Why is paint so expensive? I'm just starting out and oils

>>3018264
cause you're buying expensive paints. most mid-grade oil paints sell a tube of 200 ml for between $15-$35 depending on the color. And most student grade paints, which is what you should be using if you're starting out, run you about $10-15 for 200 ml regardless of color because they won't be divided into series.

So a basic 8 color palette will run you around $125, but last you for around 2 months. Figure in that a pre-stretched canvas costs about $25, that means you're in the hole for $150. Sell a painting for $500 and you've covered the cost of supplies for months to come as well as canvas and brush costs.

Supplies are the cheapest thing about a career in art. The expensive part is when your paintings don't sell, so get better or it will all have been for nothing.

>>3018276
Since i'm just starting out I'm using canvas panels as opposed to regular stretched canvasses because i figured if i suck why would i waste good canvas.

also, student grade paint seems to suck in quality so i'm apprehensive about using it

>>3018264
use cheap paint if you want cheap paint lol, tempera or whatever

buy paint in bulk from jerrysartarama
or dickblick

larger cans of golden acrylic are cheaper by volume
save money that way

File: june-11-20171-.jpg (683KB, 1000x758px) Image search: [Google]

683KB, 1000x758px

>>3018285
the quality is lower but you probably wont notice. find a brand that carries student and artist grade paints because they'll probably carry the same colors in both grades. I still use student grade paints when I'm trying a new color and don't want to buy the artist grade right away especially if it's an expensive color.

this painting i just did today I used a cadmium red light that would cost me around $40 artist grade, but I got it for $10 in student grade. If I didn't like the color it would've been a waste of money to buy the high quality version of it.

If you are just starting out you have a lot of experimentation to do with a lot of different colors before you find the palette that works for you, and paints that work well together. Just my advice as someone that's been doing this a long time, don't waste money on artist grade paints that you get tired of after one painting. There's a lot of really shit, useless colors that you won't know are useless until you've tried them for yourself.

Also, there's some colors you'll find you can only get in student grade and professional grade (which you need to avoid altogether)

Canvas panels should be fine though. There's plenty of cheap canvas brands but the paint is the real challenge.

Oil paints in general are more expensive than acrylics due to more versatility. Although other mediusm like watercolor can get very expensive too. If you're starting in oil buy something like Winsor $ Newton which is on the cheap side but not too cheap. Cheap brands like Van Gogh are very oily with lots of extender and very little pigment. Also start with only black and white as you're learning and little by little introduce color. Don't go to an art store and buy 2 dozen tubes of paint and do not go to Michaels.

what tips for beginner painters does everybody have?

I really recommend you just get the basic colors and then learn how to mix your own colors. You will save a lot of money that way. Any learning how to mix colors is a great tool to have anyway.

>>3018361
Saw this video posted on /ic/ and I really like it. Great youtube channel in general too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jWTSQhG-TU

>>3018306
You would notice if you compared both side by side. You don't need to spend your money on Vasari, Blockx, Old Holland, etc, but the price difference from a good student-grade to a decent artist-grade isn't that big if you're buying mostly S1 and S2 colors. Even if you're saving money you're still using up more paint by buying stuff that's low on pigment and full of fillers to compensate.
Cad red is a waste of money anyway, buy a good quality Pyrrole instead and you'll have a paint that's just as saturated and mixes better, at a lower cost.

>>3018307
Watercolor is just about the cheapest medium when it comes to paint, sable brushes and paper is where they really get you. Not that good supports for oil are much cheaper, but at least you can get away with using cheap bristle brushes as long as they don't shed.

Van Gogh is one of the better student-grade paints in oil. Yes, they're oily, but they still have a good load of pigment compared to Winton, and some decent single-pigment colors. I use their Phthalo Green along with Norma, Artisti and W&N Artists, since Phthalo is so overpowering anyway that you don't notice a difference. The student-grade might even be easier to mix with.

just use watercolors, they're cheaper and look better

>>3018264
Some of it is the pigments - ultramarine is expensive because they grind lapis lazuli into powder to make it. Carmen Red Lake is made from insects, and one of the purples is made from the mucus of a snail. Some colors, like ochre, are just dirt. Lamp black is soot. Acrylic paint uses synthesized pigments, so it's cheaper - and why it's colors are less subtle.

The cost of paints using traditional pigment is entirely about the scarcity of the pigment, and ultramarine is the most rare and hardest to prepare.

You also have to factor in how long paint lasts. Unless you're doing huge canvases and painting very impasto, a decent tube should last you a while. I tend to go through common colors like ochre and cerulean quickly, because they're the bases for most objects - some specialty colors, like reds and oranges, I have tubes i've had forever.

>>3018285
If it's work you don't intend to hang or care about (student work), it's not as important, but if you're making art to last, some cheaper pigments are fugative - they'll fade over time, very quickly in some cases. Stability over time is one of the more important aspects of pro supplies. The only time student grade paints were a problem working was with guache and watercolors, as the colors would granulate and not mix correctly.

>>3018306
>this painting i just did today I used a cadmium red light that would cost me around $40 artist grade, but I got it for $10 in student grade. If I didn't like the color it would've been a waste of money to buy the high quality version of it.

The key here is what that painting will look like in a couple of years, as the cheap red starts to fade - the reds and oranges are the ones that go first.

Tips:
Learn to mix, second this. Most mixed colors are to sell more paint, or convenience. A basic palette is all you need to get started. Learn your color wheel!
If you mix more than you use, store paint in an airtight container - or throw the palette in the freezer, the cold retards the drying process.
Same for tube paints - if you lose the cap, put it in a airtight plastic bag, and for long term storage, put it in the fridge.
Learn to gesso your own panels and canvases - even the store bought prepared ones. The cheap panels use cheap gesso, usually acyrlic - get a tub of gesso and learn to cover a panel, and sand it. I prefer a flat, paperlike surface anyway. Being able to get the tooth and surface you prefer, or need, is pretty cool.
Mix with a painter's knife, not your brush! Bad habit, and it will destroy your brushes.
Cold slows drying time. Heat increases it. If you paint in the sun, you'll have to work faster.
Fat over lean.
Don't waste paint. Don't squeeze out half the tube, and then let it dry out. Work with dime sized dabs most of the time.

>>3018452
>Some of it is the pigments - ultramarine is expensive because they grind lapis lazuli into powder to make it. Carmen Red Lake is made from insects, and one of the purples is made from the mucus of a snail. Some colors, like ochre, are just dirt. Lamp black is soot. Acrylic paint uses synthesized pigments, so it's cheaper - and why it's colors are less subtle.
Is this bait? Synthetic ultramarine has been used since the 19th century and is one of the cheapest pigments available. Genuine carmine was never that expensive and it's still commonly used as a dye in various industries, including food. In painting it's still available but replaced by several more lightfast alternatives and cheaper alternatives, and I've never even heard of Tyrian Purple being used in oil. Do you live in ancient history?

>>3018264
I would buy "artist" grade paint even starting out. I bought some cheaper paint recently and hated the way it behaved.

Just get CMYK + white, but no black. You can make those light colors dark, but not the other way around. Just start mixing paint and learn your palette then you won't need to ask any 1 what colors/paint.

>>3018264
>$8 per 2 OUNCES
That is way too much to be charging for paint
Compare your store prices to dickblick

>>3018361
Do not be too stingy with your paint

Completely drybrushed paintings are god-awful and just shout "I'm an insecure beginner".
An obvious struggle with low-grade paints also adds to this

The advice that goes around from professionals over the years is to feel free to buy cheaper student oils, but not to skimp on the brushes.

Get good brushes, get cheap paints.

>>3018552
interesting how watercolor is the opposite. you must use good paper and paints, but you can do good work with cheap chink brushes

>>3018552
I have never heard anyone say this. The opposite usually.

>>3018285
>i figured if i suck why would i waste good canvas.
>wastes much more expensive good paint instead
uh

>>3018459
if you think student grade oils fade in a couple of years you're retarded. I've got shit I painted a decade ago that still looks fine.