Any arty people about? Advice on art products needed.

[SusanWalker]

Dd (12) is really into art at the moment and wants nothing but art supplies for christmas. I am a crafty but definitely not arty person so any advice on good things to buy her would be great.

I recently bought her a set of those chalky pastels and she loves those. She also has sketching pencils and some nice paper. She also has the usual felt tips and colouring pencils.

I was thinking oil pastels, some charcoal and an art folder to keep her work in but that's as far as I've got. Any advice, ideas and website recommendations for buying them from would be most appreciated.

I am not worried about her not knowing what to do with it as she tends to YouTube it and get ideas from there.

Lots of sketch books in a variety of sizes
Calligraphy pens
An art shop will have packets of 'flesh colour' felt pens, which can be really useful
A tin of watercolour pencils

Different kinds and colours of paper. An easel? You can get folding ones with a handle. Acrylic paints.

An easel would be a good purchase, if she doesn't already have one. It's something that she can continue using if she goes on to experiment with different media.

I suggest Inktense watercolour pencils as they are versatile, and are not just crayons.

Some acrylic paints , a good brush set and some canvas board perhaps? Have a look at the works website for good value options. Also dd loves copic markers. Not cheap but you can get cheaper alcohol based markers if you want.

I love your username! My favourite books

My DD (also 12 and arty) has some lovely pencils called Inktense (I think they're by Derwent) which have fantastic colours.
CassArt is a really good shop- they have physical shops (a few) and a website, and we've always had good service from them.
What about a lightbox type thing, to trace/reproduce pictures? DD's was just by Crayola, not a specific"art" one, but it's had a lot of use.
Some fineliners are good. Maybe a book in Zentangle or Hand Lettering?
Coloured inks (look on Cass art) and some watercolour paper?
DD also has one of those 'hobby' lamps- a light with a bulb and a magnifying glass in the centre, do close-up work.
Acrylic paints also went down well. She has her eye on a lino-printing set next...

Ha- x-posted with knitted fairies there!

Loads of brilliant ideas. Thanks so much. A folding easel would be perfect as she has the smallest room.

I will make a list of all these things and have a good trawl on the internet. She's got to the age where she looks after her things nicely - her pastels are still carefully stored in their box despite much use - so I'm happy to get her some nice bits.

Hobbycraft is good for her age group.

One of our students got this subscription last Christmas and our whole department oohs and aahs over every new box she gets. Great quality and something different to try every month.

These Anilinky watercolours don’t look much but the pigment is spectacular and give great results. V popular in our art room.

Yes to acrylic paints and some canvases - The Works are really good for canvases and Cass Art great for paint.

What about some plain canvas frames too.