Christmas Stocking Filler List For Artists

As I am sure you are aware, this year, I have put together 5 Christmas Gift Guides for The Art Gear Guide and Ann Kullberg’s Color Magazine. This is something I have done every Christmas for the past five or six years, although the previous years I have compiled two or three.

This year I wanted to make sure that I was covering all artists and not leaving anyone out, I wanted to make sure that I was covering Colored Pencil Artists, Pastel Artists and Watercolor Artists, providing Christmas Gift Guides that everyone can draw inspiration from for their Christmas shopping this year. I of course know that not everyone celebrates Christmas and that is absolutely fine, but you are still entitled and welcome to indulge yourself during this holiday period, use the time to spread love, togetherness and a wee smidgen of self indulgence for us all, I say we all deserve it.

The 5 Christmas Gift Guides that I have compiled are as follows. An Artist Christmas Gift Guide, this is a list of supplies perfect for artists selling their original work and require highly lightfast products. The next is the Art Book Christmas Gift Guide, I have read some absolutely amazing books from seriously wonderful, awe inspiring artists. Next up is the Luxury Christmas Gift Guide, well, as artists there are art supplies that we need to help us create our work, but equally there are supplies we want, those supplies that are presented in the most gorgeous wooden boxes, this is an expensive list, but if you feel you have been extra good this year, Santa may just be selecting items from this special list for you. I have also created a list called Enthusiasts Christmas Gift Guide, this list displays high quality products with inexpensive price points.

Finally this Christmas Stocking list is filled with really inexpensive items, small items that would fit in your stocking but each item is incredibly practical to their particular area of art. Each item selected, although inexpensive and most could fit in your pocket, they all serve a purpose, they help to perform a task that will make light of your work or enhance the art you are currently working on.

Caran d’Ache Aquarelle Palette

First item on the list is perhaps my most favourite art tool, something I could never be without and completely adds another dimension to medium it is intended for. I can’t take the credit for bringing this amazing tool to you attention, a friend of mine from the art community showed me this delight when I was conducting a review of some Caran d’Ache watercolor pencils. The palette has two surfaces, a rough and smooth surface, there is also a hole in the palette for your thumb and the palette rests neatly in your hand, allowing you to mix paints effortlessly. The rough side of the palette is for mixing watercolor pencils, crayons etc, the rough surface grips hold of the pigment as you rub the pencil and then mix the colors right on the plastic palette. The reverse smooth surface can be used to mix watercolor markers or pens, watercolor markers, especially those with brush nibs, are quite delicate and require a smooth nonporous surfaces for mixing.

To purchase the palette here in the UK you should expect to pay approximately £9.99 which I think is amazing for what this product will do for you. for artists in the US you can expect to pay $11.18 and for Artists in the EU you can expect to pay approximately €14.12

Derwent Recharable USB Eraser

There are quite a few of these battery operated erasers on the market and to be honest they are invaluable to colored pencil and graphite artists, less for erasing mistakes and more for creating highlights etc. Derwent were among one of the first that I can remember to release a battery eraser, which with all battery erasers, there is a constant cost of batteries, this new USB rechargeable eraser eliminates the constant purchasing of batteries. Also the shape of the eraser and the location of the on button, make using the eraser very intuitive, very much like using a pen or pencil, the eraser is designed to rest in your hand comfortably while you create with it.

for artists in the UK this Derwent Eraser will cost approximately £22.71 for artists in the US you can expect to pay approximately $22.08and for artists in the EU you can expect to pay €23.97

Strathmore Toned Tan Soft Cover Journal

It is no secret that I love the Strathmore range of paper and I have used a lot of their journals as well as their paper pads. One of my favourite papers is the Strathmore Toned Tan, which comes in many different formats, but this soft cover journal is just gorgeous. Obviously for those of you that might prefer hard cover journals, you can purchase a Strathmore Toned Tan Journal but this one may not be for you. The benefits of working with a mid tone paper is that creating highlights is easy and your darks are vivid also.

For artsits in the UK this beautiful Strathmore Toned Tan journal will cost approximately £23.47, for artists in the US, you can expect to pay $20.86 and for artists in the EU you can expect to pay approximately €27.98

Pentel Water Brushes

As is the case with the Derwent Battery Eraser, there are a lot of water brushes on the market, each one of them with their own merits. Of all the water brushes I have used, the Pentel Water Brushes are my favourite and I think what I really love about them is the overall shape. The actual brushes are pretty much the same as all the other decent water brushes on the market, but it is the overall shape and how they fit in the hand during use that makes me love these so much.

For the Pentel Water Brush Pens, artists in the UK can expect to pay £10.95, for artists in the US you can expect to pay about $20.42 and for the artists in the EU you guys can expect to pay approximately €13.96

Tihoo Electric Sharpener

I have to be honest, I have used lots of sharpeners, but not very many electric sharpeners. This sharpener was brought to my attention by one of the awesome team at Ann Kullberg’s Color Magazine and at the time I was unable to get hold of one to review. I eventually got hold of one and although the review is not on the website yet, it is coming soon. This sharpener is excellent, it looks deceptively small in this image and most images you will see of it, but over all this is a good sized sharpener, well weighted and sharpens like a dream, it won’t sharpened the really thick pencils like the Derwent Drawing but I found it particularly wonderful for Prismacolor Premier and Verithin range which I find with other sharpeners can be a bit brittle and flake off.

Most electric sharpeners are quite expensive and for the most part, for good reason, however, for the incredibly low price, the Tihoo electric eraser will cost artists in the UK £15.90, for artists in the US you can expect to pay about $24.99 and for artists in the EU you can expect to pay approximately €35.24

Tom Bow Mono Eraser

This is a must have tool for colored pencil and graphite artists, it obviously doesn’t have the power of the battery erasers, but it allows for much more control and detail on certain aspects of your art. This is a wonderful little tool for any colored pencil or graphite artist to find in their stocking and very inexpensive.

For artist in the UK, to purchase the TomBow Mono eraser you can expect to pay approximately £3.78, for artist in the US you can expect to pay $5.99 and for artist in the EU you can expect to pay approximately €4.50

Derwent Canvas Wrap

If I was a lot more able bodied, I would be out in the beautiful world drawing, for those who are able to get out and about a little bit more, the Derwent Pencil Wrap is the perfect accompaniment. Of course the Derwent Pencil Wrap can be used by any artist, I just think it lends itself so well to drawing on the go. The wrap holds neatly in place a variety of colored pencils, pens, erasers all the tools that you might use for sketching out and about. You can unroll the wrap and drape it over your knee, keeping all the pencils etc safely in place by the use of elastic bands. the Derwent Pencil Wrap is a fantastic way to keep all your art tools safe and organised.

For UK artists, if you would like to purchase the Derwent Pencil Wrap you can expect to pay £7.99 for artist in the US you can expect to pay $19.47 for artist in the EU, you can expect to pay approximately €11.89

Caran d’Ache 15 Gouache Pans

Caran d’Ache are absolutely amazing when it comes to the art supplies they have blessed the world with. This 15 pan set of Gouache is a wonderful stocking filler for anyone, there is nothing better than rolling out some paper on Christmas morning and splashing loads of color. I remember as a kid, me, my Sister and Brother would always get a set of paints in our stockings, looking back they were terrible, but we loved them. Weather you are an artist, or just want the kids to dip their toes into the beautiful world of art and color, this set of Gouache pans from Caran d’Ache are the perfect gift. Inside the set you get a brush and a tube of white Gouache as the white tends to be used most.

For the 15 set of Caran dAche Gouache, artists in the UK can expect to pay approximately £21.74, for artists in the US you can expect to pay approximately $34.63 for artist in the EU you can expect to pay approximately €23.87

Slice Craft Knife

The Slice Craft Knife is a wonderful tool for colored pencil artists, until Slice released their amazing range of safe knives, colored pencil artists would use craft knives to scrape fine marks out of the colored pencil layers, the issue this created was if too much pressure was applied the paper would be cut. Slice created these knives with ceramic blades originally for people with autism, the inventor of the Slice range created these tools to help his autistic son, but the range caught on and the rest as they say is History. However the Slice range were created out of love and many artist have also come to love the products, despite the fact they were not created with art or artists in mind.

For this amazing Slice Knife, artists in the UK can expect to pay approximately £14.49 for artist in the US you can expect to pay approximately $12.34 for artist in the EU you can expect to pay approximately €14.20

Stocking Christmas List Conclusion

The items in this list are best described I think as, inexpensive, yet desirable tools for artists that will snugly fit into a Christmas Stocking. The items in this list are simple, but incredibly effective for artists, tools that will help to make life that wee bit easier and helping to make art what it should be… Fun.