If you have an artist or a creative person in your life, surprising them with the right gift can be quite challenging. The wide range of gift options can easily boggle your mind and you can find yourself not knowing where to start. Does the person love to paint? Are they into graphite sketching or maybe thinking about switching things up and starting digital art? Many questions to ask yourself, but they can help you determine what gift would best suit the artist.
If they love to sketch and draw, pencil sets as a gift will be highly appreciated. If their greatest passion is painting, a lovely set of watercolours or acrylic paints will ignite their spark to create the next masterpiece. Inspire them with a book from their favourite artist, or help them embark on their digital art journey with an iPad pen or iPad stand.
What Gift Should Be Given to an Artist?
If you’re feeling stuck and don’t know what to gift the artist in your life, here are 8 great ideas that are thoughtful and show the person you really know what they want. Of course, this depends on what they are mostly into.
But some of these gift ideas such as gift cards and art books are perfect for artists who are going through a lot of change at the moment, which makes it harder for the gifter to know what to focus on.
Drawing Art Supplies
If you have an artist in your life who is very much into pencil doodles and sketches, help them create their next masterpiece with smooth writing and pigmented pencil sets. There are so many lovely options available online, so choosing one was never that simple and easy.
The best thing about ordering a pencil set online is that each product comes with a description and specifics about the set, so you know beforehand what you’re getting. You can find everything from graphite pencils to charcoal and graphite starter sets, woodless colour pencils and charcoal and graphite sketching mixed media sets.
For example, for someone who is an art student or just a beginner, a charcoal mixed-media starter kit is the best idea to start with. These sets come with graphite pencils and charcoal pencils, a sketching book and erasers. This starter set will allow the artist to experiment with different techniques and help them improve their drawing. This gift is also perfect for anyone above 12 years old.
A good example of a gift idea for someone more serious about their work would be a signature sketching set that contains both graphite and charcoal pencils. The good thing about these sets is they often come loaded with different accessories such as a sand block, sharpener, eraser and a kneadable eraser, all well packed in a wooden box which makes it an ideal gift that will be highly cherished.
If you want to gift something to a younger artist or someone who is just starting into art but loves to colour, colour pencils are a great gift for them. It’s a mess-free colouring medium that allows artists to experiment with different colour variations and excel in their art skills. This can help them turn their normal sketches into stunning masterpieces.
Watercolour Supplies
Watercolours are great for beginners and someone who wants to practise and improve their colouring skills. When you’re looking for a water-based paint, it’s important to know two things. There are artist-grade watercolours, which are much higher in quality, but also way more expensive, and student-grade watercolours, which are ideal for those that need practising, and they are also more affordable.
Once you choose whether you need student or artist-grade watercolours, a nice finish to the gift would be to complete it with watercolour paper and a nice set of watercolour brushes in different sizes. When choosing watercolour brushes, look for soft, natural hair brushes that are able to hold a good amount of water. This will help the artist create beautiful and smooth washes in their artwork.
Acrylic Paint
If you’re looking for a gift for someone who loves painting, an acrylic paint set will bring them immense joy and it’s also a really good option for beginners. There are many good brands out there to choose from and you can easily find a good quality brand.
But sometimes it can be challenging which acrylic set to choose because some lines offer hundreds of different colours. if you’re in doubt, there are a lot of starter kits with the most essential colours, so it’s a better idea to start with something simple, especially if it’s for a beginner.
Oil Paint
Yes, it can be very intimidating to go into an art store and be overwhelmed with the variety of art supplies for oil painting. Try to focus on oil painting sets that include primary colours for a beginner or choose a set of up to 24 different colours for a trained oil painter.
There are so many good quality oil paintings that are vibrant and highly pigmented and you can add a finishing touch to the gift by including brushes and canvas for oil painting. Any oil painter will be endlessly grateful to support them with these essential supplies.
Apple Pencil or Stylus for iPad Drawing
The perfect gift for anyone who loves to draw on an iPad is an Apple pencil or Stylus. The Apple pencil gives artists anything they need for drawing, sketching and colourizing.
The features of a stylus pen can easily meet most of the advantages of Apple’s Pencil and even surpass them in some ways. Whatever you choose, a huge smile on the gift receiver is guaranteed.
iPad Stand
If the gift receiver uses an iPad for creating art, an iPad stand will be of great help to them. An iPad stand helps with structure and ergonomics, and lifting the iPad will help the artist with their body posture, and alleviate the tension in their neck and back. An iPad stand will surely make the artist’s work more comfortable and more pleasurable, overall.
There is a wide range of iPad stands and some come with different settings, so the artist can adjust the angle that they want to draw on their art. The exact angle can be adjusted according to the artist’s comfort, allowing them to draw for an extended period without experiencing any discomfort. Moreover, some models also have a slot for holding the Apple pencil which makes it easier for the artist to access and use their favourite tool.
Light Pad
Any tattoo artists, animator artists, illustrators, graphic designers or lettering artists will greatly benefit from having a light pad. The purpose of the light pad is to assist artists in their work by lighting the surface beneath their drawings, so they can easily replicate something multiple times and it helps them to transfer sketches to colouring paper. A light Pad is also very good for tracing characters in drawings and trying different drawing techniques.
Art Books
Another thoughtful art gift is a book. It can be a book on art creativity, art making, art tutorials and step-by-step guides, or a book from their favourite artist with illustrations of their work.
If they have a hard time being productive or need more courage to start believing in their art skills, you can inspire them with a book that offers helpful tips and practical steps for becoming their truest self as an artist.
Gift Cards or Subscriptions
Gifting an artist a gift card from an art shop or an online subscription to art classes is a guaranteed win. Anyone with creative tendencies would love to be able to choose a wider range of art supplies at no cost. It’s like their dream comes true. A gift card gives them the freedom to choose what they want or need the most.
Also, if an artist is just about to embark on the infinite journey of art or wants to get more serious about their artwork, a subscription to an online education will be of significant help to them.
