Julie:)

anyway even if you buy the most expencive set - it only takes a "few cents" of color to paint...

and you do not need too many colors.. 10-15 is more than enough - you mix the shades and tones...

so 50-70 dollars should get you setup

in my opinion looking for the cheapest paint is like driving over the speedlimit - you can save 5-10 min but risking to waste an hour getting a ticket in the best of the bad endings of speeding.

The same way with paint - the cheapest set(10-15colors) will run you about $50 and good quality (like nova) will cost $10-15 more but you are spending hours looking for a cheap one. Does your time worth less then $10 per hour?

learn fresco at http://FrescoSchool.org

fresco painting video tutorials: http://www.FrescoSchool.com

also visit

Fresco School Video Channel
http://youtube.com/FrescoSchool

Contemporary Fresco Gazette
http://trueFresco.Org
commission fresco or mural http://iLAdesigns.com

I have a few suggestions for you.

First, I paint my murals in Chromacryl acrylic paints. I buy them in bulk. When the murals are finished, I add several layers of Polycrylic, or a clear coat, to protect the artwork from bumps, and minor scratches, and also for better durability.

Second, let me share with you about my murals. I got my start painting murals a few years ago. I volunteered to paint murals at my high school after graduation. I painted a total of four murals, one for each of the foreign language classes. I did this over the summer. When the kids returned to the school the next year, they started to vandalize them. At the time, I had no clear coat on them because the work was still in progress. Everyday, I had to go back and touch up with the paint to cover up the writing and profanity. The administrators there were of no help. The vandalism continued. Finally, I finished the murals and put several layers of clearcoat on them. I went back to check on them a few months later and the kids scratched through the polycrylic protector, leaving my artwork marred. This didn't surprise me because it was a bad school to begin with. Well, I learned my lesson, I'm never doing another "free mural" again. People don't appreciate things they don't have to pay for.

I don't want to discourage your plans for painting at your school, I just want to warn you what the kids are like. I was crushed when I saw my murals (10 hours volunteered everyday for 4 months) being destroyed. I will never go through that again. I intend to start a mural painting business of my own in the near future, but this time, with a contract and a paycheck. No more freebies!

May I wish you good luck with your projects. Thank you!

Sincerely,
D. Windseth