Jen de Leon

If you’re an artist, you know how expensive this hobby or profession can be. The best art supplies can cost a pretty penny, but there are many ways to substitute and turn things into art supplies. Below are eight tried-and-tested artist life hacks that will not only save you time, but money as well.

1. Do you like to travel and paint on location? Make your own pocket-sized paint box using an empty Altoids tin. It is the perfect size for a mini travel palette. For watercolor artists, simply attach adhesive magnets to your paint pans to secure them to the tin. As an alternative, you may also use empty an Dentyne gum packaging to hold your paint. For oil or acrylic painters, simply put a piece of wax paper inside to hold your paints.

2. For watercolor artists looking for the perfect studio palette, there’s no better material than porcelain or ceramic. It provides a nice mixing surface, but ceramic palettes can be quite pricey. If you’re looking for a more affordable option, use a ceramic egg platter instead. The oval wells are perfect and large enough for big brushes, and they’re super easy to clean.

3. For oil and acrylic painters, the best material for a studio palette is glass. It provides a slick, hard surface that’s easy to clean. Instead of buying a glass palette, just use an old picture frame or document holder. Make sure to cover the sharp edges with duct tape so you won’t hurt yourself.

4. Dry your brushes upside down to prevent water from seeping down into the ferrule (the metal part of your brush). Simply attach binder clips to your water jar to hold your brushes upside down.

5. Bring your brushes back to life with a bar of soap. Wet your old paintbrush with water, and then move your brush over a bar of soap. Keep moving your brush around until you get it to the shape it was when it was new. Let it dry overnight. Rinse the soap off the brush, and let it dry again.

6. Erase small watercolor mistakes with a magic eraser. Simply dip a magic eraser in water and slighting rub the eraser over your mistake.

7. Don’t let your masking tape rip your paper and destroy your artwork. Use a hairdryer to get rid of some of the stickiness before trying to remove it.

8. If you’re impatient like me, you can also speed up the drying time of watercolor washes between painting stages by using a hair dryer. Just put it in the low setting, so you don’t risk burning your project.

If you know of more art hacks that actually work, please share them in the comments below. I would love to hear from you.