Blog

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Contemporary English defines the phrasal verb of “Stocking Up” as getting a large quantity of something for later use. The Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary, however, defines it as buying a large amount of something so that we will have enough for the future.

Though there could be a debate on whether we need to “buy” something to stock up as not everything can be “bought”, both definitions indicate that “stocking up” is necessarily meant for the ‘future’ … but the real point of this blog is to understand the true significance & implication of this seemingly innocuous activity.

We may not realize but a major part of our life goes in stocking up. Having inherited that nature from our ancient cave-dwelling forefathers who taught us to never get caught unaware & unprepared, we constantly keep preparing for the future, not understanding clearly, when it will come or whether in fact, there is anything like ‘future’ at all.

Though insourcing is laudable & some proponents of frugality (including myself) would go so far as to state that it’s a must, stocking up has its benefits & may not be overlooked. If done in the right proportion & direction, that is.

My years of stocking up on paint supplies from various discount stores & online sales I’m afraid is not a good example of stocking up. 

As artists, many of us tend to ‘collect’ or ‘sample’ new paints, brushes, palettes, papers & whatnot. While trial & exploration with new materials is a must to advance in our art career, we inevitably build up a ‘stock’ as we move along. It takes time & sometimes courage, to dispose of the ones that didn’t work out for us – but I think it must be done. Replenishment & constant updating of our ‘stock’ could be a very necessary activity for artists. I mentioned this in one of my earlier blogs as well.

Recently, one of my friends who is associated with an NGO that promotes reading amongst poor children needed to stock up on ideas for social media posts related to a reading campaign. He made an open appeal to all our friends & friends’ friends & without fail, everybody who's capable contributed. Now, this is an example of ‘stocking up’ where the outcome – be it the present or the future – will be positive. It’ll change the lives of many for the better & such efforts should be continued. Hence stocking up for sustenance was an excellent idea.

Draft of a poster for the Reading Campaign

Or consider the act of blood donation. Like every year, this year August we participated in the Blood Donation Camp organized in our factory where different agencies collect a single unit of blood from each donor & stock them up in central blood banks. This elixir of life is then given to those who need it - the sick & the dying. This stocking up is merely a way of giving back to society & is indeed a very noble one.

In wrong hands & with wrong ideas though, stocking up can take ugly proportions & sometimes drastic measures like demonetization are sought to reverse the process.

Many of us have built scenarios in our mind whereby we ‘need’ things to support our lifestyle – so we happily ride the carousel of consumerism & stock up … but it may be necessary to take stock every now & then, as there are only a few true ‘necessities’ of life. What we stock-up so carefully today, can prove to be a complete junk tomorrow.

But please do stock up if the Weatherman forecasts a storm (& sometimes even if they don’t).

In the last couple of months, I’ve been working most nights (because I have a day job) to prepare entries for 3 competitions. After stocking up on my papers & paints I’d decided to use, I had to brush up my knowledge of Perspectives & Color Theory too. I referred a few books – including Interaction of Color by Josef Albers - & stocked up new knowledge on how to solve color issues & explore new boundaries of color harmony. Such stocking up on the knowledge of theory & technique of painting is essential for painters, I think. And in this context, the fresh stock is always welcome.

As an artist, we need to be very clear of our priorities so that we could spend the maximum time with our muse – our art. I’ve devised & started maintaining a simple stock statement of the art materials I have & may need over the next few weeks. All the rest I donate to charity. On a small whiteboard, I write the quantity of materials available using a marker. This simple visual check tells me when an item needs replenishing. Also, I try to keep the art materials and my finished paintings in 2 separate cupboards – it takes a lot less space. Once a month I go shopping if I need something, otherwise not. This simple system of managing my stock has helped me clear a lot of junk & make space for new materials. It also created enough mind space for me so that I can focus better on the actual ‘art’.

But one thing I do not mind stocking up is books & DVDs on art … because there can be no end to the stock of knowledge one can have. With the advent of e-books & PDFs, I’ve been able to get rid of a lot of physical copies, but there’s still a lot. And I don’t mind.

Whether we want or not, as we can see, we have to keep stocking up as we move on with our life – important thing is to understand why we are stocking what we are stocking and to what use will our stock be put to. And what our real priorities are.

So let’s take stock before we actually stock up.