I have been making art since I was knee high to a grasshopper. I loved making art so much when I was a kid that I even pursued a Bachelor's degree in Fine Art.
One thing I learned quickly about making art is that it is expensive. Art supplies are not cheap. I firmly believe that this helps contribute to the "starving artist" phenomenon. This is where it's important to get creative.
In one of my recent thrift shop excursions, I found some 8x8 kid's room art canvases that were $0.97 each.
At an art store, these size canvases will run you starting at around $3 each. If you have the tools, you can save yourself a bit of money by using second-hand canvases. This is also good if you have canvases that you've already painted and maybe you aren't that thrilled with.
If you get a canvas that you want to paint over, you need to prime the canvas to ensure that the first painting does not show through. The canvas on the right shows how the printed image shows through the purple paint that I laid down. If the paint is thick enough, it's possible that this might not happen, but why take the chance?
To prime your canvases, you'll need every artist's friend, gesso. This tub cost me roughly $8 with a coupon. Regular price, it's probably about $15 or so. This is good item to have in your studio. In addition to priming canvas, I also use it for an image transfer technique using magazine images.
Priming canvas is simple. Use a broad brush to apply two coats, one in each direction. Let the coats dry in between.
There you go. Simple, saves money AND reduces waste by reusing canvas that might otherwise end up in the trash. Bonus!
Til next time! -Erika
One thing I learned quickly about making art is that it is expensive. Art supplies are not cheap. I firmly believe that this helps contribute to the "starving artist" phenomenon. This is where it's important to get creative.
In one of my recent thrift shop excursions, I found some 8x8 kid's room art canvases that were $0.97 each.
At an art store, these size canvases will run you starting at around $3 each. If you have the tools, you can save yourself a bit of money by using second-hand canvases. This is also good if you have canvases that you've already painted and maybe you aren't that thrilled with.
If you get a canvas that you want to paint over, you need to prime the canvas to ensure that the first painting does not show through. The canvas on the right shows how the printed image shows through the purple paint that I laid down. If the paint is thick enough, it's possible that this might not happen, but why take the chance?
To prime your canvases, you'll need every artist's friend, gesso. This tub cost me roughly $8 with a coupon. Regular price, it's probably about $15 or so. This is good item to have in your studio. In addition to priming canvas, I also use it for an image transfer technique using magazine images.
Priming canvas is simple. Use a broad brush to apply two coats, one in each direction. Let the coats dry in between.
There you go. Simple, saves money AND reduces waste by reusing canvas that might otherwise end up in the trash. Bonus!
Til next time! -Erika
One thing I always look for is when the local art stores are having a sale on canvases, especially when it's the multi pack. You can also almost always find coupons for Micahel's and A.C. Moore in your local Sunday papers. Art teachers (or you can make friends with one and bribe them to use their ID to buy your stuff for you) always get %15 off their entire purchase (at least around here they do, although I believe it excludes clearance and a few other items) with ID.
ReplyDeleteI was debating writing about purchasing discounted canvases, but I decided to stick with reusing for this post. You are right though, there are a ton of ways to save money at the art store. Coupons, sales, teacher discounts, etc...
ReplyDeleteArt students (at least when I was one) generally get discounts as well depending on the store. I know A.C. Moore used to. Does anyone know if they still do? (Yes, it's been *that long!!*
Also, you can sometimes find damaged packs in the clearance or "as is" racks at super deep discounts. These types of canvases work fine for me because I can patch them with linen tape and use them for my mixed media pieces. I once got a 10 pack of canvases for $5. Only one of the canvases was damaged, so that was 9 perfectly good ones and one that had a small, easily repairable hole.
In my work, I use a combination of new, but purchased at a discount canvases (getting discounts the way you described, through clearance racks or the damage pile) and second-hand canvases that I work over with the method above. I'm kind of partial to using second hand canvases simply for environmental reasons, reusing materials versus purchasing new, but I also recognize that it's not always a viable option depending on what I am working on.
Thank you for your feedback!