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Art Marker Tote Bag You Can Make Yourself
I have a lot of markers. I've been keeping them in clear plastic storage boxes standing on end. That works, but it's hard to find bins with lids that are tall enough to store the markers like that. The ones I can find are either so small I have to keep them in several bins loose, or one massively oversized thing that leaves them flopping about. Neither of these are good solutions if you want to take them to a con, so I don't. I just don't do color at cons and that's a shame.
But not anymore. I have been looking at ArtBin art boxes/toates for a while but they are so bloody expensive that they just aren't cost effective. I was looking for boxes at Walmart and didn't find anything suitable in the plastic storage area. I even went to hardware to look at toolboxes, but they were oversized and very few would let you store a marker vertically without the tray getting in the way. Drat.
I stopped by the camping area to look at canopies for an upcoming event and spotted coolers. Nah the big plastic coolers won't work for markers, but they did have a bunch of sof sided thermal cooler with shoulder straps, side pockets, mesh pockets for water bottles, etc. Hmm. I checked one out and found it had a plastic bin inside to give it shape. Interesting! It was too tall, but I could fill in the bottom with foam sheet to bring markers to the level I wanted.
And it was $12.
SOLD!
A $$3 sheet of foam core and I was able to make simple dividers inside. That, with the sheet foam from my costuming porjects resulted in the ideal marker bag for my needs. It's cheap, sturdy, very portable, GREEN (I love green), and the liner comes out to let you stand the markers on their side in a rack arrangement.
For $15 total, this is suddenly the best marker box on the planet for my needs. It shows that you can find the solution to your needs often outside of the art supply store. Think outside of the box. A beverage cooler? Really? Nah... and yet, it's hard to argue with the results. This turned out GREAT.
And yes, I have a lot of Copics. I gobble them up. That's 175 at roughly $4-5 each.
But not anymore. I have been looking at ArtBin art boxes/toates for a while but they are so bloody expensive that they just aren't cost effective. I was looking for boxes at Walmart and didn't find anything suitable in the plastic storage area. I even went to hardware to look at toolboxes, but they were oversized and very few would let you store a marker vertically without the tray getting in the way. Drat.
I stopped by the camping area to look at canopies for an upcoming event and spotted coolers. Nah the big plastic coolers won't work for markers, but they did have a bunch of sof sided thermal cooler with shoulder straps, side pockets, mesh pockets for water bottles, etc. Hmm. I checked one out and found it had a plastic bin inside to give it shape. Interesting! It was too tall, but I could fill in the bottom with foam sheet to bring markers to the level I wanted.
And it was $12.
SOLD!
A $$3 sheet of foam core and I was able to make simple dividers inside. That, with the sheet foam from my costuming porjects resulted in the ideal marker bag for my needs. It's cheap, sturdy, very portable, GREEN (I love green), and the liner comes out to let you stand the markers on their side in a rack arrangement.
For $15 total, this is suddenly the best marker box on the planet for my needs. It shows that you can find the solution to your needs often outside of the art supply store. Think outside of the box. A beverage cooler? Really? Nah... and yet, it's hard to argue with the results. This turned out GREAT.
And yes, I have a lot of Copics. I gobble them up. That's 175 at roughly $4-5 each.
Category Other / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 853 x 1280px
File Size 269.2 kB
Hey, awesome! I'm CONSTANTLY on the lookout for ways to help save money on art supplies and storage. And, yes, you're right, the best tools are the ones you make yourself. Back in art school I did see some students use tackle boxes for some of their supplies too, if you ever need to expand further?
That would be correct. I have a policy- I only spend the money I make from commissions / art / etc on art supplies and similar expenses. I COULD go blow it on some iPad tablet or soemthing, but I believe reinvesting the money in the art, improving the materials and techniques, which just makes everything better.
That's pretty cool. I'll have to look into doing something like that (i.e. blatantly steal this idea) once my current case gets too crowded to be manageable. But right now I've only got about 1/3 the number of Copics you do (and don't you have a bunch of Prismacolors or some other kind, too?)
Heh, very creative! I've been doing something similar myself, with an ammunition can from an army surplus store. Not only does it keep everything protected, it's almost indestructible and air-tight when I close it to. That and it only cost about $10 and I've covered it in bumper stickers.
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