Best Gifts For The Artist In Your Family This Holiday Season

Have you got a gift to buy, and you've perused Amazon, as well as all the local stores, and you've gotten almost everything you need, except, what about you know who? What in the world does he or she like to do?

Does he like to draw? Does she like to paint? What about sculpting? Well, you'd like to get something they could really use, and make something with, but what? What in the world do those types of crazies use when they're trapped in their homes penciling or painting away? Well, I'm going to give you my two-cents.

I'm going to give you a list of all sorts of art supplies that many artists would be thrilled to receive, and in some cases, I'll give you the why, as well. Otherwise, I'll give you a link out of here to find the info you're looking for.

This list isn't all inclusive. And in truth, it's really just my own personal Christmas list of things that I'd like to receive this year. But hopefully, it will give you some ideas on what to give that artsy person in your family you just can't get crossed off.

Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Amayzun

If you're talking about sketching, then you'll want to start with pencils. You don't need to go crazy here, but a nice set of sketching pencils can be great. Most sets come with several pencils of varying degrees of hardness, each with a different feel. The set may also come with a small eraser and sharpener.

Along with the standard sketching pencils, sometimes it's fun to go out and get some colored pencils. There are different types of colored pencils for different purposes. For more on that, check out Coloured Pencils - Resources for Artists.

Photo Credit: Taken By Me

It's about having what you need, and having it right there.

Paper is another easy option. But before you buy this type of thing, you need to understand what type of art the paper is needed for, because there are different types. There's sketchbooks, drawing paper, watercolor paper, and many other types. You need to get a sense of what type of art you're buying for before you buy paper that's not going to be strong enough, or possible won't have the right feel.

Photo Credit: Taken By Me

Paper needs to stand up to artists who'll use different kinds of pencils, pens or brushes, and different levels of densities of each. So, the paper has to be tough enough to handle it, and there's go to be plenty of sheets, because I don't know anyone who just draws once, and is done.

Whether it's watercolor or oil, or some other variation, there's an abundance of opportunities here to buy someone a gift. The truth is, I don't really have the expertise in painting, so for this, I'll direct your attention to some other articles.

What is the best brand of watercolor paint for artists?

Watercolor Painting Kits For Teens and Adults

The Best Books about Watercolour Painting

Getting Started with Oil Painting: Recommended Materials and References

These should give you a good start on paint.

As far as drawing is concerned, you'll need a decent sharpener, and a good eraser.

For the sharpener, there's a number of options. There are small battery powered options, but they don't have as much power, and they tend to lose the ability to create a decent point after a while. If you want a pencil sharpener, you really want one that plugs into the wall. It will never fail you.

There are also hand operated sharpeners, and what you want here is one that keeps a sharp replaceable blade. The cheap plastic ones that typical grade school children use break off tips, and the blades quickly become dull. Another thing to look for is one that's adjustable for different sized pencils. There are several brands that have different sized holes. This is the ideal.

For erasers, what you are looking for is a kneaded eraser, which is one that's made of gum, and not the rubber erasers that leave shavings as they work. Kneaded erasers lift pencil off of paper to leave no trace, while rubber erasers tend to disturb the paper surface, and sometimes they destroy the area.

Photo Credit: Taken By Me

If the artist you're buying for is a digital artist, and today, nearly all are, there's a great need for many different products. And even if he or she isn't currently a digital artist, the products you supply may bring on a whole new world of art, because digital artistry can be magnificent, if you have the right tools.

The first thing is a scanner. Most artists like to sketch with paper and pencil first. A scanner can give them the opportunity to scan the sketch into their PC to work on it with some software.

The next thing, and probably the best, is a drawing tablet. A drawing tablet is a light pen, and a pad, that can be plugged into the PC, like a mouse, but is serves both purposes, to be used as the mouse, and to draw. There are many brands now a days, but if you are talking tablets, the best in the biz is by Wacom. To find more on this, check out Top 10 Graphics Tablets | Graphic Tablet Brands and Reviews

And finally, if you want to do anything in digital art, you have to have some kind of software to do it, and let me tell you, they're expensive. From Photoshop to Corel Draw to Illustrator to Sketchbook Pro, there's a price tag on each one. There's a few freeware pieces of software that are real bargains like Gimp, MyPaint and Inkscape, but many artists drool over the commercial versions.

Photo Credit: Taken By Me

I can't imagine ever considering myself done learning, so there's nothing better than getting a shiny new book. I have a stack of them waiting for me to get to each of them, but I can't think of why I wouldn't want more. There may be an updated copy of something, something I haven't seen, or maybe something I never even thought to look through. Either way, books are an easy sell for most hobbyists, and artistry is no different.

Photo Credit: Taken By Me

If you'd like to take a look at what I've drawn, so far, please stop by my DeviantArt gallery, or even my Zazzle store.

For Boneworld on DeviantArt, please go to http://boneworld.deviantart.com/.

For Boneworld on Zazzle, please go to http://www.zazzle.com/boneworld.

Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to like this page if you got something out of it, and leave a comment below.