11-year-old boy arty gift

[Mumsfret]

I'm godmother to a few boys who are older than my children (all girls!) and I'm running out of inspiration. I know this particular godchild (11-year-old-to-be) likes football and art. Thought I'd try the art route! Wondered about membership packs for somewhere arty but can't seem to find anything Probably budgeting in £30-40 range. More if it's an exceptional idea!
Any ideas, clever mumnetters? You're my last hope!

[AliceLostInWonderland321]

A high-end, good quality set of pens, paint brushes, sketching pencils? Something like that can be used by him for years if he takes good care of them.

Or are there any experience days to do with art courses?

Another idea- a set of paint brushes with his name engraved on them?

[Mumsfret]

Ooh, really love the idea of personalised brushes, Alice (thanks). Any idea which makes are decent? This is not my forté!

[soloula]

There are some good books that teach you to draw superheroes, manga, figures etc. How about a book, a pad of (suitable for the medium) paper and a set of pencils/paints?

[BartiDdu]

Do you know what kind of art he’s into, as that will make a big difference to what to get him.

I find that Faber Castell artist pens are always a hit with teenage arty kids. They’re good for manga, cartoons, but also normal drawings and make everything look 10x better than a pencil drawing. Here’s a link: www.cassart.co.uk/brand/faber-castell/faber-castell_pitt_artists_pen_wallet_assorted_tips_set_of_6_black.ham

There are also coloured versions of these pens, but I have no experience with those.

There’s also a book called “let’s make some great art”, which is a fantastic art book for young teenagers.

As an aside, I personally would not get a child that young expensive brushes. If you don’t look after a brush, it does not take much to ruin them. At that age, you’ll be lucky if the brush gets rinsed out properly after an art session. Talking from bitter experience here...

[BartiDdu]

Don’t know what happened to the link, but here it is again: www.cassart.co.uk/drawing/pens_1/product_type_fineliner_pens/faber-castell_pitt_artist_pen_set_of_8_black.htm

[Mumsfret]

Brilliant! Such helpful tips, thanks mumsnetters.
I'm going to speak to his mum and get the lowdown on his artistic preferences. Really good to have this steering, and thanks Barti for the link!

[StepAwayFromCake]

How about a tabletop box easel with some supplies in it?