PSST! MY SECRET SOURCES...
Seven ways to save money as an artist, so you can splurge on other things
I am VERY picky about art supplies, and I want to make sure the quality of my finished paintings and prints is unexceptionable, and to this end I’ll spare no expense to make sure I have the finest of everything where it counts. Oils from a small company that makes rare paints as they did centuries ago to go back in time, and a top-of-the-line printer to stay up-to-the-minute with technology. A handful of expensive paintbrushes. Antique giltwood frames. Georgian jewelry settings. A pure-bred mini shih-tzu art assistant. And so on.
But I am part Scottish, and we can’t help but pinch pennies wherever we can!
Here is a list of 7 items that I’ve been able to source inexpensively, so I can save money here and splurge elsewhere.
(No affiliations, just my favorite sources.)
1. PAINTBRUSHES FROM ALIEXPRESS
For my miniatures, sometimes I paint Lover’s Eyes only a few millimeters wide, and so I need teeeeny tiny paintbrushes. The only problem is that oil paints get into the bristles and frizz them out almost immediately, so they’re single-use. AliExpress is perfect for mini brushes. This lot of 100 is $10.72, with free shipping.
Bonus tip: don’t be overwhelmed by all the tawdry crap on AliExpress. Find something close to what you’re looking for, then go down the rabbit hole of maybe-you’ll-like-this-too, and eventually you’ll find the good stuff.
2. OFFICE SUPPLIES FROM ALIEXPRESS
AliExpress also has a great selection of office supplies. I love their semi-translucent sticky notes in interesting, evocative colors, as well as their calligraphy pens, gold pens, mini cutting pens, labels, etc.
Bonus tip: AliExpress is also good for dog dresses and dog ruffs.
3. SKETCHBOOKS FROM ROSS DRESS-FOR-LESS
Marshall’s and TJ Maxx occasionally have them too, but for some reason the otherwise dingy Ross stores have an art supplies aisle that has a positive glow to it. On the minus side, the sketchbooks usually say silly and redundant things like “SKETCHBOOK” and “CREATE”; but on the plus side, if you thumb through them you can usually find some with lovely heavy paper that are almost gleefully cheap.
Bonus tip: Buy the packs of cheap paintbrushes for gesso, but RESIST the paints themselves. I haven’t bought any yet that don’t have translucent color, and that will convince you that you’re a terrible painter, but in fact it’s just the paint. Your confidence as an artist doesn’t need any blows dealt by cheap paint.
4. EYEGLASSES FROM IZIPIZI
With so much tiny painting, I try to take care of my eyes with some readers - but bad readers make me feel old, whereas chic readers make me feel studious and diligent. At $50 a pair, IZIPIZI glasses are not dirt cheap, but they hit the middle between drugstore readers and designer frames.
5. GIMP FOR PHOTOEDITTING
Photoshop is so much the industry standard that it’s become a verb: “to photoshop”. However, not only did it used to be expensive to purchase, but now it’s expensive to subscribe to!
GIMP is free. I’m no expert, by any means, but they seem fairly equivalent in the basics. And if there’s a learning curve to GIMP, there’s also one to Photoshop, and GIMP has plenty of open source techies and users with tutorials and tips. I’ve been using GIMP for years, and I love it.
Bonus tip: set your keyboard shortcuts for quick, repetitive edit commands.
Another bonus tip: use LibreOffice for free instead of paying for a subscription to Microsoft Word.
6. USHUAIA ESPADRILLES FROM CHAUSSEA
Once, in a Walmart-like box store in the middle of the Loire Valley, I came across a giant bin filled with espadrilles in all different colors, right next to bins with beach balls and beach towels. I just about dove into the bin in my excitement.
Then I moved back to the States, and I couldn’t find them here! Desperation! Anything I found was less comfortable and more expensive. I used all my researching skills to find the same Ushuaia brand at Chaussea. They’re now €9 ($9.70). They don’t ship to the U.S., but you can sign up with ColisExpat to have them forward the shipment.
Why do you need espadrilles if you’re an artist? First, Picasso wore espadrilles. Second, if you work from home, then you’ll feel sloppy wearing slippers all day, but espadrilles are almost as comfortable as slippers, breathable, and go with just about anything. Buy them in a range of colors, or stick with black, white, and neutrals. As typical from the photo, I wear them every day until socks-and-boots weather comes around again.
Chanel, Dior, Chloe, etc., all have espadrilles, which proves that they’re timeless, effortless chic, but any time I’ve tried on espadrilles that aren’t Ushuaia, I’ve found them scratchy. These Chanel leather espadrilles are $875 and the Dior are $850, but the Chloe are only $484.
Bonus tip: the Ushuaia denim espadrilles run large; the other sizes tend to be true. I’m 7.5 US, and I take a 38 EU.
7. PAPERBACKSWAP FOR BOOKS
With a website that looks like it was designed in the early days of the World Wide Web and hasn’t (noticeably) been updated since, Paperback Swap is one of my favorite places. An online book swap!
It costs you to send a book, and you can either mail it yourself or use their labels for a little extra. Then you have a credit. And you can use that credit to search their database and find a book you’d like, and then that book will be sent to you for free.
Do they have everything? No. But they have a wide selection. As the name suggests, the real wealth of options will be in genre fiction paperbacks. I’ve found some great regency historical romances, but I’ve also found classic literature and forgotten books about Jane Austen and Shakespeare. They also have a good selection of how-to art books, old exhibition catalogues, and biographies of artists.
This collection of tips is all over the place, but they’re my favorite finds!
Let me know if you have any secret sources to share in the comments!