Importance of Inventory
My acrylic paint inventory with names and swatches
Hello dear reader,
I write to you today about the importance of keeping an art supply inventory. For several reasons also listed below, inventory is the most important things you can do if you’re an artist.
So you don’t buy duplicates of the same thing.
I love buying my favourite colours over and over again. If I don’t walk in an art store with an inventory list I will tend to buy something similar or an exact duplicate of what I already have. I’ve done it with markers, paint and ink too many times to count.
If anything gets lost or misplaced you’ll have a list of what you had, you’ll know exactly what’s missing.
Especially important if you take your supplies anywhere, on transit, to a gallery, or on the go.
To write materials off on taxes.
Also keep your receipts in a safe folder in case of the dreaded tax audit. If you’ve registered yourself as a sole proprietor or a business, you will be able to deduct some of what you owe when tax season rolls around.
Keeping track of spending.
As much as I hate to remind myself, art supplies are expensive. Things add up quickly. It’s hard to walk into an art store and buy ONLY what you need.
I recommend keeping an updated list in the back of your sketchbook, an excel sheet, or a list in your notes app of any and all of your supplies. So that one day if you trip and fall and find yourself in a Deserres, Michaels, Midoco, Gwartzmans, Above Ground, stationary store or anything similar - you’re slightly less likely to walk out with something you already have.
Below are some pictures of my lists and inventories so that I can more easily keep track of things.
Oil paint inventory page
Caran D’ache water soluble pastels inventory
Colour pencil inventory with names and numbers
For many supplies, I recommend keeping a swatch book along with names so that if another brand makes a similar colour but under a different name, you’ll be able to tell if you have it in your collection already.
I have my own system for inks. I organize based on colour and keep them on a metal ring for easier find-ability. I put a large dab of colour on cut watercolour paper, with the written ink name next to it, and covered with a piece of clear vinyl so the ink doesn’t get transferred to other papers. I’ve also seen many people organize things in a book form so that you can see many colours at once.
The point is less that it needs to be organized in a certain way. Many of my lists are chicken scratched on pieces of paper in the back of my sketchbook or unorganized lists in excel. No matter how you organize, I think as long as you have your own system, you’re doing great.
Thanks again for reading my monologue on why inventory is so important.
Don’t be like me and buy the same marker 3 times.
