Starving Artist

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I spent money on art supplies that I should've spent on food. I don't have any food left and I only have $19 to last the week. My obsession took over, I guess. On the other hand, I needed the emotional nurturance that drawing creates for myself.

instant noodles.

NEVER EVER spend money on food when you need to buy paint.
glad to see your priorities are in place.

As somebody who likes to work in graphics I have found that clothing dyes dissolved in water are cheaper than art inks and drawing can be done with all sorts of cheap materials - shoe polish, strong coffee, carpenter's pencils, kids crayons, etc. Typewriter or cheap computer printing paper does OK as well as brown wrapping paper and other materials. White water based housepaint applied to corrugated cardboard from supermarket boxes gives a nice firm surface, etc. And you can eat too. When you can afford it regular materials can be used too.

Brown paper bags and a number 2 pencil are great. Can you make some quick cash with the art? Trade for a meal? Work it.

better yet, with that same $19 dollars you can buy like 20 packs of pasta(spaghetti):


1.- buy 5 spaghetti packs, some ham and some tomato sauce (NOT spaghetti sauce) and you're good to go,
2.- also buy some $2 oatmeal, prepare it with water,
3.- with the rest buy a lentil bag and some fresh tomatoes and make a soup, don't prepare the whole bag at one time, use like half because the lentils grow, so get a big pot.
Lentil soup is very nutritious BTW (:
I survived that way for a loooooong time

BTW today I bought a pack of brushes, and I needed to buy other thing!! !

At first I thought this thread was about that member starvingartist...

Well nourishment is what helps keep your mind going. I've done the same things myself...I guess I don't think about my consequences until it starts happening. I still have this problem with getting into my obsessions moreso than taking care of myself. But I manage to buy cheap ass crap such as water based paints.

It's always good to keep things in checks and balances but for me it's easier said than done. For me, it's good to express yourself when necessary but I know personally it can also take a toll on my physical and mental well-being when I neglect other aspects such as eating or exercising.

Just don't eat your supplies for crying out loud!! !

yes porridge! i could eat it every night. yum.

Nothing fuels art, like an empty stomach.

other cheap art supplies (from my art student days, before I defected to science geekery)
If you want to do bold, not overly colour-realistic water colour type paintings, food colouring washes on wetted paper look really strong. You can take the colour down with houshold bleach as well to add lighter areas to these paintings.

We often used ordinary twigs and writing ink, also you can build up texture with emulsion paint.

I used to like to do heavy wax crayon drawings, heat them from behind so the colours bubble and run, scratch parts off with something sharp and work on again with acrylics or stain with ink.

I liked to make a mess

You can live on pasta and bolognaise sauce...it just doesn't feel like living...

One art technique I employ is to make many random patterns using line and color that is striking and abstractly interesting. If you make many of these quickly without devoting much time to each you can acquire a large collection. If you have Photoshop or something similar you can scan them and file them and print them out in duplicate when you find you would like to make several variations. This is not cheap so I suppose this might not be available to you. By looking at these abstracts over a period of hours, days, weeks, you might find, as I do, patterns that resolve into clear and interesting images that can be emphasized and made clear and can result in striking graphics.

I eat Ramen, or what I like to call 'the Breakfast of Thespians'...

All my stuff is downloaded free from the Internet...but I'm just a dabbler, couldn't call myself a 'real' artist...

It's alright... just draw...

another option: buy a whole chicken, make lots of soup (:

Sibce we're into food rather than art you might consider basics. Rice, potatoes, noodles are each ok with 10 to 20 minutes of boiling and they each can be heated easily with a microwave once they're cooked and put into bags in 1 meal portions and frozen. To make them interesting a sauce with fried onions with garlic and a bit of bouillon thickened with a tablespoon of cornstarch gives them a nice touch. A bit of oregano or grated Parmesan (or both) does nicely. If you can throw in frozen peas or baby limas or even chopped carrots you can do nicely. If you like the flavor, a can of tuna flakes is OK. None of this is very expensive and if you make a good quantity you can freeze meal sized portions for microwaving later. A chopped boiled egg can be thrown in with some chopped parsley. Add or subtract what you like and can afford.

^ yes, good tips, and salads too are cheap.