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 2: Studio & Storage
Global Art Cases
Normally, I’d list these pencil cases on a sketching supply list.
But honestly, these cases have almost single handedly cleaned up my studio and saved me so much money over the years.
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. Global Art cases also come in a canvas version; both versions are the same inside.
Audible
Art is a visual medium and visual things like television are a serious distraction for many of us. But ugh, a silent room is terrible!
Most artists are audio junkies.
They likely already have a music streaming service, everyone does now-a-days. Personally, I listen to a dozen weekly podcasts but I regularly exhaust my stash of episodes.
That’s where Audible comes in. Audio books are the artist’s best friend. I know several artists who were never readers before but are avid book listeners now.
The link here is for a printable Amazon gift card. Your artist can use the card to purchase an Audible subscription or book credits.
Spinning Desktop Caddy
Desk organizers are problematic for artists. They’re either not deep enough to hold tall items, they’re lightweight and tip over, or they simply don’t hold much.
The mDesign Deep Spinning Organizer is a good one. It holds about 300 Copic markers and frankly, it’s a bit too roomy for me to store colored pencils in it. Mine is currently filled with miscellaneous items that I want handy— an assortment of clips, rulers, notepads, plus random pens in a jar.
It comes in a variety of colors that change according to mDesign’s production schedule. There are several versions and sizes, make sure the one you select says deep.
Hard Sided Supply Tote
Most artists and crafters have a soft sided bag for travelling with supplies. If not, I recommend this one.
But around the house, I’ve found that I really prefer a hard sided tote, especially for paint supplies.
I have 3 of these and I use each to hold materials for my current project. When I need a clear desk or I start a new project before finishing the first, I simply move the tote aside and start a new tote. It’s wonderful to return to the first project and know everything I was using is all in one spot.
This comes in several versions, I prefer this one because it’s deep and the spaces are more versatile. More sections usually means less flexibility.
Zipper Accessory Case
As long as we’re talking travel totes, I might as well show you my current zipper case.
Unlike the Global Art Case above, this one is better suited to holding small necessary items like erasers, clips, and flash drives. It’s a sturdy little catch-all and it’s been everywhere with me in 2019.
If you’d rather give a hard shell travel case (better inside luggage), the Vanilla Arts team recommends this one.
Ikea Storage Units
I’m an hour away from Ikea and the place is a complete zoo, so I don’t get over there very often. That’s sad, because most artists have a whole lot’ta Ikea in their studio.
Now Ikea has come to Amazon which is pretty darned cool because you can ship the super heavy boxes directly to your artist rather than lugging them to the Christmas party.
We all love the Raskog Cart, so I’d avoid that unless you know they don’t have it yet.
I was skeptical about my Helmer drawers (shown right). It’s metal but without drawer glides, I thought it wouldn’t age well. Not so! I store all my 8.5 x 11 paper in the Helmer. That’s a lot of weight and it has held up beautifully.
I also love my Alex units (shown left) for large flat project storage but I’ve had to reinforce the drawers with this kit.
Portfolio Albums
See the Alex cabinet up above?
Now count four drawers down. That is what I refer to as the Drawer of Doom. 90% of what I’ve drawn and colored in the last four years is laying in that drawer.
Kathy, our tech expert is hyperventilating at that thought. And she’s right.
I have several Itoya Art Portfolios and I love them. I just don’t have enough of them to hold everything. But as Kathy says, they really are the safest way to store your projects long term.
Your artist friend can never have too many Itoya portfolios. The 9x12 size is a good size to guess. They come larger or smaller too.
Cork Backed Ruler
If I could be Santa and leave one present in the studio of all my students, it would be a cork backed ruler.
Sounds dumb, right? A ruler is a ruler…
Oh, not so.
For artists who use pens, markers, or ink in general, a cork backed ruler is essential. People keep trying to use other rulers and they keep failing.
If a ruler sits flush with the paper surface, when you draw a line with ink, the moisture oozes up underneath the ruler and either bleeds or leaves drag marks when you finally move the ruler. Cork elevates the ruler to eliminate the smear.
I’d recommend both a 6 inch and a 12 inch.
Glass Mat
If your artist is a papercrafter of any kind- that includes stamping, coloring, art journaling, or scrapbooking…
If they’re a fine artist who works with wet stuff like paint, ink, or sticky mediums…
They will all appreciate a glass mat. It’s not a cutting board, it’s for working with anything wet like paint or glue. It can be a paint palette, an ink smoosher, or just an easy-clean work surface. It’s also the secret to amazing Copic Marker blending.
Shown here is the Tim Holtz original size mat, but it’s pretty big, so read the size before you buy. Here’s the travel version with a padded bag. Here’s the We R Memory Keeper’s version which is square. And here are some great accessories to go with any of them.
Drawing Board + Magnets
Pam on the Vanilla Voices team brought this board to a retreat and now half the team has one and the rest are begging Santa.
Ignore the Amazon description; it talks about this being a child’s dry erase math and reading learning surface.
It’s actually the world’s best travel drawing board. It’s super smooth so it works like the glass mats above. It has rubber feet, tilt legs, and a page rest bar at the bottom.
Did I tell you it’s also magnetic? If you have these, you don’t have to tape your project down.
Okay, I might be adding this to my list too.
Clip Lights
Elena, Lisa, and I are all big fans of portable clip lights.
I love it when students arrive prepared to class with a travel light. I use them in my studio daily for everything from photography to having just a little extra light on a dim winter’s day.
They must be full spectrum, daylight bulbs. Most artists are pretty particular about the color temperature of their light bulbs.
I prefer the cordless version shown on the left for greater mobility. It’s USB rechargeable with about 1.5 hours of battery life.
Elena loves the Ott shown on the right. I have it too but I wish it was cordless. Having said that, it’s bright and never needs recharging. You can find it at most of your local crafty retailers.
