A Guide To Painting Supplies On A Budget
Some of you may know that I started painting last year. I'm no Monet, or Picasso, or Rembrandt, but painting is something I really enjoy and I am so glad that I started doing it. Truth be told, it's not hard--and that's what I love about painting--you don't have to be artistically inclined. You don't have to invest a whole big chunk of money in it, either. In fact, if you want to start painting, you only really need a few low-cost items. I bought all of my supplies at Michael's and saved an enormous amount of money with coupons. 
I paint with acrylics because the paints are easy to work with and they dry quickly. Plus, if you mess up with acrylics, once the paint is dry, you can easily paint right over the mistake for an easy fix. To get started, you really only need a few items: paint, brushes, thick paint paper (or canvas), and something to mix your paint on (a plastic palette, or a paper plate to save money!). Walking down the paint aisle at the craft store can be overwhelming. There are so many choices! But, I plan to make it pretty simple for you, it doesn't have to be complicated.
Choosing Paints
You may notice there are so many categories to paints... even within acrylic paints! What brand should you choose? Most craft stores carry at least one brand of acrylic paint in each category: craft, student, and artist level. I recommend choosing the student level paints. Craft paints tend to not be pigmented enough, and artist paints are very expensive and as a beginner, you won't reap the benefits. I paint with a student grade acrylic paint by Liquitex called Basics. It surprises many people to know that I stick to 4 colors for all of my paintings: Cadmium Yellow (light), Ultramarine Blue, Titanium White, and Alizarin Crimson. Well, that would get boring--But not so fast! I prefer to mix my own colors! It keeps cost down, and mixing my own colors gives me more ownership to the finished product with each painting. With these 4 paint colors, I can make pretty much every shade under the rainbow! For some pieces, a nice Ivory Black works well to deepen the colors, but it's really not necessary.
Choosing Paint Brushes
These is no end to the types, styles, and price range of paint brushes. But do you need expensive brushes? The short answer is no. When investing in paint supplies, I would suggest putting the bulk of your investment in the paints. Brushes aren't going to make that much of a difference in your finished product. That being said, there are 4 types of paint brushes I suggest you purchase. You can buy bulk sets, but many times you'll be getting much more than you actually need. I typically use 2 flat brushes (size 3/4 & 1/8) and 2 detail brushes (size 3 & 5). Those brushes give me all the versatility I need!
Miscellaneous Paint Supplies
In addition to paints and paint brushes, you need to buy something to paint on and something to hold your paints. When it comes to painting surfaces, I like painting paper or canvas. You can find specialty acrylic painting paper at the craft store. I like painting paper because it's inexpensive, easy to cut in half (double the paintings that way!), and easy to store after my pieces are finished. I started with painting paper, first, and now I've begun to use canvas. You can find great deal on different size canvases with coupons! A palette for mixing your paints is also essential. You can use something like a paper plate for easy clean up, or you can invest in a plastic palette. Either one is totally fine. Speaking of mixing paints--get a cheap paint knife to do your mixing. You can pick one up for about $3. You don't want to mix your paint colors with your paint brushes. And optional but recommended purchase is a color wheel. You could look one up on the internet, but I like to have one handy to help me figure out which colors to mix.
Anyone can paint, and it doesn't have to cost a fortune! I love how inexpensive this hobby can truly be because it allows practically everyone to try it. So many times hobbies are so expensive to stat up that you feel obligated to keep going even if you dislike it. I'm happy to say that painting is not this way! Have you ever painted, or wanted to?