rofgilead

Hello everyone, here's my dilemma:

I love work on art projects, especially oil painting. However, it seems that art stores and companies really rake it in on art supplies, charging multiple factors more for something than its true cost. This makes art an expensive hobby. Just look at paint brushes - many paint brushes are $9 per brush (absolutely ludicrous). Or canvas might be $8 per pre-stretched canvas. Oil paints themselves are usually quite pricey for small tubes of paint.

One thing I found is a site (www.naturalpigments.com) that sells pure pigments, so you can make your own paints.. I think this will save much money for me.

I'm trying to find cheap canvas (looking into synthetic or even hemp canvases now..)

If anyone has good tricks on where to find art supplies for cheaper than the normal channels, let us know!

ngdawg

I've found this site to be the cheapest in some things I've had to get.
As for canvas, I haven't used stretched, I use pads of it-that way I don't feel so bad if I don't like what I did.
http://www.jerrysartarama.com/

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vanblah

I don't think that art supply costs are ludicrous. I'd be willing to bet that the average mark-up on a quality tool is in the 20-30% range. The mark-up on a cheap tool is probably in the 50% range or more.

If you want quality tools they cost money. You can get cheap stuff, sure, but ultimately you'll end up buying another cheap tool to replace the worn out tool.

The same is true for carpenters, chefs, musicians ... if you do something that requires a tool then you'd better be prepared to pay for quality.

That said, you can always try to buy used tools. Always go for quality and try to find people who genuinely care about their tools.

majik_6

I agree that sometimes art supplies can get quite pricey! Though, that being said, I'd love for my canvases and brushes to be as cheap as you mentioned! I recently picked up two SMALL canvases (a 5" by something and an 8"x10"), several small tubes of paint, a small carrying case, some brushes, a small pallette (the cheap plastic kind) and a few odds and ends, and it was a solid $240+! A lot of my brushes (especially ones from the small university-owned art store at my last school) cost at least $15-20 a piece while I'm sure I've spent a solid 10-30 for so-so canvases in the past (I saw a "sale" this week at the art store for a pretty large canvas...only $70! lol) I think around here, the small stores (which I try to support) end up having to mark things up a good bit just to make up for the small size of the town.

What's been said about quality tools being worth the money, I second. Just remember, the tools are pricey, but they'll last a very long time.

I'd recommend learning to stretch your own canvas. I don't do it as of yet, but I'd imagine it could save some money. Also, try to buy the best brushes you can and baby them. That way, you'll save in the long run (though it will be expensive up front).

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FngKestrel

Good luck man. vanblah and majik are right, quality tools are worth the money. Conversely, you could go with pencils and sketchbooks.

My old illustration instructor swears by these guys for art supplies. He doesn't get a kickback afaik, and I trust his judgement immensely, so I don't find a reason to doubt his suggestion.

Good luck with it.

rofgilead

Oil paints are simply made up of pigments and an oil like linseed oil. A set of 12 paints in small tubes sold in your average art store might cost $20-30. This not the cost of the raw materials nowadays! The pigments such as zinc white (zinc oxide is the chemical) cost only a few cents per gram or less, and the oil is dirt cheap also. So - the art company makes a huge profit off of these paints.

I think the situation is similar for all manner of art supplies (the stores might not make big profits, but the producers of the materials are). Brushes shouldn't cost $10 each. That's absurd! They probably are made in China or Singapore for almost no cost. Usually they are plastic, with a piece of metal holding in either synthetic bristles or camel hair or something, that should not = $10.

And, I think canvas in art stores is seriously over-rated. Why not just buy a canvas tarp for covering a boat and chop it up into paint-able pieces? Or, maybe even cheaper, a synthetic tarp could be used (and would probably age better).

I think artists in renaissance times would be quite smart about these things. They wouldn't buy canvas from some art store (there weren't even probably art stores really then, just merchants and traders selling paints and such), they'd buy sail-cloth canvas used for ships, and if they could make their own paints, I'm sure they probably did.

Well, this has turned into a rant. I just get so upset when companies overcharge costumers - I think it says that the company thinks their costumers are stupid.
It happens a lot from vendors that sell to research labs.

frogza

Get creative, you don't have to use the expensive stuff, you don't even have to use things that say "for artists" on them. Go to the hardware store, fabric store you can even go the thrift store to get supplies. Remember, your an artist, you're supposed to be creative and live somewhere on the fringe of what most would call normal.

serlindsipity

Consider making your own canvases. buy the stretcher bars from the store (usually a dollar for the small ones) and buy roll canvas and a staple gun and your off.

as for brushes, if you take care of them they can last for a long time and thus are worth the investment.

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jaker

"The debacle starts with the canvas" ...or something like that, - Joseph Beuys,
Invest in a nice block of water color paper. Paint a layer of gesso on it first if you want to work with oils, or else the oils will eventually rot the paper. Take an old piece of wood, tape down the water color paper, and begin painting. I like the surface much better anyway, and the final product is more portable, too. And in my opinion, more admirable. Or if you really want to work on canvas, you can buy a large block and just paint on that.
Brushes are expensive, but they are there for a lifetime. I have paid more than 40euro for a brush before, and sometimes, it's worth it.

Cynthetiq

I never had a clue how much art stuff costs until I got involved with Skogafoss and her artist mother.

I'm amazed just at how much stuff costs, but again, cheap tools are just that and get replaced many times over.

I liken it to buying a $20 timex watch vs. a $400 Movado. If you have to buy that watch 20 times over 20 years, did you really save any money?

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jaker

i've had my timex for 8 years, so no, the movado is not worth it ;-)
besides, movados are ugly and dont have any numbers.

art supply vary drastically to watches, im afraid.

serlindsipity

another thing - you dont always have to buy new stuff to use or work off of. paint can be applied to anything and you can always paint over stuff. Go to a Salvation army store or Saver and see what you can find there to make work for you! That and it could easily add depth to the piece!

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rofgilead

Jaker-

Gessoing paper is a very interesting idea. I had tried using oils on thick sketchbook paper before, but the lack of texture really made it more difficult to paint for me. Maybe with gesso, the texture would improve..

I bought a roll of canvas off of ebay for $30 (shipping included) that was 6 yards by 54 inches. Seemed like an okay deal..
I'm going to try to make my own stretcher strips by cutting wood pieces with a saw and miter box..

..

snowy

I have no experience with oil painting--I prefer sculpture, which is a relatively easy medium to keep cheap! I like to use found wire and other found items.

serlindsipity is right--by using found things, you can definitely lower your costs. You never know where you'll something to paint on, or something to paint with.

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Nancy

For the Englishmen, try www.tiger.dk or www.grenes.dk <~ they've got extremely cheap art supplies! I don't know about the quality of their brushes and oil/acryl paint but I recommend their canvases!

As for the Americans, don't you have a similar shop as those over there?

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pinkie

The cheapest canvas is a DIY (do it yourself) canvas. Buy the rolls of canvas. Make your own frame using sturdy yet slender pieces of wood from your local home owner's store that sells bulk lumber and wood, and that has a woodcutter. Measure what size you want ahead of time so you know the exact measurements for the store guy. Make sure you account for the overlapping of the wood, and fit it together at the store so you know it’ll work before you get it home. <-- personal experience...

Have a sturdy ply staple and staple gun to fit the four pieces together.

Lay the canvas over the frame on the floor and cut it overlapping the frame. After cutting go around, fastening the canvas to the frame, folding carefully around edges, and pulling tight enough to get a good bounce out of it.

You can even go to the local fabric store and find a material almost identical to canvas if not the real thing! Just make sure to gesso it first. I'm sure you know that.

In the old days (about ten years agio) I'd use huge pieces of cardboard to paint on. You know likw what a washing machine or other appliance would come it? Allies and dumpsters behind apartments or appliance stores... Wood's a great surface to paint on to. You can find scrap wood in the same place.

For brushes you have to shop around and try them out to see what feels right in your hand, and with your stroke and paints you need the basics, and can mix the rest. Buy a few special ones, but the rest comes with trial and error. It usually takes me a while to use them up, with the exception of black, white, and unbleached titanium white.

I hope that helps a little!