Paint Test

Hi all,
In my last post, one of the issues with my first painting was the lack of vibrancy regarding the paint. When I look at proper artists' work the colours seems to jump off the paper. My paint looked like it would have a job to dribble off the edge of the paper even with a good wind behind it. I said my painting looked wishy-washy and, even taking into account that the subject matter was a misty scene, it still looked out of salts.
If you are interested in art, you have probably been to the exhibitions at village halls where amateur artists have their annual display. There is no doubt that there are some good paintings hanging about at these events, but there are even more that, like my first effort, look like they could do with an injection of steroids. Could it possibly be the paint? Is professional quality paint worth the extra money or is it a bit of a snobby thing?
 My view on the subject was that if you bought students quality watercolours and didn't put too much water into it when mixing, the result should equal that of professional watercolour paints. I would therefore save my self a fortune because professional watercolours are more than twice the price.
Anyway, I must have found myself in a pool of delirium because I decided to get my wallet out and purchase three tubes of professional quality watercolours from a nationally known hobby and art shop. Those three tiny tubes cost me almost £18 quid, if they contained tooth paste it would be gone in a couple of days and I'd be making an appointment at the dentist to have all my teeth removed before I allowed myself to be fleeced again.
The next thing I did was to set about doing a test to see if the paints were worth the extra money. Now I'll be the first to admit that my experiment might not be the most scientific in the world and you can make what you will of the results, but here's what I did. I drew a couple of irises and painted one with student quality watercolour and most of the other with the paint I'd paid an arm and a leg for. Here is the result.

I think you have probably worked out which was done with the most expensive paint. So what can be gathered from the evidence?
 If I want to do a painting that looks proper, I need to fork out and buy the best quality paints. It's no good telling myself that I'll use the cheap stuff until I get good because using cheap paint will only hold me back and I'll never paint anything worth risking an eye on.
 It also seemed to me that because the professional watercolour paint is a lot stronger, when I need a weaker wash the paint will, due to its increased level of pigment, go much further.
So, what I need to concentrate on now is finding professional quality paints at something like student paint prices. I'll let you know if I'm successful in a future post. Painting number 2 is well on the way and will be posted in a couple of days. Happy painting.