Whether their work hangs in a downtown gallery or on the family refrigerator, we all know someone who is artistic, crafty, and imaginative. Next holiday, birthday, or special occasion, give them a gift that will spark imagination, inspire new creations, and reflect their unique personalities.
Prices and availability are subject to change.
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$17 and up from Etsy
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Give that Lego lover (ahem, plastic building blocks) a minifig in the shape of their favorite artist. Personalities include artists Claude Monet and Leonardo DaVinci, as well as historical figures and pop stars like Dolly Parton, John F. Kennedy, Agatha Christie, William Shakespeare, and more than 100 others.
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$8 per month from Craftsy
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You’re never too old to learn a new skill, whether it’s knitting, baking, drawing, woodworking, or any of the more than 1,300 online classes Craftsy offers. Choose a monthly or annual membership, or pay for classes on an a la carte basis (courses range from $5 for a single-session tutorial to $70 for multi-lesson workshops).
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$60 and up from Crown & Paw
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If your artist pal has a furry friend they're fond of, get 'em a custom pet portrait in a character that suits that pet's personality. Custom canvas prints come in three sizes, but Crown & Paw also does less expensive posters and phone cases.
Related: The Best Gifts for Cat Lovers That Are the You-Know-Who's Pajamas
$12 from Amazon
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Kids of all ages have been creating intricate, spiraling designs with the Spirograph since it was first introduced in the mid-1960s. This kit includes two pens, 24 sheets of paper, and a guide book to get you started spiraling.
$25 from The Met Store
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Coffee, tea, pens, brushes … whatever. These 12-ounce porcelain mugs can hold just about anything, plus they’re dishwasher- and microwave-safe. Choose from Salvador Dalí, Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, and Andy Warhol.
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$10 from MoMA Design Store
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Give 'em one of these enameled pins and they can flaunt their artistic flair (and favorite artist) for all to see. Choose from Salvador Dalí, Frida Kahlo, Roy Lichtenstein, and 10 other artists.
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$25 from MoMA Design Store
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If they can’t get to New York City to visit the Museum of Modern Art, then bring the museum to them. This paperback focuses on 375 iconic works in MoMA’s permanent collection by artists including Frida Kahlo, Willem de Kooning, Meret Oppenheim, Man Ray, and others. Available in 12 languages.
$76 and up from Amazon
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This collection of 12 watercolors (“water colour” if you’re British) is designed with plein air painters (that’s painting out of doors, for you non-artists) in mind. This compact field box contains a dozen pigments, plus two mixing palettes, water bottle, folding brush, and sponge. Best of all, the folded case is just 5.2 inches tall and 1.5 inches wide, making it super portable.
$15 and up from Trade Coffee
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A coffee snob loves nothing better than discovering local roasters and sampling their beans. Traveling across the country isn't terribly practical these days, so why not let the roasters come to him? Trade Coffee subscription service works with 50 noteworthy roasters like Cuvee Coffee in Austin, Caffe Vita in Seattle, and PT's Coffee Roasting Co. in Topeka, Kansas.
$20 from Amazon
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This 37-piece set includes a dozen graphite pencils ranging from 8B (soft and dark) to 5H (hard and light), as well as charcoal pencils, graphite and charcoal sticks, blending sticks, erasers, and more. It all comes bundled in a zippered travel case.
$31 and up from Blick Art Materials
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This basic set of oil paints includes 1.25-ounce tubes of titanium white, cadmium yellow hue, cadmium red hue, brilliant blue, brilliant green, and ivory black. More expansive sets — one of which also includes a folding easel and two blank canvases — are also available.
$20 from Amazon
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Here’s a gift for photographers who are looking for a new way of making images or youngsters who may not yet be old enough to work a camera. Create photograms (sort of like silhouettes) by placing objects on the photosensitive Sunprint paper and then exposing it to sunlight.
Related: The Best Gifts for Photographers from Newbies to Pros
$38 from Amazon
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Think of the Buddha Board as a Zen version of an Etch-a-Sketch. Dip the bamboo brush in water, then trace your design onto the 12-by-9-inch “canvas.” After a few minutes, the design will evaporate, and you can begin again.
$35 from Amazon
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A basic understanding of color theory — the harmonious use of hue in art and design — is essential for artists and designers. This reference book contains more than 3,200 color palette samples, as well as their CMYK, RGB, and HEX values for accurate digital color reproduction.
$12 and up from Amazon
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This set of six primary colors would make a great stocking stuffer for a budding young artist who wants to explore painting with acrylics. Painters say the pigments are bright, their textures creamy, and easy to blend or thin. Larger sets of up to 48 paints are also available, including metallic and fluorescent hues.
$65 from Amazon
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Musician Brian Eno and artist Peter Schmidt developed these cards, each of which contains a question or a statement intended to provoke thought, creativity, and outside-the-box thinking. They're also great for getting un-stuck when your creativity isn't flowing.
$5 and up from LACMA
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By this point, wearing face masks has become a part of ordinary life for us all. That doesn't mean your face covering needs to be ordinary, too. Choose from colorful cloth masks designed by artists like Shinique Smith and Jim Eisermann.
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$14 from Amazon
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Julia Cameron's text has been inspiring creatives for more than 25 years. She outlines a 12-week program that outlines how to establish a safe and inspiring space to work, developing your sense of self, and finding positive ways of channeling your creative energy into new enveavors.
$200 and up from Amazon
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A mouse is fine for pointing and clicking your way around a website, but try using one for digital illustration and you’re bound to drive yourself batty. A Bluetooth drawing tablet like this one allows you to write, draw, animate, edit photos, and more. Available in two sizes.
$80 from Lifetime Leather Co.
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A pocket-sized notebook can come in handy for impromptu sketches, jotting down ideas, and writing notes. This leather wallet has room for paper bills, credit cards, a pen, and field notebook. Available in four colors.
$10 and up from Etsy
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Images speak louder than words, right? This cotton tee is available in eight colors and in sizes from extra-small to 4XL. Not the T-shirt type? This eye-catching design is also available on tanks, V-neck and long-sleeve tees, hoodies, and youth sizes.
$22 from Draplin Design
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As George Carlin liked to point out, everyone needs a place for their stuff. This cotton canvas tote bag measures 14 inches square and can swallow a stack of books, an armload of groceries, or oodles of supplies from the art store.
$19 and up from Gift Wrap My Face
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No matter what gift you’re giving, it’s not complete without wrapping paper. But why be boring with your gift wrap when you can make it as personal as the gift you’re giving? Put their face on one of dozens of gift-wrap designs, including holiday and birthday themes.
$38 from Jerry’s Artarama
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You can never, ever have too many paint brushes. This set of 15 brushes, made of Chungking hog bristle, are ideal for heavy-bodied oil or acrylic paints. Most users say they hold plenty of paint, maintain sharp edges, and are easy to clean.
$32 from The Met Store
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This unisex cotton T-shirt is available in sizes from small to XXL. It’s the perfect gift for anyone who has whiled away the hours at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art (or longs to do so someday).
Varies from eBay
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You can find all sorts of art on eBay, including signed, numbered lithographs, silkscreens, engravings, and more. A recent search turned up works by Andy Warhol, Shepard Fairey, Peter Max, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and others. Prices range from less than $10 for mass-produced digital prints to more than $100,000 for original-edition, signed works.
$60 at Amazon
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A product that can last a lifetime, Leatherman multitools are infinitely handy all-in-one devices. Having one on hand in the studio will save your artist friend the next time they need to fix a picture frame, stretch a canvas, tighten a screw, or whatever else pops up while they're working.
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$36/month and up from The Bouqs Co.
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A bouquet of flowers makes the perfect subject for a still life, so why not send your artist friend a gift of inspiration on a regular basis? Each month you can have flower arrangements from one of four collections: farmer's market, classics, roses, or seasonal.
Varies from Amazon
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Let’s be honest. Creative types are impossible to please. So give ‘em what they really want, no matter what they’re into: the freedom to choose for themselves.
Related: 70 Hottest Holiday Gifts From Amazon
$65 from Kidrobot
This limited edition gift box was put together by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and would thrill any pop art lover or historian. It includes a Warhol self portrait T-shirt, a Warhol-art-emblazoned Dunny figurine, magnets, pins, and a mystery figurine.
