren't the same.
but that's not even the sort of thing i'm talking about. i'm talking about people insisting that DSLRs and smartphones can readily take the same pictures, or acting like "what guitar do i need to make speed metal" is somehow not a valid question (it's an ibanez RG, you want an ibanez RG.) or even worse, people suggesting that music or art software is all interchangeable.
christ. christ almighty
an artist COULD make the same picture in photoshop and krita, but if they aren't straining as hard as they can to consciously make that specific image, the software is going to heavily influence the result. a musician COULD make the same song in ableton or FL studio or reason, but if they are starting from scratch and working organically it is very likely that that won't happen. and that's only considering the physical structure of the various UIs and how they push the creator towards specific ways of making and using patterns and automation, not even considering the likelihood that they're using a completely different set of tone generator plugins. nobody would say that a trumpeter would still be a trumpeter if they bought a clarinet instead of a trumpet.
my videos wouldn't even look the way they do if I was still using goddamn Adobe Premiere, because while they're both notionally NLEs, the visual effects that are readily craftable in Resolve are very different than in Premiere. and like... canon cameras shoot redder than nikon. yeah, you're gonna swim against that current, you're going to recolor everything in lightroom anyway, but the fact that every one of your pictures is just warmer than the same picture shot on another brand of camera, and in ways that are not fully and automatically corrected by dragging the color temp slider, fucking matters. don't get me started on film stock. art is inseparable from the tools used to make it.
and i mean... all of this is also ignoring the simple fact that it's often nicer to use better tools, and if someone asks "what's the best tool," you could just... tell them? and let them waste their money on it and learn a valuable lesson in the process? answering a question with a brand and model is literally easier than replying with a scolding, every single time. it's free.
Kinda repeating what I've said in a previous post, but YES. I have firsthand experience seeing people nearly give up being photographers because no matter how much they learned the tools, the tools sucked.
At least in my experience, I think some of the idea of "Artist > Tool" comes from disgracing those who jump directly to the "best tool" without prior experience. The type of people can buy a Sony a7Sii on a whim because the example photos looked good, but never had any experience or prior training and end up with subpar results. This also goes into the cognitive bias were people who have gained better tools from perseverance have the knowledge to get good results from lesser tools. Meaning they think someone with lesser experience should be capable of doing the same.
i struggled with taking satisfying photos on canons for ten years and then i bought a nikon and instantly i was getting better shots. i shot thousands and thousands and thousands of pictures in the time i was a still photog, but every single one that i remember, every one i'm proud of, was shot on my nikon. it doesn't matter why it happened, it doesn't matter if it was psychological in some way, the proof is in the fucking pudding.
i bought the nikon, i instantly liked my photos better, and I wanted to be a photographer more. i went places and did things i never would have attempted with the canon. the nikon improved my art, QED, and if someone asked me for advice on how to improve their photos, i would say "switch to nikon" and stand by it. if spending money is an option, i say why not give it a shot.
oh, and i should mention, the above is about DSLRs. and this matters particularly with photography, because a lot of the "it's just a tool :)" shit comes from the pre-digital era where the camera was literally just an empty space between the lens and film, and the lenses didn't affect color and tone at all. digital is not like that, digital changes how your pictures look on a fundamental level. switching from nikon to canon is like switching from ibanez to gibson, they are not the same thing.
My primary instrument is trombone. I learned on a good beginner pea shooter Bach, one still preferred for some jazz work. I upgraded to a (by all accounts) mediocre vintage Conn 50H that someone left in a high school locker and never claimed. Thing is, it works for me in a way far more expensive horns and their smooth Thayer valves don't. I can get a beautiful dark tone that matches German hymns and Christmas music and many jazz pieces very well, melds in with a choir or other instruments without punching sharply through unless I ask it to, and with a swap of the mouthpiece allows for quite an extended range. Theoretically this is all possible on any horn, but the Conn 50H did not require a learning curve (past the valve) or an adjustment period. It played the way I wanted to sound without great effort, unlike when I tried my friends' fancier horns. All the copper in brass blend didn't matter if the crossbar wasn't right or my lungs didn't match well with the F-attachment curves. Finding the tools that work for you is more important than finding the objective best, and it's always good to try lots of tools on the way if you can.
The other time I found the quality of tools mattered was when I was learning viola as my high school tried to start up its orchestra program again. My parents bought me a $150 viola and I hated it. I had an ear for what it was supposed to sound like, and I knew a beginner strings player could only expect so much, but this viola sounded AWFUL and it wasn't all me. I begged my parents to please trade in for the next step up, reminding them that they had to listen to me practicing and we'd all be better off. At the end of the semester I'd planned to pick up extra work that summer to get it, but my dad's commission check was good and they surprised me with a swap to the next step up: a $400 model and a new bow. And you know what? It mattered! It mattered so much! I could hear enough to actually tell what changes in my bowing were doing. It stayed in tune more easily. And it just plain had a more pleasant tone to listen to. I practiced more and my practice was more productive. I still have that viola with me and every now and then (when my wrists let me) I pull it out and I'm happy to play it.
