I love to paint, unfortunately I am limited in the amount I can spend on my supplies. It can get a little disappointing and create an artist block when you shop for supplies and begin to see the rising cost.  Now the paint that I am talking about and that I use are acrylic so keep that in mind when I mention these tips. I love oil paint but having two kids and a small apartment I can not have the fumes in the house.

Canvases

There are so many alternatives to stretched canvases now it is fantastic. The canvas boards are great because they cost about $5- $10 but come in packs of three. They are also great for adding dimension and overlapping the canvases at some points.

My favorite new thing is the canvas pad. I didn’t even know it existed because it was never advertised. I just stumbled upon it hidden away in the sketchpad section of the A.C. Moore. It is only about $5 and comes with around 10 sheets that work great with acryllic or gouche. I tried using oil paint on it which worked fine the only downside is you need to take the page off the pad and attach it to something else because the oils get absorbed and might ruin the other pages. I do not know about cracking though I haven’t given it enough time to check, so far it hasn’t though as long as you have ample drying time between layers.

I use to think I was the only one who did this but I have met a couple people that do. Poster board works fine for things like decorating the house. I use it for projects like paintings for the children’s room because you can take the thicker plastic board to make a frame on it without the heaviness of a canvas. I have