Making art on a budget

Art materials can be prohibitively expensive. Here are some examples of using less costly materials.

Graphite Pencil

Drawing with graphite pencils can be very enjoyable. To keep costs lower, I use printer paper rather than sketchbooks. You can get large blocks of printer paper for roughly the same price as a cheap sketchbook. Here are some pencil drawings on cheap paper. I tend to use slightly softer pencils (B to 4B) as these give darker lines.

Charcoal

Below are some examples of drawings using willow charcoal on cheap paper.

Adding color

Let’s be honest. Adding color will cost more. You can keep costs down by limiting the number of colors you use. Cheaper paint, pastels, and color pencils are usually of lower quality. They have less pigment and will be more difficult to work with. I advise buying a few good quality materials rather than lots of cheap materials. Here are some drawings using soft pastels with a limited range of colors on toned drawing paper.

Having a limited budget does add an aditional challenge but it is still possible to create art.

Working within a limited budget is a challenge, but it is still possible to create art. Here is a practical example of working within a budget.

Tesco Basics A4 White Paper 75Gsm 500 Sheets    £4.75 (Note Tesco is a retailer in the UK, but most countries will have retailers that sell basic/budget own brand goods like paper)

On Amazon, Derwent Graphic Soft Graphite Drawing Pencils, Ideal For Illustrating & Shading, Set Of 12, Professional Quality          £9.99

Total cost £14.74 ($18.46, at time of writing)

Depending on where in the world you live you may be able to get similar supplies for a little more or less money but it may be possible to get some basic art supplies and enough paper to keep you going for a few weeks for a total cost of under $20.