Art supply gift ideas

When I wrote this article, Christmas and the holiday season were just around the corner. With that in mind, I felt an art supply gift guide would be a fitting article to publish next. 

I don’t pretend to be an expert, but I feel like I’m qualified to come up with a few good ideas for you to get for your artist girlfriend, significant other, or friend. This art supplies gift guide has ideas for artists who sketch, charcoal artists, and painters of all kinds.

But first, my top recommendation fits ANY artist. If you want to skip ahead with the following jump links, that’s cool too.

The Best Art Supply Gift For Artists

You’re probably not going to like this answer. But no matter who you ask or where you look, there’s a general consensus among artists that it’s highly preferable to pick your own art supplies.

For this reason, a local art store gift card is the best “art supply” gift for any artist.

  • Before you come at me with your torch and pitchforks, let me explain why a gift card is your best bet.
    • First off, gift cards make surprisingly great presents.
    • Secondly, unless you know EXACTLY what art supplies your artist friend uses and likes, you’re most likely to get them something they either won’t use or, at best, won’t love.

So, the odds are against you. There are hundreds upon hundreds of different art brands out there, and most of them are utter garbage, and the rest are favored based on the artist’s preferences.

This article will only go so far in helping you find a good art supply gift. I could recommend the best, most fantastic art supplies, but the artist you’re buying for might not be into it. The worst part is that you probably won’t even know because they won’t want to make you feel bad by telling you.

Just trust me on this. If you don’t know exactly what kind of art supplies they like, then get them a gift card to a local art store or one of the following arts and craft chain stores:

I’m always wary of online recommendations since I KNOW that money influences rankings. But I make zero commission off of any gift card purchases (Zip. Zilch. Nada. Not even a “thank you” from the brand… yet). But, in my opinion, it’s genuinely your best bet if you want to get art supplies as a gift for an artist friend.

However, if you honestly think you know what they want/need or despise getting gift cards as gifts, then here are my art supply gift recommendations.

Art Supply Gifts for Artists Who Draw

Since drawing is my jam, I feel most qualified to make recommendations in this area. So, I’ll break it down into three different sets to help narrow it down.

Gifts for Graphite Artists

For any of you non-artsy individuals reading this, graphite artists are just artists who use various pencils to create artwork. Your best bet here is high-quality sketchbooks, top-notch graphite pencils (including mechanical pencils if they’re into that like I am), and quality erasers. See my top recommendation for each below:

Gifts for Charcoal Artists

Charcoal artists can never have enough charcoal. So, your first and best bet is to get them just that–charcoal. You still want to make sure you’re getting quality products, of course, and there’s also a difference between vine and compressed charcoal sets, as well as charcoal pencils. Charcoal art also needs fixative spray to be preserved, and much like charcoal, you can never have enough paper.

Gifts for Pen and Ink Artists

The linework that can be done with micron pens is astounding, and I love discovering new art made from pens and ink and creating my own. Art supply gifts for pen and ink artists are best placed in fine-tip pens and acid-free paper sketchbooks.

Art Supply Gifts for Painters

While drawing is my go-to, I’ve also enjoyed painting on many occasions, and there’s not much more frustrating than low-quality paint or paintbrushes. If you’re planning to get a gift for a painter, I highly recommend you get high-quality products. If you can’t, get a gift card, as mentioned in my first section. 

Gifts for Acrylic Painters

Acrylics are often the first type of paint recommended for those just getting started with art due to being both inexpensive and versatile. The best art supply gifts for an acrylic painter would be high-quality paint, top-notch brushes, and canvas.

Gifts for Oil Painters

I’ll be honest: I have next to no experience with oil paint. However, I did some research based on reviews and user experience to make recommendations here. Once again, you’ll be looking for paint, brushes, and canvas. The brush and canvas recommendations here are the same as those for Acrylics.

Gifts for Watercolor Painters

Of all the paint mediums, watercolor is my favorite. Something about the uniqueness of art style you can achieve with watercolor paints: in fact, the first painting outside of high school that I ever did was a watercolor cherry tree. Anyway, enough of my blabbering. Here are some gift ideas for a watercolor artist.

How to Pick Art Supply Gifts for Artists

You need to have a good understanding of the artist you’re buying for. Ask yourself the following questions to help determine what the best art supply gift would be:

  • What’s their preferred medium?
    • Is it graphite, charcoal, acrylics, watercolor, pottery, etc?
  • What’s their skill level?
    • Are they a master, intermediate, novice, or completely new?
  • What’s their style like?
    • If they draw, what do they draw? Do they draw animals, people, comics? Do they use color or prefer black-and-white art?
  • What brands do they use?
    • If they’re cheap brands, it might be because they can’t afford better ones. If it’s one of the best art supply brands, stick to the same brand.
  • Do they like trying new mediums?
    • This is important because if they don’t, you shouldn’t get them acrylics if they’ve never tried them. However,

If you don’t know the answer to these, see if you can ask others who might have some insights into their preferences. If you can’t find someone else who knows, try to bring the questions up naturally in a conversation to be discreet.

Art Supply Gifts NOT to Get an Artist

Alright, we’ve got the suggestions out there, but we have one more important thing to discuss: what art supply gift or gifts you SHOULDN’T get an artist. The answer is actually pretty straightforward, and I’ve technically said it a few times already.

Don’t buy an artist cheap art supplies as a gift. Just don’t do it. I don’t just mean “inexpensive” because you can get some decent products for a reasonable price. But you shouldn’t buy a watercolor set from Dollar Tree and give yourself a pat on the back.

So, with all that being said, I hope that this has helped give you a good idea on what would be the best art supply gift to give your artist friend. If you have any other suggestions, please send me a message, or throw a comment below!

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