Hello everyone!
I watched a few YouTube videos of some of my favorite artists and a few others the last few days about gift ideas for artists.
Thank you to Zoe Hong, for allowing me to share this video with you all.
They were very helpful and informative, so I thought I would share a couple of those as well as share a few gift ideas myself.
I have linked a public gift guide on Amazon, should you be interested in possibly getting me something I would like to try and I will review it on the blog as well. If you have other ideas, I am open to those as well.
Below are some of my personal suggestions for artists.
For Beginner Artists
Often, people suggest you get these art sets for these people. While some of them can be really good, a lot of these, unfortunately, have poor quality art supplies. While beginners do not need professional grade things, nor am I suggesting that, they should at least have something decent to play around with.
A few brands I suggest looking for in sets might be Crayola, General's, Daler Rowney Simply series, and Royal & Langnickel. Some of the art sets at Micheal's and Hobby Lobby might be okay, but I've read very mixed reviews. Therefore, these are a hit or miss. I personally haven't tried them, however.
For Intermediate Artists
These are people who are still discovering different mediums they like, they are likely in middle School to high school, perhaps college age, but they consider art a hobby. I suggest you find out what they like to use, whether they like drawing, painting, or whatever and go from there.
For these people, if it's a high quality set, it might be worth getting. Otherwise, I would pick up something specific.
A few sets I could recommend are General's, Prismacolor, Marco Raffine, and possibly Derwent.
Unless you know exactly what they like, especially if they're picky, I would stay away from sketchbooks and paints as these vary greatly in quality and price. If you really want to do that, get them a set of paints from well known brands like Holbien, Ulbrecht, etc... Sketchbooks I would recommend Canson Mixed media paper. Strathmore is also a good company.
For Advanced and Professional Artists
These artists are going to be very particular. Unless you're an artist yourself, it will be very difficult to get them something.
A gift card or certificate to their favorite art store, might be a good idea. Make sure it's for a decent amount. Art supplies can get very expensive, especially for the advanced and professional artist.
Professional grade brands include; Faber Castell, Derwent, Caran D'arche, Tombow, and the like.
If you wish to get them something specific, I would get to know them and what they like and use. You cannot go wrong with something you know they use a lot of. With all this being said, many artists including myself, love to be surprised with something unique, which we can try out. It's the thought that counts, ultimately. I just hope this helps you in not wasting money and resources on something that the artist in your life will maybe use once, if at all.
Link to my personal gift guide (if you would like to support the blog and other things I would like to do in the future).
I hope that this adds to all the helpful guides out there and I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and safe holiday season!
