Shopping for an art lover sounds easy until it is your turn. The art supply aisle is full of gift sets that look generous and paint like disappointment, and the good stuff can climb past fifty dollars fast. So we rounded up the gifts that artists actually give each other. The rules were simple: every pick had to be something an artist would be happy to receive, and every one had to cost under $50. Prices were checked before this list went up, because a gift guide that lies about prices helps nobody.
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1. Liquitex Basics Acrylic Set, 12 tubes, $36.29
Every painter reaches the moment when craft paint stops cutting it. The Liquitex Basics set is the classic step up: 12 tubes at 22ml each, in the colors a painter actually mixes from, with a medium consistency and a satin finish. Basics is Liquitex’s student line, which in plain terms means honest pigment without the professional price tag. Give this one to the hobbyist who has been quietly getting good and deserves tools that keep up.
2. Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon, $13.97
Some gifts are tools and some are a pep talk.
Steal Like an Artist is the pep talk artists pass around like a secret: short, funny, and full of permission to stop waiting until you feel original and just start making things. It reads in an evening and gets reread often. This is the pick for the art lover who has the supplies, has the talent, and has not started yet.
3. A painting kit
Some art lovers do not want more stuff. They want a project, box to finished painting, with nothing to hunt down first. That is the whole appeal of a paint at home kit: canvas, paints, brushes, and something to paint, all in one box, ready the minute the mood strikes. Prices and pieces vary by maker, so peek at a few before you pick. If you want a place to start, The Paint Sesh makes
its own kits in a bunch of designs, each one built around a painting you finish and hang. Give this one to the homebody, the long distance friend, or the couple whose date nights could use a plot twist.
4. Posca Paint Markers, 8 pack, $24.99
Ask a room of artists what lives in their bag and half will pull out a
Posca. These water-based paint markers lay down opaque, matte color on almost anything: paper, wood, glass, sneakers, the terracotta pot that needed a face. No brushes, no water cup, no setup, which makes them the gateway gift for the art lover who sketches, journals, or customizes everything they own. The soft color 8 pack even sneaks in a lavender. Give this one to the doodler who has never touched a tube of paint.
5. Art is Freedom Enamel Pin, $10
Small gift, strong feelings. This hard enamel pin from The Paint Sesh shows a paintbrush planted like a flagpole with a pennant waving from it, in three color options on its own backing card.
The shop carries a whole family of art pins at $10 to $12, including the Crazy Paint Lady pin for the woman in your life who has earned the title. Pins are for the jacket, tote bag, and backpack crowd, and they are the easiest stocking stuffer on this list.
6. Strathmore 400 Series Toned Blue Sketch Pad, $9.29
Sketchbook people are particular, and
this pad earns its place by being a little different. The paper is a soft toned blue instead of white, which makes white pencil, gel pen, and light gouache glow against the page. You get 24 sheets at 11×14 in a wire bound pad. Give it to the sketcher, the journal keeper, or the art lover who already owns six white sketchbooks and needs a reason to start a seventh.
7. Art Matters by Neil Gaiman, $18.63
Neil Gaiman’s speeches and poems about making art, paired with Chris Riddell’s illustrations on nearly every page, make
Art Matters feel like a gift even before it is opened. It is a beautiful object and a rallying cry in one, the kind of book that lives on a studio shelf for discouraging days. Give it to the artist who needs reminding that the work matters, or tuck it into a stocking where a small book will be treasured.
8. Take them to a paint and sip
The best gift for a lot of art lovers is not a thing. It is a night out with a brush in hand. Paint and sip nights run in just about every city now: you show up, an artist walks you through a painting step by step, and you leave with a finished canvas and a story. Most are built for total beginners, and tickets usually transfer, so if plans explode the seat can go to a friend instead of going to waste. If you are around Cincinnati or Northern Kentucky, The Paint Sesh runs them at breweries and venues all over the area, $39 a ticket, and the friend who swears they cannot draw a stick figure is exactly who they are for.
9. A museum date, free (or close to it)
The sneakiest under $50 gift on this list can cost almost nothing, because museum admission is free more often than people think. Start local if you can: the
Cincinnati Art Museum is always free, and its ticketed exhibitions are free on Thursday evenings. Everywhere else, the tricks travel. Most museums run free days, so check the calendar at yours. Bank of America’s Museums on Us program gets its cardholders free general admission at more than 200 museums across the country on the first full weekend of every month. Plenty of public libraries lend museum passes the way they lend books, too. So the real gift is your time: an afternoon in the galleries together, then coffee after, and the whole date lands well under fifty dollars.
The best under $25
Short on budget? These picks all stay under twenty five dollars: a museum date (free with the right timing, plus coffee), the Strathmore toned blue sketch pad ($9.29), the Art is Freedom enamel pin and its pin siblings ($10 to $12), Steal Like an Artist ($13.97), Art Matters ($18.63), and the Posca paint markers ($24.99). Any one of them stands alone, and two or three together still keep you under the $50 line.
If you only pick one
If decision fatigue has set in, here is the honest shortcut. For a night out they will talk about afterward, give the $39 ticket, knowing it can change hands if plans change. For a night in, give the $35 kit and let them paint at their own table. What art lovers want most is rarely the fanciest tool in the store. It is a reason to make something, and every gift here is exactly that.
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