Art supplies can be expensive. But if you know a few tricks, you can get great, quality supplies and still stay within a reasonable budget.  Remember, you can cut costs on supplemental items, but do NOT go cheap on paint. The way paint is made is important to know. Paint is made up of pigment (color powders) and binders (kind of like glue that holds the color together and helps it stay on the paper). You want to have both high-quality pigments and binders. If you buy cheap paint, your experience will be difficult and frankly disappointing. Invest in your supplies. I promise it is worth it!

Okay with that out of the way, there are a lot of ways to save on quality supplies that will last! Here are a few of my secrets:

Brick and Mortar Store

I mentioned in the last section that Michaels is my favorite local big box store to shop at.  The main reason for this is because Michaels will not only match competitors coupons, they will beat them by 10%!  Examples of competitors include Hobby Lobby, Joann, even Amazon! It’s helpful to have apps for each of these stores on your phone so that when you’re in the store, you can simply click on the weekly ad in each app (or look the item up on Amazon), show it to the cashier and she will give you the deal.

I’ll give you an example:

I took my cute mom to buy some supplies the other night. She wanted everything on the class supply list.  In store, the Winsor and Newton watercolor paints were $22.00. I had a coupon on my Michaels app that gave us 50% off any item but I also had my Amazon app. A quick search on Amazon showed me that they were selling the same set of paints for only $12.00.  Next, we looked for paper. I checked my Hobby Lobby app and found that watercolor paper was 40% off that week. So when we got to the checkout counter, I showed the cashier both of my findings. We got the paint for more than 50% off the Michaels price, the paper for 40% off and still had our Michaels 50% off coupon which we used for a two pack of pens.  To top it all off, I got points for my purchase and a $5.00 off coupon for my next visit. YES!

If you don’t have a Michaels store nearby, ask your local arts/craft store if they match competitors prices. You’ll be surprised how much time and money you can save buying your supplies this way.

Online Shopping

I usually start at Amazon and find the product(s) I’m looking for. I then do a quick search for the same item(s) at Blick Art.  Because I have Prime (the membership pays for itself over and over again for us), shipping is free so I make sure to factor in the cost of shipping when comparing prices. Blick will have free shipping promotions every so often and always ships orders over $35 for free so if what you’re looking for exceeds that amount, it could be cheaper to go that route. The only downside is that shipping can sometimes take longer with Blick.  If you don’t mind waiting, you can save some real money. For example, I bought a bunch of watercolor tubes last fall and saved over $100 going with Blick instead of Amazon. It really is worth comparing prices between the two.

Other ways to save

Take Care of What You Have

Turns out Mom was right. If you take care of your things, they will last longer. This is especially true with art supplies. Make sure to quickly wash out your brushes (never leave them just sitting in water), dry them to a point (like I showed you in the supplies video) and put the lids on everything when you are finished. Luckily watercolor doesn’t dry out as acrylic or oil paint will. To revive your paint, you simply add a bit of water. Watercolor is a great budget-friendly medium because if you take care of it, it will last a long, long time. 

Use Less Paper

I recommend using a less expensive paper as you are learning, but even that can get pricey. Try to fill up all the spaces of your paper as you are practicing your strokes, leaves, loose florals, etc.   Another idea is to cut your paper into smaller sizes so you can get two or four pictures (or cards) out of one sheet.

Get Creative at the Dollar Store

I will say it again. DO NOT buy your paint at the dollar store. But, it is a great place for accessories like color mixing pallets, pencils, paper towels, etc.  When I was shopping with my mom the other day, we found a pack of two cutting boards that are the perfect size to tape her paper down on.  She is using that instead of the corrugated board I showed you in the supplies video. So go to the dollar store and get creative!