Art Gadgets Christmas List 2020
Art Gadgets Christmas List 2020
As an artist, regardless which medium you work in, we all love to discover new art gadgets that will help us to perform certain tasks faster or just make our lives simple.
In this list I have provided some gadgets that will almost certainly help you in some fashion when creating your next masterpiece. I am sure some of you will have already heard of some or perhaps own one or two yourself, but hopefully there are are one or two items in the list that is new to you and something you would find useful to your working day.
Of the three lists I have compiled this year for Christmas, this is by far filled with the least expensive items, however, as I mentioned in one of the other lists, least expensive does not mean the most useless. Anyone in your life who enjoys art, adult colouring book or crafting, I am sure would be delighted to receive any one of these items.
Caran d’Ache Aquaelle Palette
For anyone who loves to crack out their watercolor pencils from time to time or is quite a serious watercolor pencil artist, this tool is an absolute must have and I very rarely say that about any item I have reviewed. A good friend on mine within the art community put me on to the Caran d’Ache Aquarelle Palette.
This device completely transforms not only your water soluble pencils, but also water soluble crayons and even water soluble markers. One side of the plastic Palette has a rough texture whereby you rub say a blue and yellow pencil over, leaving pigment from both pencils. Using a watercolor paint brush filled with water, you mix the pigment creating green, this allows you to transfer a 12 or 24 set of pencils into an endless count of tones and colors.
On the opposite side the surface is smooth allowing for the delicate brush nibs of water soluble markers to mix and create different tones. Of course this can all be done of a spare bit of watercolor paper but the paint will eventually dry into the paper, with the palette you have as much time as you like as when the paint dries you can simply reactivate it.
Here in the UK the Caran d’Ache Aquarelle Palette will cost approximately £12, in the US you will pay approximately $10 and in the EU you will pay €13 To see my original review follow the link.
Craft Knife With Retractable Ceramic Blade
A lot of the time, when colored pencil artists create wonderful pet portraits, or wild life pieces or even human portraitures, being able to recreate some of the incredibly fine hairs or whiskers can prove incredibly challenging. In the past, colored pencil artists would have to account for the whiskers of a cat and leave a white space for them.
Now a much simpler and more effective method can be used and this tool really helps to achieve this. This Craft Knife with Retractible Ceramic Blade, allows the artist, once they have applied multiple layers of colored pencils, to gently scrape out the fine hairs, whiskers or highlights without ripping the paper you are using. The Ceramic blade helps to prevent the paper from ripping within reason and allows the artist to create some of the most realistic effects.
Here in the UK you will pay approximately £14 in the US you will pay $12 and in the EU you will pay €13
Pencil Extenders
As you move through your colored pencil career or journey, however you prefer to categorise it, you will inevitably gravitate towards some of the more expensive pencils so that you can pursue completing commissions or perhaps even showcasing your work in a gallery.
As you endeavour into the expensive realm of colored pencils, the last thing in the world you will want to do is waste a single stroke of colored pencil pigment. As your pencils sharpen away to practically nothing, they are difficult to use, however, with the aid of a pencil extender, you can continue using the pencil until its too small to turn in the sharpener. There are many different types of pencil extenders, painted fancy colors and even extenders that fit in with the holiday seasons from Art-N-Fly.
Here in the UK you will pay approximately £9.99 for all 5 of the pencil extenders, in the US you will pay $7.99 and in the EU you will pay approximately €10
Electric Eraser
As a colored pencil artist, the trusty eraser is no longer considered a tool for removing errors, there is much more to it than that and in the right hands can become a tool of creativity. However, your run of the mill conventional eraser can only do so much and so this next tool is needed.
This battery operated eraser, complete with two variations of eraser size is perfect for creating highlights in the within the eyes, or pulling out the delicate details of lace clothing. The small motor in the batter eraser rotates the needle fine eraser, providing you with a precision tool for extracting detail.
Here in the UK this particular battery eraser will cost you approximately £7.98, in the US you will pay $10 and in the EU you will pay €8.99. To see my original review of the eraser follow the link.
Eraser Guard
I must admit, this is not a tool that I myself have personally used, I do own one, but have only used it occasionally when I first purchased it for review purposes. Nevertheless, I have watch many other colored pencil artists use an eraser guard with tremendous effect.
The Eraser Guard is simply a thin piece of aluminium with different shapes cut out of it, the idea is to select the shape that you need for your work, place the guard over your working eraser over the cut out shape and when you remove the guard the shape is clearly marked out.
In the UK you will pay approximately £2.50 , in the US you will pay approximately $2.90 and in the EU you will pay €3.35
Art Embossing Tools
The Art embossing tools can help you in a similar fashion to the craft knife, and perhaps for those of you that may otherwise be a wee bit heavy handed with your supplies, or are one of our amazing younger artists or simply just uncomfortable using a craft knife, the Art embossing tool is the answer.
Each Art Embossing tool has a small metal ball on each end, all weighing in at various diameters, you select the size you need and just as you would a pencil, with medium pressure, draw in where the white whiskers of the cat are going to be. This will simply leave slight indentations on the paper and so when you apply colored pencil to that area, the embossed lines will remain white, a little bit like when you were at primary school rubbing over a coin with crayons. Its a simple process but can be incredibly effective
Here in the UK you will pay approximately £6.90 , in the EU you will pay approximately €5.99 and in the US you will pay $7.99
Derwent Scale Divider
There is a lot of debate in the art world with regards to tracing, as to whether or not this is allowed or if you trace does it mean you are not an artist, I personally don’t subscribe to this train of thought and feel if you find tracing helps you, use what you have
There are other methods for helping you recreate an image you want to draw such as the grid method, but you can also use a scale divider. This allows you to take a small image you may want to draw and upscale it to a much larger image, measuring the dimensions of you subject and creating them three or four times via the Derwent Scale Divider.
Here in the UK you will pay approximately £8.99 , in the EU you will pay €13.16 and in the US you will pay approximately $14.95
Faber Castell Drafing Brush
As a colored pencil artist a drafting brush is another one of those must have tools. When you lay out your gorgeous paper, ready to start laying down your artwork, it is important that you keep your hands and fingers off the paper as much as you can. All of us have oils on our skin and when we paw the paper we transfer those oils which can in turn cause blemishes on the paper.
Throughout the drawing process, when you start to add a little bit of pressure to your colored pencils, ultimately from time to time your core will crumble or if you need to erase marks, that will cause crumbs. This is when the drafting brush is the perfect tool, rather than using your oily hands to remove debris and risk blemishes on your artwork, the Faber Castell 1600 Drafting Brush is perfect for preventing such tragedy as placing oily digits on your paper and destroying your next masterpiece.
In the UK the Faber Castell drafting brush will cost you approximately £7.90, in the US you will pay approximately $7.99 and in the EU you will pay €9.50
A3 Light Pad
A light pad is a fantastic aid to have and going back to the statement I made regarding the Derwent Scale Divider and the sentiments surrounding tracing. Light boxes are used in so many different artistic areas and used correctly can help the artist to actually improve their individual drawing skills.
In the past light boxes were big bulky units, however thanks to the advancement in technology, some light pads are thinner than a sketch pad and approximately the same weight, this makes using them and transporting them very easy. You can also purchase them in many different sizes such as A4, A3 and A2.
Here in the UK you will pay approximately £39.99 for an A3 size light pad , in the US you will pay $37 and in the EU you will pay €29.99
Sinzau Pencil Grinder
When using colored pencils all the time, the need to keep the core razor sharp to help maintain smooth blending and fine detail is critical. However, if you are constantly running your pencil through the sharpener just to maintain that incredible point, it can feel like you are wasting quite a bit of the pencil.
An effective way around this is the Sinzau Pencil Grinder, I have reviewed this excellent little device in its own right but essentially it applies the same principle as a sanding block, only this device is reusable. The Pencil Grinder sports a thin metal grating plate where you refine the core of your pencil. If you are using Pastel pencils, the dust that may be generated gathers in the collection cup and can be reused but perhaps most ingenious about this tool is that it also doubles up as a clip for holding your paper in place on an easel.
Here in the UK you will pay approximately £6.99, in the US you will pay and in the EU you will pay approximately €6.99 . To see the original review follow the link.
Merry Christmas To You all
On behalf of myself and The Art Gear Guide, I would like to wish you all an absolutely wonderful Christmas, I hope you have the most wonderful time but more importantly that you all remain in excellent health. for those of you who don’t celebrate Christmas I wish you all a wonderful holiday season.
2020 has been a very difficult year for us all with love, kindness and generosity very thin on the ground, so I hope that Christmas and 2021 will bring us all happier, more successful but above all a safe and healthier year. I would also like to thank you all so very much for reading my reviews, in a magazine packed with so much amazing content, featuring the most wonderful artists, I am humbled that people read and enjoy my reviews and the messages I have received about the reviews have been incredibly heartwarming.
To see more from The Art Gear Guide you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, items selected for the Christmas lists have been reviewed individually on the Art Gear Guide should you wish to take a closer look before you purchase. I have three YouTube videos uploaded Luxury Art Supply Christmas List 2020, Art Gadget Christmas 2020 List and Affordable Art Supply Christmas List 2020 just follow the links to watch.
