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Acrylic Painting the Cheap and Easy Way!
"Simplify, simplify." -Henry David ThoreauIf you've ever wanted to try your hand at painting, I'd recommend keeping it simple -- and cheap -- at first.
Since your computer has swallowed all your cash, you probably don't have much left anyway, right? See my supply list (and photo) at the end of the article. For less than $35 you can begin painting.
Some ideas to get you started:
Try acrylics first. They dry fast, mix with water, and have no odor. Buy small tubes of black, white, red, blue and yellow. Red, blue and yellow are the primary colors; from them you can mix almost any color you need.
Be a Holstein!* Paint at first with black and white only. Get used to mixing shades between white and black. (*A Holstein is a black and white cow, by the way - not an artist.)
After completing a few paintings with only black and white (and infinite grays in between), try limiting yourself to these three colors: Ultramarine blue, Cadmium red, Cadmium yellow -- and white. Now make a full color painting. Leave out black. Get your darks and dark tints from blue, red, and a touch of yellow.
Copy a colorful photo without a lot of detail and keep the painting simple -- easier said than done. Or make up your own painting from your imagination. You might want to draw a rough pencil sketch first.
Buy only two brushes: a round one with the brush part about 1/2" long; and a larger flat (or "filbert")
brush,1" long. The small one
makes the details and the large brush fills in the big areas. Your friendly art store should have a section of designated "acrylic brushes."
Remember to wash your brushes often because acrylics dry fast. For cleaning my brushes I use paper towels and two cottage cheese containers filled with water (without the cottage cheese). When I want to change colors I use the paper towel to squeeze the paint from the brush. Then I swish the brush in the first water container to get the worst of the remaining paint. A second rinse in cleaner water gets rid of the remainder. Now your brush is clean, feels good, and is ready to go to work again.
For a painting panel use canvas board or 1/8" untempered masonite. Sand off the masonite's smoothness a bit, then apply a coat of acrylic gesso. You might want to start out small (8" x 10", 9" x 12" or 12" x 16") rather than big, because it may feel less intimidating. So far, all the materials I've mentioned can be found at a well-stocked art store. (See my note on an even cheaper and more convenient panel, below.)
For a palette, (what you mix your paint on), save a few bucks and use an opened slick magazine like Time or Newsweek. It will wrinkle a bit, but works well enough if you keep the paint buttery -- not thinned down like watercolors. (For more low-cost palette ideas read the tips sent in by readers at the end of this article.)
Save more money and go to your local library. Find a book or two on acrylic painting for inspiration and more technical information. Or surf the internet as you probably did to find this site. Look at lots of paintings for inspiration and pleasure -- you may discover a style that you want to emulate. Artcyclopedia is a great site to easily find a wide variety of famous artists and art styles.
Watch how-to-paint art shows on PBS or cable TV. The paintings may seem a bit contrived or formulaic, but by watching you'll better understand how a painting is made.
Paint from your photos, pencil sketches, or color sketches in computer applications such as Windows Paint or Photoshop. It's okay to copy other artist's paintings for practice, but not ethical to sell them.
Here's another money-saving tip: Instead of canvas or canvas board, try using Crescent 14 ply poster board for small paintings. A 28" x 44" sheet sells for less than $6 in a well-stocked art supply store. You can cut the sheet into small sizes such as 5" x 7" or 8" x 10" (standard picture frame sizes) and have several small "canvases" ready to paint. I like the pastel colors so I have a toned background, because I don't like painting on a stark white panel.
You don't need to use gesso as a primer -- just begin painting. However, if you use acrylics thinly (like watercolor) the cardboard may bow. I use acrylics with very little water for thinning, nearly the same consistency as from the tube.
Note: Crescent poster board is fine for practice and learning. But if you want your art to last a very long time I'd recommend 300 lb. acid-free watercolor paper. It's still relatively inexpensive. A 22" x 30" sheet can be cut into sixteen 5" x 7" panels. I recently paid about $13 for the large sheet, so each panel cost me less than $1.
How to set the little panel on your easel since it's so small? Cut a rectangular section from a cardboard box, about 16" x 20" (double thick cardboard is even sturdier). Use two 2" strips of masking tape, rolled in a circle, sticky side out, and attach the panel to the cardboard. Now it won't move while you paint. (You can use push pins instead of tape, but they tend to get in the way while you paint.)
You can buy a small table easel at your art supply store. Or just place the 16" x 20" cardboard at an angle in your lap, leaning it against a table. Or make your own cardboard easel as in the drawing at left. It's about 9" x 18", folded in the middle, and taped to a table or newspaper, which protects your table from splattered paint.
Why paint little paintings? They are less scary than a large painting; they take far less time; I tend to see the overall composition or design as I paint; and the itty bitty paintings can be the basis for bigger paintings, a kind of color sketch. The sample 5" x 7" I've included, above, took me about 40 minutes to paint. It's fun to paint small!
A small 5" x 7" painting is relatively cheap to frame using a ready-made frame, and makes a nice gift. A large painting may not fit well in your house or a friend's, but a little painting will probably find a niche.
Art supplies and price list
I priced the supplies I listed in the article, above, at Columbia Art Supply, in Portland, Oregon in February, 2006:
$3.36 . . . Small round, pointy acrylic brush, Winsor Newton (you can buy cheaper brushes)
$7.68 . . . Large flat 1" acrylic brush, Winsor Newton
$16.00 . . Galeria acrylic tubes of paint: red, yellow, blue, black, white ($3.20 ea.)
$5.25 . . . 28" x 44" Crescent 14 ply posterboard (Cut into smaller panels)
$32.29 . . TOTAL
A 9" x 12" Strathmore paper palette pad costs $5.95 if you don't want to use a magazine palette.
Instead of buying the items on the list, above, you can buy a beginning painting kit such as the Liquitex Acrylic Project Set for $33.45 (includes 6 colors, brushes, instruction booklet).
If you don't have an art store nearby and want to shop online, I'd recommend Dick Blick. Just buy the cheapest acrylic brushes and paints from Dick. Go to Google and type in the name -- Dick Blick. (Catchy name, isn't it?)
I'm recommending the bare minimum supplies for those who want to try painting but aren't sure they will continue with it. For under $35 it's a small investment. If you find that you don't like painting you can pass the supplies on to a family member or friend. If you're very frugal, paint with black and white paint only; you can always buy the three colors later.
Besides saving money, the fewer paints and brushes you have -- the less complicated the actual painting is. This is the way I wish I would have started out.
If you find that you are serious about painting in acrylics and want your creations to continue on into eternity, buy better quality brushes, paints (such as Winsor Newton, Liquin, Golden, and Gamblin), and supports (stretched canvas).
If you want to take a free16-lesson beginning creative acrylic course using these supplies, go to this page.
Below is a photo of the supplies I described in the article:
Readers sent in tips on saving money, palettes, and preserving paint from one session to another.
All art work Copyright © Harlan Simantel
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