Buying Art

I wanted to talk a little about buying art. I don't mean choosing art. I mean being able to afford it.I think it's probably an online thing , where a person sees a painting for $300 and asks if they can have it for $50.I feel it's important to help people understand what actually goes into producing an original work of art and why they are priced that way.

Materials are probably the most expensive part of the process. Even if an artist were to work with mid grade materials most large canvases are already $40-$100. The TriArt paints that I use are $30-$80 for a 1L jar. I also use different mediums like modeling paste & acrylic gels which are about $50-$60 per gal. I've not even added brushes,pencils,pastels and so on.

Then there's my time. I paint very fast and even then I only finish a few paintings a week. Most larger pieces take several hours of painting and if time is money how much is that worth?

Lastly, Fine Art is a luxury item. I know many artists that would argue that point,but the truth is it's not a necessity of life. I remember when I bought my wife her engagement ring.I couldn't outright afford one so I saved a bit and even then I didn't go straight to Tiffany's . I think this also applies to art.If you plan on buying a work of art even if it's online, then save a little.There are a ton of great works for under $300 and you'll really help to support us independent artists.