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5 Tips For Saving Money on Art Supplies

Recently, someone was watching one of my videos and commented on how much paint I was using to demonstrate. Many beginning painters and even more experienced painters on a tight budget can be very hesitant about using materials for fear of wasting them. I can SO relate to this feeling! If you’re one of these “Frugal Frannies” as I was, this video is for you.

Most of us can benefit from finding ways to save money, so I have some of my top tips.  PLEASE share yours in the comments below.

1. Surfaces

The most common surface material for painting is stretched canvas. Buying the pre-stretched canvases is your most expensive option. Here are some alternatives:

  • Canvas board: Canvas boards are canvas stretched over cardboard and come primed with gesso and ready to.
  • Cardboard, heavy Bristol board or chipboard. Before painting, I would suggest prepping the surface with gesso.
  • Wood: You can often get pieces of wood inexpensively at a lumberyard in their scrap bin. If you want to buy larger quantities, try Masonite or MDF board and have the large sheets cut to your preferred size on site.
  • Heavy weight rag paper: Available at art supply stores. You may need to ask a sales associate to show you which papers are 100% rag. You will want to prep the surface with gesso before painting on paper.

2. Paint

There are many grades or quality levels of paints. Student grade paints are more economical but not all are created equal. If you are interested in learning more, you can watch my video on the 4 Different Types of Acrylic Paint. Two student grade paint brands I can suggest are:

A quick note on housepaint because I often get asked about it – it’s not meant to last a long time and has less pigment but is ok for learning and practice.

3. Brushes

I have another video where I discuss different types of brushes. I strongly believe that if there is anything you are going to spend good money on, invest in good brushes. Poor brush quality can make paint hard to control.

4. Palettes

A lot of times beginners and students use disposable palettes. I don’t prefer these because of the impact on the environment and the fact that they actually get expensive because you keep having to replace the pad once you run out.

Another disposable material you can use is freezer paper that is found at most grocery stores. It’s the same material as the disposable palettes, but it’s a lot cheaper.

I prefer the butcher tray palette. It’s a metal tray covered in enamel. You can easily cover it and keep paints wet for future painting sessions. Please watch this video for more details.

5. Bargain shopping

Art supply stores often have “Back to School” sales. Look for these at the beginning of the school semester. Many stores also have coupons or coupon apps.

You might also try Ebay. In a quick search I was surprised how many acrylic paints came up. Just make sure that if  you are purchasing from someone online that they have good reviews and accept returns. Garage sales and estate sales, thrift stores and reuse stores may also yield new or gently used art supplies.

Here are some resources for artists in the SF Bay Area:

Scrap 801 Toland St, San Francisco, California 94124 (enter on Newcomb)

East Bay Depot for Creative Re-Use 4695 Telegraph Ave. Oakland California USA

FabMo Designer fabric and samples for creative re-use 970 Terra Bella Avenue, Suite 5 Mountain View, CA 94043

I’d love to know: How do you save money on supplies? Please share your tips in the comments below!

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How to Remove Dried and Hardened Paint from Your Paint Brushes

Assuming you take excellent care of your brushes – wiping them carefully, washing them in warm soapy water after each use, it’s still common for paint residue to build up around the ferrule* over time. I find many beginning acrylic painters just rinse their brushes in water after a painting session without using soap. The paint comes out, but the clear acrylic polymer stays in the brush so they look clean but the bristles dry stiff and the brush is unusable.

I used to think when oil or acrylic paint dried in a brush and it became hardened that it was a lost cause. I tried lots of things – soaking them overnight in soap or solvent, depending on whether the paint was oil or acrylic. I experimented with all kinds of specialized brush cleaning products such as Kiss-Off, the Masters, EZ-Air cleaner with limited success. The bristles were still stiff and some of the paint would come out but not all of it. I also tried to get dried acrylic out with the soaps many artists recommended such as Fels-Naptha, Murphy’s Oil Soap without success. Once a brush became hardened, I had to throw it out.

It wasn’t until Winsor and Newton came out with theirBrush Cleaner and Restorer ** that I found the perfect solution for reviving old brushes. What I really love about it is that it is environmentally friendly as it is both non-toxic and biodegradable. (But remember the paint and pigments you remove from the brush might not be, so once it is used, please dispose of it in your local Household Hazardous Waste facility.) I reuse the brush cleaner over and over by allowing it to stand in a clear glass jar. The pigment particles settle to the bottom of the jar and the liquid at the top can be poured off and reused for the next cleaning. 

Here is a pdf the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for Winsor & Newton’s Brush Cleaner and Restorer.(On some computers the download will begin immediately. Please check your downloads folder.)

* Watch the video to find out what a ferrule is!

 **affiliate link (By purchasing through this link you help support costs of running this website, email service, create videos etc.) 

Have you ever had to throw out a brush that became too stiff to use? Do you have any hardened, dried up paint brushes? What are your solutions? Share your thoughts and tips in the comments section below!

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Cleaning up Acrylic Paint

A question I get over and over again is about proper disposal and clean up of acrylic paint.

Here’s a video I made showing precisely that:

My favorite part is watching the paint pucker up and peel up in a sheet. Watch for my tip at the end for how to dispose of all those palette scrapings in a way that won’t hurt the environment OR your plumbing.

In addition, I recently came across this great resource from Golden paints that shows how to dispose of acrylic waste water in an environmentally friendly way:

Any thoughts of your own? Questions? Please leave them in the comments section directly below the video so everyone can benefit!

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How to Start a Painting?

I had a fabulous, meaty question from a subscriber recently who wrote to say she had recently switched from a 30-year graphic design practice to painting and was finding it tough.

She asked “How do I start a new painting? My paintings have no consistency.
Do I just let it flow? Or does in need to have a set direction?”

This is the question that comes up when we begin to take a more focused approach to painting. When it becomes for us more than a pastime or hobby and becomes a passionate pursuit or profession.

Usually, it’s not the painting that’s tough, it’s the thoughts that come up – the judgments, the inner critic.

Here are some things I suggested she try:

1. Create a studio journal. Writing before starting a painting. Blurt everything out.
2. Step back from the thoughts that are coming up. Become aware of what the quality of the thoughts you have while painting.
3. Set a timer during your painting process and step back, pause every 20 minutes or so and notice what is going on. Check in with your body, emotions, thoughts.
4. If the thoughts are not supportive, replace with more supportive thoughts.
5. Take out all your paintings completed thus far and look at them as a group. Journal about them from a curious, non-judgmental perspective. Don’t worry whether you love it or hate it. Just get curious. Write down from a neutral voice what you are noticing.
6. Think from a broader perspective about what the paintings are about. What are they teaching you? What are they showing you?

 

 

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Worst Mistake Acrylic Painters Make

After one of my acrylics talks a few years ago, an artist pulled me aside and said,
“Now, I finally understand why my paintings are falling apart! I wish I had known what you just taught me 10 years ago!”

My heart went out to her. I’ve made more technical mistakes with my art over the years than I care to recount. That’s why I’m so passionate about sharing with artists how to build a sound and stable paint film.

I don’t want to hinder anyone’s creative process. That’s the last thing I want! That’s why I offer some sound alternatives here to get the same look without harming the paint film.

Please, please share this info with all your painter friends, artists groups, classes, professors, etc. I’ve found in the 15 years I’ve been teaching this to artists of all levels from those with 40 years experience and paintings in museums to the absolute beginner, only about 5% have ever heard of underbinding. Let’s make sure no more artists have their paintings fall apart by something that could easily be avoided.

These are the materials I mentioned in the video above:
Liquitex airbrush medium
Liquitex gloss medium
Liquitex acrylic gesso 32oz.

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