As a freelance artist, you must spend a certain percentage of your income on buying (and replenishing) your stock of art supplies. Next to keeping up with your clients' demands, this is one area of which you would need to keep track if you want to sustain your freelance business.
There are several ways to get quality supplies while managing to keep your spending reasonable. I'll give you five of them:
(1.) Set aside a fixed rate from every freelance project.
This is ideal if you're just starting out and you're still working on your cash flow. If you get paid, say, Php2,500.00 on one project, Php1,800.00 on another project, and Php2,000.00 on a third project and you subtract 20 percent from each amount to cover your next set of art supplies, you're training yourself to be consistent regardless of how much you get paid.
(2.) Buy in bulk.
It's a good idea to buy in bulk once you've reached that point in your career when you already have a steady base of clients, and your clientele continues to grow because of referrals through word-of-mouth and possibly some marketing on your part.
Save yourself from all the stress of making sudden trips to the art supply store by having a list of supplies written down in the same way that you would jot down a grocery list. Determine whether making twice-a-month purchases, or even less, would be feasible.
(3.) Buy online and avail of their discounts.
An online store like Mister Art makes it easy for artists, illustrators, and the like to choose from a wide variety of branded supplies. The convenience offered by such a reputable site allows the freelancing professional more free time that can be devoted to his art.
Stay tuned as I round up my post with the remaining two ways to slash your art supply budget in my next installment.
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