This is part two of the painting on a budget series. If you missed the first one, you can find it here. I wrote about buying affordable substrate when the high cost of canvas isn’t in the budget.

There are two types of paint for artists to use – student grade, and artist professional grade. You can probably guess that the student grade is cheap to buy, and the artist grade is pricey. Now, if you’re on a budget, you might think that buying student grade will save you money, but it actually won’t in the long run. I’ve had to paint over some of my earlier paintings because the color faded, and turned dull and muddy in just a short period of time. I learned my lesson on buying cheap paint.

Also, I always have my customer in mind when I buy art supplies. I don’t skimp when it comes to paint because it never seemed right or fair to me to cheat the buyer like that. A buyer is giving me their hard earned money, so in return I should give them a high quality painting. It only makes sense to me. However, that doesn’t mean I haven’t learned a couple ways to save money on paint, and that knowledge I want to pass along to you.

Tip No 1: Mix your own paint colors

This is a MUST. It saves me a ton of money because I’m not buying every color under the rainbow when I shop. I’m only buying the primary colors, plus black and white. Sure, I’ll buy an exotic color or two if I have the extra cash. If I don’t, I know I’ll be just fine making my own.

mmm..looks like blue frosting, eh? 😉 I wish!!

Mixing your own colors can seem intimidating at first, but it’s easy to learn. If you’re not sure how to do it, I suggest you read 1500 Color Mixing Recipes by William Powell or The Color Mixing Bible by Ian Sidaway. Or do a Google and Youtube search for mixing paint, and absorb all the free information you can get on the subject. It’s free! You don’t have to spend a cent, and your budget will love you for it. Here’s a great video for beginners..

“Do 50 paintings with this color palette”

It’s good to experiment. Example: yellow and blue makes green like the guy shows in the video. However, black and yellow mixed together makes my favorite shade of green. I never use yellow and blue. So, don’t be afraid to experiment. When you’re first learning, start by mixing a tiny amount on your palette, and do some tests.

Tip No 2: Look for different brands of artist quality paint

Another paint savings I discovered a few years ago – it pays to shop around for different paint brands. Instead of buying Golden paint, which can run over $130 for a 32 oz jar of cad red, the alternative could be SoHo Urban Artist paint. Their byline is Artist Quality at Student Quality Prices – Artist Grade Acrylic Paints! It is exactly that, and has saved me thousands of dollars over the years. Soho has a rich, creamy texture that I love. The cost of a 500 ml (16.9 oz) jar of acrylic is roughly $11. If you buy two, you get 33.8 oz, and you save $108, if I did the math right. I don’t know about you, but the thought of saving a hundred bucks thrills me to no end. Plus, you get a tiny bit more paint on top of it.

I can tell you from experience that the colors are super bright, especially the reds, and the savings can’t be beat. I have the 32 oz jar of Golden cad red in my studio, and the Soho brand. I actually find myself reaching for the Soho jar first, time and time again. Don’t get me wrong, I still buy some Golden paint, too, but I actually like the consistency of Soho paints better. And before you scream at your screen, “but Katie, Soho red paint is a hue, and Golden is a cadmium red.” I already know, and I still like Soho better. Try it, and tell me what you think. You’ll never know until you try.

So where can you buy this paint? There are a couple places selling it online, like Amazon. Jerry’s is the only one I trust, so I buy there in bulk about 2 – 4 times a year. I tried buying it at ASW Express, and it was a horrid experience – not once, but twice they failed. I will probably write about it sometime.

And, in case you’re wondering, Soho also has affordable oil paint. These cans are only $15. Try buying an entire can of oil somewhere else for that price. It’s more like hundreds. I haven’t painted with the oils enough to form a strong opinion, but the couple times I’ve used it, I thought it was great. Give it a try, and let me know what you think.

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When I first started painting, and selling my artwork back in 2001, money was tight. I knew I had to keep my studio stocked with art supplies or I couldn’t work, yet I also needed to eat and live a little between painting sales. It was a tough juggling act to find a balance between spending what little money I made on food or art supplies. It was something I struggled with for several years, but I found some easy ways to cut the high cost of art supplies, and keep painting. If you’re trying to paint on a budget, you’ll want to keep reading.

example of what chipboard looks like

So, the first thing that comes to mind when I think of art supplies is..you need the basics. Gesso, paint, brushes or knives, some sort of surface to paint your painting on, and varnish to seal your work. You can get by nicely as a painter with only these few items. Today I’m going to write about the surface or substrate.

I’m not going to lie, hands down, I prefer using canvas. The problem with canvas is – it’s expensive, especially if you use good quality canvas, like I do. I can easily throw down $200 to $300 each time I purchase it. If you don’t have that kind of cash to spend upfront, a cheaper alternative is either canvas panels, wood panels or chipboard. I put the list in order from the most expensive. Chipboard is the least expensive to buy, so let’s start there.

What exactly is chipboard, you might be wondering? Chipboard is made from wood chips that are pressed together and bound with synthetic resin. It’s what they make cereal boxes with, only the kind I buy is thicker, and rigid. To give you an idea of the cost, I bought chipboard from Ebay about a month ago. I’m working on a project that requires a 3.9 inch painting surface, which is an odd size I knew I’d have to cut myself. I found a package of 20 acid free sheets of chipboard that were 8.5×11 inches. Perfect! I got .030 point, which as you can see in the photos, lies flat and takes big gobs of paint well. You want to get the thick stuff, otherwise it warps under the weight of the paint, and loses shape. You don’t want curly paintings.

I paid $8.00 for 20 sheets, plus got free shipping. Now, if you compare that to the cost of 20 canvas roughly the same size as the sheets, I would have paid about $225. So, buying chipboard instead of canvas equalled BIG savings for me. Chipboard has not only saved me money over the years, but it kept me painting when I didn’t have money to spend on canvas. The way I look at it, any day I’m painting, and not sitting on the sidelines wishing I was painting is a GREAT day. If you love to paint as much as I do, I think you’ll agree. Give chipboard a try, and let me know how you like it.

Next week, I’m going to write about ways to save money on paint, and it might not be exactly what you expect. Stay tuned.