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Talked to a mural artist who swaps paint like trading cards
Honestly, I was at a community art center in Austin last week and this mural artist told me she never buys full tubes anymore. She said she just posts what she's got extra on forums like this and trades for colors she needs, saved her like $60 last month alone. Has anyone here tried doing trades with artists outside your usual circle?
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lily39411d ago
Get her to double-check her math on that. If she saved $60 in a month, that's probably more like she used trade value to get what she needed instead of buying it outright. I've traded paint a few times and the real savings come from not having to throw away half-used tubes that dried up in the drawer. The trick is finding people who use the same brand, because mixing different brands can mess up your color consistency. She might also be forgetting the cost of shipping if she's mailing things out, which eats into whatever she thinks she saved. Good idea overall but the numbers can get a little fuzzy if you're not careful.
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spencerl3211d ago
@lily394 I'm going to push back on that a bit. $60 in a month is totally realistic if you're trading stuff you'd otherwise throw away. Half used tubes of paint? That's like $8 a pop new, so trading three or four of those for a color you actually need adds up fast. And shipping cost? Most people who are serious about this meet up locally or swap at art meetups, so there's no shipping. Plus, if you're really careful about brand matching, the consistency issue isn't that big of a deal. I think a lot of people underestimate how much money sits in their supply drawer doing nothing.
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Man, I'd probably trade my entire stash for a color I actually knew how to use.
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