Art Fun Cheap

The interesting thing (to me) about glitter glues and dimensional (3D) paints is that while the package says “water washable,” that’s only while they are wet. Once dry, they are water resistant. You can layer them, and they don’t melt each other (except the pearls).
You can also paint over them with watercolors, using the gels [...]

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Magic pencils are fat, colorful wooden pencils with multicolor lead, made by the pencil company, Koh-I-noor Hardtmuth and sold for 99 cents at most Walgreen’s stores. Michael’s may still carry them, too.

Each pencil has three colors arranged in the fat “lead” in a checkerboard pattern, so you can write a rainbow, and make multicolored backgrounds [...]

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“Glitter is good,” is my motto. The great glitzy stuff I love goes by various names: glitter glue, dimensional paint, paper glaze, and fabric paint. The textures and finishes are different, but all are fun and useful. I use them for art journals, artist trading cards, drawings, paintings, greeting cards, origami paper, and all kinds [...]

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Among my favorite cheap art supplies are Elmer’s ColorSlicks. In the package, they look like fat markers in primary colors, but what they really are is very, very soft fat crayons in twist-up holders.

They are wonderful for embellishing the pages of journals, cards, paintings, drawings, illustrations, and a lot of other things. They’re just [...]

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Here is the info I promised on how to get the three-color rainbow-writing pencils. What you want is the Marvy Color Tricks Mechanical Pencil. It comes in a package with a supply of extra lead for just a couple of dollars.

Marvy products are sold in many art and craft stores, especially their markers. However, so [...]

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Rainbow-writing pencils sound like a novelty item, but I’ve found the best ones to be a versatile and addictive drawing tool. They are so much fun that they brighten your day.
I like using them at work, because they look like ordinary mechanical pencils. Doodling with them makes boring business meetings bearable. Rainbow pencils actually [...]

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Pencils and crayons could be a blog in themselves, but for now I’ll only mention three kinds: erasable crayons, supersoft crayons, and rainbow-writing pencils. They are fun for many art purposes, from finished drawings to easy art journaling and quick sketches.

Crayola twist-up ERASABLE crayons are sold in most drugstores and some grocery stores (and anywhere [...]

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I love my Lascaux acrylics and Daniel Smith watercolors, but for just plain enjoyment, I’m addicted to cheap, fun art supplies. Some are surprisingly good; all can be wonderfully freeing and inspiring.

Cheap, fun art supplies are not intimidating. Art becomes play again—sometimes with amazing results. I’m always on the lookout for fun stuff that [...]

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