Gift Guide for Intermediate and Student Artists

By request of one Aisazia, I am expanding my gift guide to include presents for more experienced artists who may not have a working studio yet.

By their very nature, better art supplies suited to more experienced artists are going to cost more, but there's no pressure to outfit an entire studio either. I'm going to expand on my basic gift guide, assuming that the artist in question already has many of those items, and focus on either replacing or augmenting the existing set. For this post, I'm going to be drawing heavily on my own experience and artistic preferences, as well as what I use in my own work on a regular basis.

I'm going to be kind to myself and set the end price at $200 total, though I will limit myself to one site for this gift guide. There's been interest in me writing an artist's gift guide to JetPens, so I'll be drafting and posting that shortly.

Since I started with Dick Blick, I'm going to stick with Dick Blick, so that my lists are mix and match according to the artist's needs. If you're buying for an artist and you aren't familiar with their arsenal, you could see if they have an online wishlist or just get them a giftcard to their favorite art supply store.

In case there is any doubt, I am under no sponsorship and receive no sort of funding for these posts.

Sketch:

Source

Conte crayons, set of 6 in tin
$5

Charcoal

Vine, Soft
$2
Vine, Medium
$2

Newsprint Paper 18"x24"
$7

China Marker
$1

Blick Artist Colored Pencil, Black
$1

Better Erasers:

Source

Gum
Prismacolor Multl-Pack (also includes a kneaded eraser)
$2


MagicRub Eraser
$1

Draw:

Pencils:

Source

Lyra Rembrandt Art Design Graphite Pencil Set
$13

Caran d'Ache Sketcher Non-Photo Blue Pencil- Way nicer than the Stanford non-photo blue recommended in the prior post. A lot of my friends use this for bluelining comics.
$6

 Color:

Watercolor

Source

Yarka Professional Watercolor Set, 25 Colors (full pans)- To replace or augment the Raphael set
$62

Brushes

Source

Mop, 5/8"
$8

Scepter Gold Round 0
$4

Winsor Newton Round Size 1
$6

Winsor & Newton Round Size 4
$13

Flat Wash, Size 3/4
$15

Brush Cleaner

Source

$6

Nice Watercolor Pad

Canson Montval Watercolor Pads 15"x20"
$12

Palette

Yasutomo Fan-Shaped Plastic Palette
$3

General Studio:

Source

Duster:
$4

Alumicutter Ruler 18"
$14

Exacto Blade X2000
$6


Because every studio is differently equipped, and I can't predict the exact needs of your intermediate artist, I've decided to include an optional list, in case some of the things I've listed above are already owned

So let's crunch some numbers before continuing!

Once your order is more than $160, you qualify for free shipping.

But taxes'll put you at 203.91, shipped.  If that's not ok by you, there's a couple items you could remove from the list that won't really affect the integrity of the gift.

The duster and one of the two rounds can both be sacrificed, especially if you're building on a studio already equipped with much of the same supplies as the Amateur Artist Gift Guide.

Just removing those two items puts you back under budget!

Maybe your studio is better equipped than I accounted for.  Here are some often neglected studio essentials to help round you out:

  OPTIONAL (And not calculated in the total):

Storage:

Blick Archival Storage Boxes, varying sizes:
$11-$25

To be honest, you don't have to buy branded 'art' storage to get good storage for your art supplies. Toolboxes from Walmart work just as well as ArtBins, and are much cheaper, Rubbermaid makes some nifty organizational stuff as well. If you're looking for archival, I'd hit the art supply store and specifically ask, but otherwise, save your money.


Pencil Cases, 24-48 Count, Black, Rose, Wheat, or Blue- Optional
$9-$13

Brush and Storage Tube 2"x14"
$8

Paintbrush Holder, Large- Optional
$14

STUDIO SUPPLIES, GENERAL:

X-Acto Self Healing Mat 18"x24"- Optional
$38

Spray Mount- 3M Super 77 Multipurpose Adhesive 13.6- Optional
$13


Fixative- Optional

Workable Matte Fixative
$6

DISPLAY, PROFESSIONAL:

Itoya Portfolios, Various Sizes
$7-$16


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