Best Gifts for Your Favorite Artist

Any gift giving time may be a cause for panic when there is an artist in the family. What do you give an artist? While there are many people who support their friends or families love of art, they might not have an understanding of what it is that an artist exactly needs. For several years I have been stocking my own studio, and you might be surprised what an artist really wants (and needs).

PAINT BASICS

If you want to give the gift of paint, always ask what medium the artist prefers to paint with. If your artist prefers to paint with acrylic, he probably doesn't want a gift of oil or water paints.

Once you know what types of paint the artist prefers you can think about color choices. The two most used paint colors in my studio are black and white. It seems I can use an entire tube of white paint in one sitting, and the black paint almost always disappears just as fast.

Other colors you might consider are red, yellow, green and brown. These basic colors can be mixed to achieve almost any color an artist might want to use.

Neon colors, metallic silver and metallic gold are also great choices. These colors cannot be mixed from basic colors, and while they are often used sparingly, they may be important elements in an artist's palette.

BRUSHES

Artist brushes can be quite costly. A cheap package of brushes from a discount store can run between $5.00 and $10.00; however, cheap brushes often lose hairs into the paint. This is a major annoyance for any artist, and can only be removed with great care and tweezers. Choose brushes that are sold individually and ones that are designed for whatever medium your artist prefers. Most stores that sale brushes have the brushes sorted by types. Look for the words, oil, acrylic and water on the package and determine that you are purchasing the right brush for the right medium before committing to buy a brush.

Fan brushes, fine tipped brushes, and other specific purpose brushes also make great gifts. Recently, I found a brush that is bent so that it can get closer to the canvas. These types of brushes are also extremely useful.

CANVASES & SKETCH PAPER

Canvases come in all shapes and sizes. There are stretched canvases and canvas boards, both of these types of foundation materials are great for artists. A small canvas can be an inexpensive gift, but a really useful one.

Artists also use sketch paper. Some papers can even be used as a painting surface. Always select paper that is acid free, and if you want your artist to be able to use the sketch paper as a painting surface make sure that the paper indicates that it can be used that way.

PAINT ODDS & ENDS

If your artist prefers to use oil paints, you might consider buying linseed oil or paint thinner. Linseed oil is used to thin down oil paint for a lighter coverage, and the paint thinner can be used to clean dirty brushes.

A gift that might be overlooked is a color wheel. One might wonder why an artist needs a color wheel, but it is a great tool. I often use mine to help me mix colors during the painting process or to visualize the different color options that are available.

Mini clamps are an absolute must for a couple of reasons. They can be used to hold images onto an easel or to hold transfer paper onto a canvas or board. Mini clamps can often be found at hardware stores. My favorite clamps were actually found in the dollar bin at a popular hardware store.

RECYCLED GOODS

Recycled items can be beneficial for artists and help save serious pocket change. Save wide mouth jars of various shapes and sizes. Make sure you also save the lids. Artists can use these jars to store oil, paint thinner or to hold water for brush cleaning. I have several glass jars in my studio that I use for holding paint thinner, holding brushes and keeping brushes sorted by brush type and size.

Old calendars can also be a good gift. Artists often need pictures of animals, flowers or people. Old calendars are ripe with beautiful images that are made specifically to brighten a room. These images are usually greatly detailed and prime examples of whatever image they are portraying.

Another great recycled good that can be a useful gift is old fabric. Artists need towels or fabric on which to clean brushes or for wiping excess paint. Old t-shirts cut into 10x10 inch squares work just as well as store bought painters rags and they can save you some money so you can spend more money on gifts like brushes, paints and canvases.