The Hidden Costs of Art Supplies: A Neo-Futurist’s Rebuttal

No studio. No ventilation. Head pounding. Tacky acrylics drying like melted plastic. This is the cost of “non-toxic.” This is the lie sold to the working artist.

They package it like progress.

They label it “safe,” “easy,” “modern.”

But all I see is filler, fumes, and failure.

This isn’t just about one bad batch. It’s about a system that doesn’t make for me anymore. Most of these internet art supply companies aren’t run by artists. They’re run by content managers. Spreadsheet people. They move stock. They write blurbs. They know what “sells,” not what works.

The Lie of Convenience

Water-mixable oils that still stink when they dry.

Acrylics that gum up in the sun.

Designer gouache filled with chalk and white, collapsing under light.

And then there’s the customer service—the bot replies, the delays, the deflections.

I got sick using paint sold as “safer.”

I got ignored when I asked for accountability.

And I had to escalate it to Trading Standards just to be taken seriously.

That’s what’s hidden in the price.

That’s the real “cost.”

The Rebuttal

I’m not asking for a discount.

I’m not begging for better UX.

I reject the whole premise.

I work with Wallace Seymour now—quietly brilliant paint made by people who understand the body of pigment. No filler. No marketing gloss. Just paint that does what it says.

I’ll use M. Graham gouache until the last tube. It doesn’t chalk out. It doesn’t lie to me. It holds.

This is what matters: materials made for making—not for shelves, not for trend posts, not for affiliate links.

I Don’t Compromise

I don’t chase hype. I don’t buy into “safe” if it kills the work.

I don’t want freebies. I want truth in the tube.

If it poisons the work—or the worker—it doesn’t belong in the future.

What I Use Instead:

• Wallace Seymour (gouache, oil, watercolor)

• M. Graham (gouache that behaves like paint, not paste)

• Arches, MDF, wax—not trend panels or 30%-off “canvas” packs

• My own prep, my own surfaces, my own rules

I remember who built what. And when the system fails, I build my own.

—

Buy from people, not platforms.

Use what lasts.

Refuse what fails.