Today’s guest star is Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, an amazing mixed media artists, art journaler, teacher, and co-host of Scrapbook Soup. She took a moment out of her busy schedule to help us with a fabulous gift-guide for the mixed media/ artist!
Jenny asked me to put together a shopping guide for the holidays. So, here are some of my favorite art supplies:
Stocking-stuffers- $15 or less
White Water-Based Sharpie Paint Pen
This amazing pen comes in four tip sizes: Extra Fine Point, Fine Point, Medium Point, and Extra Bold Point. This is a super opaque white pen that writes on a multitude of surfaces. It’s my favorite for writing on top of acrylic paint.
I love this super black waterproof India Ink. I use it with my nib pens for writing in my art journal and also water it down for painting.
At just $1.99 a bottle, these matte acrylic paints (matte paint = art journal pages don’t stick together) are a super bargain. I think the colors are quite sophisticated and interesting. Definitely my favorite craft paints!
This is a stencil that I designed to help people who feel they can’t draw. The stencil makes it easy to add a face to an art journal page or a canvas. You can watch a how-to video here. An number of people have told me that after using the stencil for a while they graduated to painting faces without it! I love hearing that!
Mid-Range Gifts- $75 or less
This is one of my current obsessions! It’s the best paper for painting and then collaging. Think of it as tissue paper that doesn’t tear when you get it wet.
Every single time I have done a Gelli Plate printing demonstration people gasp. It’s that awesome. I think every artist should have one! P.S. I’ll be offering an online Gelli Printing class very soon! 🙂
Sakura Koi Watercolor Travel Set
I adore the little set of twelve colors. It comes in tiny box that you can fit in your purse (or even your pocket) and with one of Sakura’s awesome waterbrushes. I take one with me every single time I travel.
Every artist should have a set of nib pens in his/her arsenal. The “Student” set is my favorite — lots of different tips means lots of fun ways to experiment with writing and drawing.
Caran D’Ache Neocolor II Crayons
For my money, these are still the hands-down best water-soluble crayons on the market. Highly pigmented and super versatile, I have a large set for home and a small set for travel. Can’t live without them!
It’s a little more pricey than other carvable rubber products out there, but it’s the best. Other blocks crumble and break, but the pink stuff does not. If you are going to take the time to carve a rubber stamp, I highly recommend using the good stuff.
For just $25 for a month-long membership, lynda.com is an amazing value. During that month-long membership you can take as many of their online video classes as you want. I used it to learn Illustrator and improve my Dreamweaver and Photoshop skills. Any computer program you can think of, they’ve got video lessons!
I have the large 16″x24″ palette (way larger than the one in the photo above) and I love it! It’s perfect for mixing colors — lots of room to play — and dried paint peels right up!
Luxe Gifts- $75 and UP
My brother bought me this printer six or seven Christmases ago and I love it! I use it for all my photo printing, for my Project Life — I even take it to crops with me. It’s awesome and the print quality is top notch!
I love my Wacom Tablet! I use it for all photo editing, digital art-making, and even instead of a mouse most days. Highly recommended if you do any work in Photoshop or Illustrator.
I lovemy H-Frame easel. Being able to paint upright (as opposed to the canvas lying down on a table) has made a big difference in the quality of my work.
Absolutely everything on this list is something that I use and love! I hope that you will too!
- Holiday Gift Guide for Mixed-Media Artists/Crafters - November 27, 2012