How Green Is Your Studio?

Do you want to "green up" your studio? You can. Even if you paint in acrylic or oil, you can still reduce, reuse and recycle.

Here are some ways to get started:

1. Use recycled drawing pads and paper like this great pad from Strathmore

2. How about bamboo frames for those masterpieces you're creating?

3. Cotton paper is a renewable resource. You can (and should!) paint on my favorite paper, BFK. I love this stuff so much I wrote an entire blog post just about this paper. Yum.

Disposing of paint and solvents

Ideally, solvents like turpentine and mineral spirits should be reused not thrown away. This excellent article has terrific information on disposing of paint and thinners and how to reuse them. It's geared towards household paint, but it works for artists' paints just as well.

Thinking about painting over some older, not-so-wonderful canvases? Go ahead. Just make sure you know your chemistry.

1. Never paint acrylic over oil.

2. You CAN paint oil over acrylic. Just make sure the acrylic surface is not too glossy. If it is, see #3.

3. When painting over an old acrylic painting, clean the surface with a damp sponge and then lightly abrade the surface with a scrubber like these. This will ensure that your new layer of paint will adhere to the old painting.

Now get out there and make something beautiful!