How I Saved Money on Acrylic Paint

One of the biggest costs for a painter is the canvas and, of course, the paint. I’ve been painting for over 20 years and during that time, I’ve had many fine brands of acrylic to choose from like Liquitex, Winsor & Newton, and Golden. But tubes of paint are crazy expensive.

In 1999, I got turned on to Nova Color paint by a muralist from Los Angeles. Nova Color manufactures and sells their own high quality paint, comparable to the name brands, out of California, and ships it direct to artists, cutting out the middleman–and the huge price tag.

I can buy a pint (16 oz) of paint for the same price as a 6 oz tube at the local art store. Big savings.

And big mess.

The only problem was that Nova Color ships their paint in jars, not tubes. Tubes are nice. You can squeeze just the amount of paint you need onto the palette.

With jars, the only way to apply the paint onto your canvas is with a spoon. And that gets very, very messy. And you waste paint every time you load up your palette. And so preparing my palette is something I have grown to hate. I sometimes endure nearly dried gobs of paint rather than scoop fresh paint from the jar.

The solution.
Finally, after 15 years, I found a a way to get rid of the mess and waste: refillable squeeze tubes. They weren’t easy to find, but I purchased some squeezable tubes online at REI.com that people use for camping and travel. They work perfect for paint.

You just open the end, pour in the paint, and crimp it to seal.

Done. Now I have reusable paint tubes with high quality, low priced paint.

I’m loving preparing my palette.

I think I’m going to go paint now.

Have a blessed day,

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See more of my artwork at: MattPhilleo.com