Saving money AND being environmentally conscious whilst you make art can be a real challenge.  So many of the materials artists use are chemically based and not that great for our own health if we’re honest.

But there is ways to improve your studio products without compromising on your artwork itself. And this doesn’t mean having to spend a ton of money at the same time.

REUSE CANVAS & PAPER

Reuse your canvas’ when a painting hasn’t quite worked.  Just add a layer or two of gesso and you have a new and interesting surface to work on.  Too much texture in the previous painting?  Get the sandpaper out to even up the surface.

You can even gesso heavier papers to make them re-useable.   This is even possible for those using water soluable mediums and pastels with the option of water colour ground.

Find out more about reusing your surface on our blog HERE.

COLLAGE

Use old paintings or drawings in new artwork with collage.

RECYCLE

Any metal tubes of paint can be recycled at your local metal re-cycle centre.  Just make sure you use your paint key or tube wringer first to minimise paint wastage.

Can’t get to a metal re-cycle centre?  Bring your empty metal tubes to us and we’ll recycle them for you.

Unfortunately your plastic lids do still have to go in the bin.

Brands We Stock With Metal Tubes

Matisse Derivan, Art Spectrum, Schmincke, Winsor & Newton, Georgian, Golden, Daniel Smith.

We are currently investigating other ways to recycle your old plastic paint tubes so stay tuned for more info on that.

STA-WET PALETTE

Invest in a Sta-Wet palette.  Stay wet palettes allow both acrylics and oil paints to stay useable for a significantly longer period of time.  We have a range of alternatives available at Arthouse Northside.

GREY JAR

We’ve mentioned this a few times but as an artist you really don’t need to tip any paint down the sink.  Water colourists and Gouache painters are lucky because their paint can forever be reactivated on their palette but for the acrylic and oil painters amongst us the grey jar might be the answer.  Read more about creating a grey jar HERE.

FILLABLE PAINT TUBES

Like mixing your own colours but feel like you waste a lot of paint?  Try the Derivan empty paint tubes.  Fill them from the bottom and crimp them shut.  Can be used with both oil and acrylic paint and the best thing is that they are metal which means you can recycle them when its used up.

Got a suggestion to add to the list?  Please let us know and we’d love to do more.