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 4: Watercolor
More Paint! More Brushes!
Every watercolorist I know has a list of colors they’ve seen but haven’t tried yet. We all have a brush or two that needs to be replaced.
But you don’t know what they need.
And you will never guess correctly.
Be smart and play it safe.
Get your artist a gift card and tell them to splurge on something they’ve needed for a while or want to try. 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 watercolor and brushes. Blick accepts Amazon Cards as payment!
Quality Paint Sets
Look, I know some of you really want to buy paint for your artists.
But bad watercolor paint makes us sad.
As an artist, the watercolor sets you find in craft stores are wasted money. I won’t use craft/student grade paint because it behaves badly and fades.
As a teacher, I would rather have a student with 4 great quality tubes of paint than a crafty set of 40 colors. Bad paint makes learning harder.
I highly recommend watercolors made by M.Graham, Old Holland, Holbein, Daniel Smith, Winsor Newton, and Qor.
If you really want to buy your artist a nice set, look to Daniel Smith. They know how to make well rounded sets at a reasonable price.
Don’t worry about whether your artist already has one of the colors in the set. Paint doesn’t often go bad. And here, I’ve picked sets with very useful colors, so they’ll appreciate having an extra.
Mini Palette
I bought this on a whim when it was still on Kickstarter and I’ve carried it everywhere since then. Beautifully designed, incredible quality, oh so useful!
Get it. Your artist will love it.
And if they already have one, they’ll happily fill the second palette with more colors.
Plus it has a llama on it.
Seriously.
Get it.
Travel Brushes
Good quality travel brushes are always welcome!
Life happens, especially when you’re painting outside the studio.
Brushes don’t always dry right or they get damaged. We’ve also been known to leave them on park benches, or on the floor at coffee shops.
I’m using this set in my travel kit now, along with the mini palette above. The bullet shaped cases make these feel sturdy in the hand and sturdy in your supply bag. The tips are nice and pointy. And this set has a good range of sizes.
…ohhhh and I might have used one of them in my studio the other day… they’re just really nice brushes, so your artist will want to use them, even when they’re not in the field.
Watercolor Journal
You’re talking to Miss Picky-Picky now.
I’ll use colored pencil in a lot of journals. I’m less forgiving about watercolor journals. I’m so picky that I used to make my own journals.
I really like the Etchr journals… maybe not the white cover but the paper is great. I like mine on the larger side (A4) but there are smaller versions available.
Before you investigate further: good watercolor journals are not cheap. Quality watercolor paper is expensive to begin with and then add in the cost of binding it? Some journals are luxury purchases.
But your artist will like these.
Masking Fluid
I’ll admit, this sounds incredibly unromantic.
Masking fluid? C’mon. It’s a basic watercolor supply. They already have some.
Ahhhh… but here’s the thing.
Masking fluid only lasts for so long. I swear, the stuff starts solidifying the moment the cashier swipes the credit card. And masking fluid keeps coming out in new formulations and new dispensers. I love trying new the new stuff even if I personally keep buying the same brand over and over.
Trust me, a couple fun shaped bottles plus a few other fun tools makes a good gift.
Drawing Pencils
Okay, let me apologize to all my colored pencil students.
I’ve banned these pencils from class. But that’s COLORED PENCIL class.
I use them all the time in watercolor though.
I don’t like drawing with graphite on watercolor paper. It’s gray, it smudges, it gets glued down by paint and you can see the lines under the paint but they won’t erase.
Col-Erase pencils are actually pretty darned good drawing pencils. They don’t smear and they erase (kinda). If you choose the right color, you don’t have to erase; they just blend right in!
They’re good pencils, just not for colored pencil class, okay?
Excellent Watercolor Pencils
I’ll confess, you’re talking to the wrong person about watercolor pencils.
I’ve never been a fan. They simply do not smooth out and melt away the way I want them too. This leaves me with unsightly pencil marks that make me want to cry. And I’m not heavy handed either!
When I do use watercolor pencils I tend to color on a tile first, then wet it down, and use it like paint. Which pretty much defeats the point of it being a pencil.
Anyway, that was my story until I met the Museum Aquarelle pencils. They actually do melt beautifully!
I’ve linked to a smaller set because these are pricey. But they’re excellent watercolor pencils.
Watermedia
Inktense are misunderstood They’re not watercolor, they’re ink that acts like watercolor.
The cool thing about Inktense is that once it dries, it won’t remelt or lift. That’s a nice feature in watercolor where we often layer and layer and layer. The problem was they came in pencil form. See my rant just above for why pencils are a problem. And of the pencils? Inktense leave a lot of lines that become permanent lines.
Now Inktense comes in a pan and that makes me happy.
Your artist person will also like Graphitint pencils. Again, they’re not watercolor. These are neutral colors of water-soluable graphite. You sketch and then melt with water. It gives you some color but leaves the sketchy lines (on purpose). A really cool product!
Black Watercolor Paper
It’s watercolor paper.
And it’s black.
That’s weird. So weird your artist will love it.
Here’s the best part: it’s actually a really good watercolor paper. I’ve used it mostly for colored pencil so far but my metallic watercolors look great on it and I plan to try some brush calligraphy soon.
Mini Pads
Every watercolor 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!”
Metallic Watercolor
I’ve tried several metallic watercolors and the FineTec set are the best, by a longshot.
These colors are highly pigmented, true to color, they don’t separate, and they’re not rubbery like one of the popular brands.
This is artist grade metallic watercolor.
If you’ve got an artist who like me, is a bit shy when it comes to glitter and metallic things, this particular set is all they’ll ever need. The colors are not loud or tacky and I’ve been able to water them down a bit to allow an undercoat to show through.
There are other colors available. I think this is the best starter version.
There is a look-alike brand several that are similar. They are NOT as good.
