Looking for the perfect gift for an artist or creative person?
It’s shopping time and you need help!
You search online for “artist gift ideas”. You’re probably not an artsy kind of person; you don’t know much about pencils, paint, paper, and art supplies… you’re just hoping for a few good suggestions.
But hoo, boy! There are a lot of junky articles out there, full of ads and annoying pop-ups. And the actual gifts? Ugh.
Hello, my name is Amy Shulke and I’m a professional freelance illustrator and an art instructor. I basically popped out of the womb with a beret and moustache, so in my forty-umph years of life, people have always given me art supplies for birthdays and Christmas.
Can I share a secret with you?
Here’s what the artist in your life is afraid to say:
The Starry Night coffee mug you gave me last year? It’s cute but it has been sitting in the back of my kitchen cupboard for months now.
And the trendy rose gold pencil & paper kit for my birthday? The pencils are weak and I use the paper for grocery lists.
I’m always touched when someone gives me art supplies. I appreciate the thought and I know they mean well.
But I’ve been given a lot of art materials I simply can’t use. For years, I would add the items to my children’s art supply stash but now that they’re older, these unusable gifts just gather dust.
Ultimately, they’re a waste of your money.
So let’s start buying gifts which your artist can actually use.
You’ll notice, there are no ads on the side of this article. I didn’t lure you here for Ad-Sense clicks. There won’t be blinking announcements popping up and no limited time offers.
I’m just sharing information here.
I’ve gathered a list of reasonably priced art supplies below and I’ll give you a blurb about why it might be a good gift for your special person.
If you want more information, there’s an Amazon link for you to use. The links are part of the Affiliate program but relax, it doesn’t affect your purchase price.
I encourage you to shop around for the best price or find something similar but more suitable. And please, be sure to check out local independently owned art stores in your area! They’re full of great ideas.
Remember, in this article, I’m just giving you a starting point.
Now let’s find your artist a really good gift!
This article contains affiliate links. Vanilla Arts Company is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for use to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com.
Artist Gifts 3: Colored Pencils
More Colored Pencils!
Listen closely, there isn’t a pencil person in the world who doesn’t want more pencils.
But you don’t know which pencils they want and what colors they need.
And you will never guess correctly.
In the introduction, when I talked about regifting art supplies to my young children? Mostly pencils. Artists are very picky about what they use and I’ve noticed that the worst pencils come in the cutest display boxes. They’re bad pencils, that’s why they dress them up in gift sets.
Just get your artist a gift card and tell them it’s for pencils. I know a gift card seems like a cop-out, but trust me— it’s the best present you could possibly give.
I’m linking to an Amazon Gift Card here but your artist may want to shop at a full art supply store. So why the Amazon Card? Because Blick.com is a great art store with a gigantic selection of colored pencils and accessories. Blick accepts Amazon Cards!
Global Art Cases
I had this item on the Studio & Storage list but these cases are so good, it’s worth repeating one more time.
Global Art Cases are high quality and durable. They come in a wide variety of sizes from a pocket sized to the largest at 120 pencils. They aren’t just for pencils, I store pens and travel brushes in them too.
They keep everything safely stored in one spot. If you drop the case, you don’t break what’s inside.
I’d spend the extra money for Global Art Cases instead of the other brands available. I’ve got a cheaper brand from last year with a broken zipper, meanwhile my 12 year old Global Art leather case still looks beautiful and the zippers are fine.
Derwent Chinese White
Really good white colored pencils are hard to find. Even if your artist person is faithful to one brand of pencils, they likely use the white from a different brand.
Artists that know about the Derwent Drawing Chinese White love it.
Artists who don’t know about Derwent Drawing Chinese White will love you for introducing them to it!
It’s a super soft, almost soapy pencil but it might be the most opaque white available today. I love it.
You could buy just the one pencil but Christmas is the time for gift sets. This is a nice tin of the best colors they make and it includes the white. I’d be happy to open this gift and your artist will like it too.
White Paint Pen
Colored pencil artists often use white paint pens to add small white highlights to things like eyes.
White paint pens are finicky. They die before they’re empty or they spring a leak for no reason.
The smart artist keeps extras, just in case.
These Posca Whites make great stocking stuffers or present toppers and they’re always welcome!
Ceramic Blade
I’ve used colored pencils since 1985 and I don’t think there’s a single project that I haven’t used a blade on. Like other pencil artists, I occasionally use a sgraffito (scraping) technique to make leaf veins or cat whiskers. Blades are also good for lightly scraping off a bit of pencil for mistake correction.
But what I really use a blade for is pesky little wax balls which seem to gather in unexpected places. I’m picky about them because they show up loudly when I scan the finished projects.
I’m also a klutz and I’ve cut myself with kitchen knives and razor tools. 4 trips to the hospital ER for stitches. Not kidding.
So the Slice tool is now my best friend. It has a tiny point, which makes it perfect for pencil work (we never use the whole blade). Because it’s ceramic, it cuts when you want it to but you won’t poke a hole in your hand if you reach for it wrong.
Love this thing. So does my doctor.
Pencil Sharpeners
I’m hesitant to suggest pencil sharpeners because every artist has an inflexible opinion on how to correctly sharpen a pencil. Wars have been fought over less sticky subjects. I’m a long-point, super sharp kind of girl, so there are popular short-sharpeners that I simply will not touch.
If your artist is a long-point lover, here are the best of the best:
The X-Acto sharpener is a big beast. And it actually sounds like a beast lives inside. It’s not quiet but it is amazing.
For hand-crankers, I recommend the Derwent Super Point.
For pocket sized, I recommend the KUM Long Point.
For travel battery powered, I recommend the Imikas (with some reservation as they’ve changed the model and it’s not as good as it was.)
Pencil Sharpener Maintenance
Pencil sharpeners get gunked up. Collected wax, stuck bits of lead… it’s just a hazard of the job.
I have a couple of rusty dental picks and a nasty pair of tweezers. The ER staff wishes I had a nice little kit like this.
I also de-wax and sharpen my blades periodically with graphite. An inexpensive woodless pencil like this gets the job done nicely. (If your person might actually draw with the woodless pencil, this kind is far better.)
On the Vanilla Voice team, Elena primarily uses the KUM Long Point Sharpener which comes with extra blades. She loves this set of micro-screwdrivers for fast blade switches.
Dusting Brush & Glassine
Colored pencils leave dust; another hazard of the job.
The problem is that the dust is very colorful and if you drag it around under the side of your hand, you can grind that color into the paper where you don’t want it to be.
Artists use dusting brushes to remove debris. But the brushes get dirty after a while or they disappear and we try to muddle along without one.
Additionally, I use glassine paper as a buffer underneath my hand. It stops some of the grit-grinding. I switch the sheet out daily but I also use the glassine as divider sheets between stored projects. A girl can’t have too much glassine. I usually buy it on the roll but I’ve linked to an introductory size pack for your artist.
Itty-Bitty Eraser
I bought it because it was cute.
I keep using it because it’s pretty darned handy.
Colored pencil is semi-erasable. The trick is to remove some of the color without damaging the tooth of the paper and without ruining all the good coloring around the mistake.
This tiny eraser is perfect. It’s grit free, so it’s gentle on the paper. It’s microsized so you can make surgical corrections.
Lynne on our Vanilla Voice team has made an artform out of smudging with this eraser. We all love it.
I’ve also thrown in a link to my favorite pencils. Together, they make a nice single-themed gift.
Pencil Extenders
Some colored pencil students are afraid to sharpen their pencils as often as they need to. Sharpening = wasting pencil lead.
That’s hooey. Dull pencils make bad art.
What really saves money are pencil extenders. With these pencils, I can use the pencil until it’s about .75”, when they’re finally too small to fit into a KUM Sharpener.
I have a couple dozen and I always wish I had a few more. It’s nice to keep them on a short pencil until it dies instead of juggling a single extender between twenty short pencils.
I secretly think all aluminum extenders are made at the same factory and repackaged by about 40 sellers on Amazon. Shop around for the best price.
Mini Pads
Every pencil artist looking at this today just said “oohhhh!”
Don’t ask. Just get a set before they’re gone.
Several versions available. They’re all equally “oohhhh!”
Great Journals
Every artist loves a good journal but colored pencil people are a wee bit picky. The paper can’t be too rough or too smooth.
I really like the Stillman and Birn series of journals. Nice heavy paper and they come in your choice of hard or soft cover, spiral bound or book bound.
I love the Beta and Delta versions (look at the top of the label to see which Greek letter it carries). I know the tag says stuff about wet stuff, watercolor, and ink but I use them for colored pencil.
