Three ways professional artists save money on materials


Maximizing savings is really important for anyone, and the art world is no different. When it's easy to find mass produced items in any shop, custom and artisan made items have to compete somehow. Reducing costs is an option, but how to do it without reducing quality? The reason people go for the bespoke items is because they not only support an individual and not a big business but they have an extra layer of quality that isn't found in the cheap stuff. Professional artists don't cut corners when it comes to materials but they use their brain when it comes to finding the right supplier.


The first method, is they find someone prepared to sell things at a discount. Online sellers are a great place to start as they don't always have other overheads you may find with a shop on the street, many online places will make their site look extra special and put a few percent on their stuff for the pleasure, so always watch for this. Shop around until you find the best prices.


The second technique is to buy in bulk, investing in yourself is worthwhile when the savings add up to so much. Even if you don't intend to sell your work, many art materials can still be stored easily out of the way so saving money on your hobby isn't going to hurt either. Think about all those times you've bought a new box of paints, or a new pad. For people who sell art, making an extra profit by saving big time on their resources when buying in bulk, this is an essential part of their work.


Thirdly, the savviest of all the artists keep an eagle eye out for special deals. The branded products are all the same, no matter where you get them from, no matter how they are presented. What you get in the packet is the same as anywhere else and so its a must to make use of special deals here and there which give you an extra hand up when it comes to getting what you need.


All this can be hard work, and so here's some help to get you started.


Artists can hit all three targets right now with these art retailers.


Discount School Supply provide for teachers, parents, and artists in the USA. They sell all sorts of educational materials, and this includes an entire stock of art materials. As their name implies, their products are sold at the best possible prices and often carry branded names so it's safe to say you'll get what you expect.


For UK artists, Great Art are pretty much the same thing. They don't really go down the school road but they make up for it with an excellent catalogue of art materials, and help. It's also designed to give the best possible value and they really know the score when it comes to quality and desirability.  

Poetry by Rowan Blair Colver
Inspired by "Hesitating Icarus" by Peter Paul.
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Poetry inspired by the image "Hesitating Icarus" by Peter Paul, sold by Ars Mundi. 

Here are some healing and metaphysical qualities commonly recorded about Actinolite, Almandine, Amazonite, and Amber. 

Actinolite

Actinolite is an extremely powerful stone. It is a strong shielding stone and can also expand the energy bodies especially when used alongside sheen obsidian.
This stone creates a knowing of ‘all that is’ with the holder, and brings familiarity to all things.
When held and focussed with an unwanted situation, the stone will help to find ways around this and eliminate the unwanted things.
Astrologically, Actinolite is associated with the sign of Scorpio.
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Almandine
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Almandine is a form of Garnet. It is usually a deep red, violet or brown colour. It appears almost resinous.
Almandine is a provider of inspiration in times of thoughtfulness and helps one find time to be alone and to be social in harmony. It is a physical representation of profound love and opens the channel from the base to the crown chakra. It allows truth to become a part of your thinking, even when you step into the unknown, and assists with the connection to the higher intelligence.
Almandine can be used in the treatment of heart disorders, stimulate the health of the eyes, liver and pancreas. It facilitates the proper function and balance of the cells and promotes regeneration.
It is astrologically representative of Scorpio and Virgo.

Amazonite

Amazonite is a type of Feldspar and is usually turquoise but has been found to be yellow and white also. It has a soothing effect on the chakras, especially the heart. It assists with strength when dealing with matters of love.

Amazonite helps with balancing the etheric, astral and physical bodies and is ideal for general health maintenance. It is also good for balancing male and female energies within your personality.

It is useful when treating disorders of the nervous system and unblocks energy build ups which can cause neurological illness.

Amazonite is associated with the astrological sign of Leo and The Sun, and it also vibrates in line with the number 5.

Amber

Amber is fossilized tree resin that has a golden yellow colour. Some amber has been found to contain other pigments such as red and green also.
Amber is a stone of healing and helps the body to transform negative energy into positive energy which betters the nerves and biological systems.
This stone connects us with the universal wisdom and magic that keeps perfection always. It promotes unconditional love between people and is also good for providing the art of manifestation.
Both Native American and Eastern Indians have revered this stone and it was burned in rituals for healing and to bless the sacred space.
It is a cleansing stone which can be placed in a space and it heals the surrounding environment from negative influence and past echoes. It will also assist with purifying the body and mind when worn or held.
It has been found useful when dealing with illness of the throat, disorders of the kidneys and bladder.
It it represented by the astrological signs of Leo and Aquarius.

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Art is a language, it speaks in feelings, sensations and emotions. It inspires thoughts - like children of the experience, born into the moment as verbal language, in the mind of the perceiver.


Maybe it is a mere mention, an exclamation of some memorised cliché or proverb, or perhaps an ever growing expanse of creative imaginary happenings, art inspires us to experience more than what is presented. A cue for us to empathise, imagine, speculate and reflect, the creation and then showing, viewing of creativity is a passage for communication on levels unreachable by the crude and narrow margins accompanied by verbalisations of much deeper concepts. They say the eyes are the doorway to the soul, perhaps they are, but art is the key. And it doesn't stop with the eyes, the ears are the doorway for musical art, the skin is the doorway to material art, art we are invited to touch. Often art is made of a combination of more than one sense, even if it is mainly a visual experience, we can see textures and form that we can instantly imagine beneath our fingertips, not that we should touch unless asked! Music is regularly presented with an image, be it with the artist themselves, the cover sleeve or even the music video. Art that reaches us in the deepest ways, does so on more than one level.


Leaving work open to interpretation is one way of assuring a wide audience. Specific pieces tend to be reserved for those who go looking for that in particular, and with works created in the abstract art movement, including surrealism and impressionism, artists discovered that when the experience was left much more in the control of the person who was viewing it, the feedback was more varied, but richer and incredibly inspiring for future generations of artists. Not everyone is blessed with a good hand for mimicking the world around them, it takes years of practice for many of us to even get close to drawing then painting accurate images. However the world of art has not closed its doors to us. With the ever growing popularity in abstract forms, realism has become just another genre in the plethora of art forms we know and love.


As with music, we cannot begin to create it without knowledge in the subject and a firm understanding of our tools, this also takes time and effort but the ability to sound and be like the classics isn't a requirement. The same can be said for painting, sculpting or any form of original creativity The audience want something that is new, unique and cannot be repeated easily by another. Once the skills are in place; the thing you do, the product you create, the art that you form, can be as unique and diversely edgy as you dare.


“If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him… We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.” ~ John F. Kennedy