Affordable Art

by Adrian How

After all the renovation and carpentry works were done, I got my furniture and appliances in and the house was then fully functional. Then I looked at my walls and noticed how bare they were. I told myself I needed to hang up some modern art to give life to the walls and add colour the place and hence, began my search for art pieces.

Several art stores later, I realised that I was never going to be able to buy anything I liked (ooh, and there was so much I liked) simply because they were priced too steep. A small 12″x12″ hand painted canvas could cost upwards of RM500 (trust me, I knew better than to go to designer art stores and these were stores selling local artists’ wares)… there had to be a better way to get my hands on some art to hang up on my walls.

Get my hands on some art I did… by getting my hands dirty! The answer to affordable art is to D.I.Y. I was recommended by a friend to get my art supplies from Win’s Art and Stationery Supplier- a mom and pop store in Taman Mayang that used to cater to the bulk of students before Lim Kok Wing College moved relocated to its new premises.

Win’s Art & Stationery Suppliers
No 17-1, ( Ground Floor ) Mayang Plaza,
Jalan SS26/4, Taman Mayang Jaya,
47301 Petaling Jaya.
Tel : 03-7062178

What did I purchase from Win’s?

1. Several brushes of different sizes (approx <RM10 for all, avg RM1.50-RM3 per brush depending on size). Make sure you get brushes for acrylic painting.

2. A palette (RM5)

3. 6 different tubes of acrylic paint- varying colours: Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, White, Black (RM4 per tube) for Reeves brand

4. Some blank stretched canvas (already stretched and framed).

4″x4″ = RM4
6″x6″ = RM6
12″x12″ = RM10
24″x36″ = RM20
the great thing is that you can also custom create a frame with your own measurements. Approx 3 working days (depending on workload)

Now, throughout my schooling years, art has never been my forte. I consistently scored ‘D’s and showed no promise whatsoever to my art teachers that I had even an inkling of any artistic flair within me. The high point in art during primary school for me was when I got graded a ‘B’ (yes, my all time high) when I made a shoe from plasticine. I reckon it’s only because I was paid attention to details and put in great effort to make the laces and sticking them onto the shoe.

I did not despair despite my previous forages in art had shown that I was a no-hoper in this field. There was always a form of art that I could venture into, the kind that suits a modern home- ABSTRACT art! Since I could not pain proper shapes, human form, fruits, animals, scenery… why not just paint geometric motives or splatter and mix colours on a palette

With my initial startup cost of under RM50, here’s what my wife and I came up with. We also painted some RM2.50 frames from IKEA whilst at it.

After a rather successful first attempt, I got excited about the possibility of really creating my own unique art to be hung up on my own walls. At the end of the day, I recognise that my art does not look like the work of an artisan but I am contented that I put a piece up on my wall for a small cost and it is a totally and truly unique piece of art. Here’s more of our work:

This is a 3 piece (4″x4″ canvas) piece which can fit horizontally or vertically in any small area. Good to be placed in bathrooms, or a long thin strip of empty wall e.g. between door frame and window frame.

This was done on 24″x36″ and is currently hanging against the wall at the split-level of my stairs from ground to first floor, right under a lamp.

You can get art ideas from sites such as drawn.ca and ffffound.com

Alternatively, there are other local initiatives to help people purchase art at affordable prices and one such event is ‘Art for Grabs‘ held at the Pasar Seni where art pieces are all below the RM100 mark. The first event has passed but due to the reception that KakiSeni (the guys who organised it) got, they’re planning for more such events.

Go ahead, try out your hand at D.I.Y painting! Head on over to Win’s Art.