Luxury Art Supply Christmas Gift Guide 2021
Luxury Art Supply Christmas Gift Guide 2021
Well guys, it is that time of the year again and in true Art Gear Guide and Ann Kullberg Color Magazine tradition, I have come up with some ideas for you this Christmas. Now this guide is exactly just that, a guide, but a special guide, one that can be accidentally on purpose placed in front of your loved ones, with a prominent red circle around it, perhaps the odd spot light, beamed upon the gift you would most like them to get you this Christmas.
Alternatively, if you are fortunate enough to own all you need regarding art supplies, then perhaps the Christmas guides I have provided this year will aid you in your decision making process when it comes to buying for the artist loved one or friend in your life. I am also aware of the fact there are many of my artist friends who do not celebrate Christmas and that is absolutely wonderful for diversity of cultures, religions, ideas and art is what we should all strive for. That being said, everyone is entitled to be spoilt and this guide is good all year round.
All of the products I have included in this review are products I myself have used, perhaps not in their gift presentation format, but I have used them and feel more than comfortable in presenting them to you in this list as a guide to possible gifts I’m confident you will enjoy using.
Every year I provide different Christmas Gift Guides just to add variety and make the selection process a little bit easier for you. This year I have presented five different guides. The first is a Luxury Art Guide, this is a selection of presentation art supply boxes that would be considered one off purchase, a gift for those special occasions such as Christmas, obviously quite expensive. The Second guide is a Stocking Filler list, this is full of smaller, less expensive yet incredibly desirable products that any artist would love to find in their Stocking. The Third guide is aimed toward the serious artists among you, those who need the highly lightfast product, all products in this list can be used for your commission or art competition entries. The Fourth guide is for the more hobby based or art enthusiast artist, those of us who just love excellent quality supplies that help provide us with the tools to create beautiful art. The Fifth and final list is wonderful art books that I have had the pleasure of reading and learning from over the years, hopefully you will find a book in this list that suits your artistic taste.
Derwent Limited Edition 120 Collection Wooden Box
The first item in this list is a wonderful selection of pencils from Derwent all packaged in the one wooden gift box. This is a 120 piece of the most wonderful Derwent products on the market, all wrapped up in one box. Inside the 120 Derwent Limited Edition Collection you get the following, 24 ProColour Coloured Pencils, 24 ColourSoft, 24 Inktense, 10 Watercolour Pencils, 12 Graphitint pencils which are just absolutely. gorgeous pencils, 12 Derwent Drawing Pencils, 6 Metallic Coloured Pencils, 4 Graphite Pencils, 1 Graphitone, 1 Water Soluble Graphite pencil, and finally a Blender and Burnisher.
I am sure you can see that with this wonderful set you are set to complete whatever genre of coloured pencil art you like. Incidentally, if there are any pencils you are unsure about, such as the Graphitint or Drawing pencils, I have included links to my individual reviews of the products or you could visit The Art Gear Guide and use the search option to locate the review you are looking for.
This gorgeous Limited Edition 120 Set from Derwent will cost the following, for artists in the UK £239.99, Artists in the US $263.45 and Artist in the EU €247.19.
Faber Castell Pitt Monochrome Wooden Case
Next up is this gorgeous set from Faber Castell, providing a gamete of beautiful art supplies allowing for artists of all levels to create the most breathtaking art. I think so many artists can trace their beginnings in such a wonderful pursuit of beauty to graphite, from young children at school, to bored officer workers sat doodling.
The Faber Castell Pitt Monochrome Set consists of the following, this is a set, packaged within the usual high quality Faber Castell Wooden Box Sets, in total this is a 85 piece set filled with comprehensive selection of Faber Castell Graphite, Charcoal and Willow as well as accessories such as eraser, sharpeners, paper stumps and sanding block. There is also a selection of pastel blocks in the color palette of Sanguine, Yellow Ochres, Raw Umbers etc.
For artists in the UK this set will cost £219.99, for US artists this set will cost $286.90, and for those artists in the EU the set will cost €229.50
Caran Dache Wooden Box of 30 Prismalo and 40 Neocolor II
Next up is another collection set only this time from the wonderful Swiss company Caran d’Ache, this set however is all water soluble products and so much more suited to artists who enjoy water soluble pencils of crayons. I am often asked if watercolor pencils can be used dry, which of course they can. however, in my opinion the magic really happens once that pigment is activated with water.
Inside this gorgeous Caran d’Ache Wooden Box Gift Set you are present with two trays, the first tray provides you with 30 Prismalo Watercolour pencils, a produced I reviewed and really loved using. The bottom tray provides 40 Neocolor II crayons, although the Neocolor Crayons look like some a child would use, please don’t make this mistake, the level of pigment in each crayon from the Neocolor line is simply breathtaking. Each Crayon will last you a long time given the strength of pigment and just how little of the crayon you need when using them.
For artist in the UK you can expect to pay the following £254.71, artists in the US will pay approximately $312.95 and artists in the EU will pay €159.44.
Caran Dache Sharpener
It is important that I am honest with you as I have always strived to be, this next item, the Caran d’Ache Sharpener is an absolutely gorgeous piece, this is not just a sharpener, but a beautiful piece to sit on your desk and a piece that I am sure will last your entire lifetime. the build quality of this piece is incredible and will not fall apart anytime soon if ever.
This is the luxury list so there are indeed sharpeners on the market much cheaper than the Caran d’Ache Sharpener I have on display here, sharpeners that will provide the exact same point on your pencil that the Caran d’Ache one provides, however, none of them are Caran d’Ache and very few have this build quality. Is the Caran d’Ache sharpener an essential item? No, but is a wonderful Luxury item that will grace your studio desk for decades to come? Yes.
For UK Artists this Caran d’Ache Sharpener will cost you £110.90, For artists in the US $108.90 and for artists in the EU €119.17
Caran d’Ache Graphite Box Set
As much as I absolutely love the colored pencil medium, I genuinely feel that graphite is one of the most diverse art mediums in the world. So many of us have used graphite to draw with but not everyone has used watercolors, colored pencils, oils or Acrylics etc, Caran d’Ache offer one of the smoothest graphite art pencils I have used and with that I have included this Graphite Box Set from Caran d’Ache.
Whilst I have used many of the Caran d’Ache Graphite sets, I would personally absolutely love this set, the presentation box that it comes in is just so incredibly stylish. The full set comprises of 15 Grafwood Graphite Pencils 9B - 4H, 3 water soluble Technalo pencils 2B, B and HB, 6 Grafcube Sticks and then a selection of graphite accessories such as erasers, sharpener, blending stumps etc.
For artists in the UK this beautiful set would cost £154.48, for artists in the US this set will cost $179.98 and for EU artists this set will cost €187.00
Da Vinci 6 Set Watercolor Brushes
As many of you will know, I am not a huge watercolor artists, although, recently I have been bitten by the bug and being dragged almost as deep into watercolors as I have been with my passion and love for colored pencils. In my quest to learn more about watercolors and the variations available, I also discovered, that as well as paper being an important factor into the quality of your work, brushes have as every bit an important roll to play in that process.
High quality brushes are obviously not essential to creating beautiful art, however, they will make a differences in the application process and unfortunately, once you use high quality brushes, not only will you absolutely notice the difference, you will also never want to go back. I present to you this gorgeous 6 brush set from Da Vinci. Inside the set you will get a Da Vinci Cesc Farré No. 4 Casaeno Liner Brush, Da Vinci Cesc Farré No. 4 Casaeno Mop Brush, Da Vinci Cesc Farré No. 12 Casaeno Flat Brush, Da Vinci Cesc Farré No. 8 Maestro Flat Brush, Da Vinci Cesc Farré No. 8 Maestro Round brush and finally a Da Vinci Cesc Farré No 4 Maestro Round brush.
For artists in the UK this set will cost approximately £136.96, for artists in the US and for artists in the EU €186.02.
Faber Castell Polychromos 120 Wooden Box Gift Set
I am sure most colored pencil artist would agree with me when I say that the Faber Castell Polychromos Colored Pencils are perhaps considered the workhorse pencil for the colored pencil artist. The Polychromos pencil is just an all round awesome colored pencil, perfect for almost all genres of colored pencil art.
Every major Colored Pencil company sell their pencils in these gorgeous wooden gift box sets and each one of them have their own good points or preferable features, however, there is just something about the Faber Castell wooden box sets that I love. Actually there are two things in particular I love about them, the first is the extendable tray that elevates on opening the lid, almost as if the Faber Castell gods are extending the pencils to you. The second thing is the locking mechanism, some boxes close using clasp catches or like briefcase locks, but Faber Castell’s box offer these simple circular dials that when the box is closed, they turn and lock the box, I know, simple things for simple minds, but I just love the uniqueness of the over all set.
For Colored Pencil artists in the UK this wonderful set will cost you £299.58, artists in the US this will cost you $329.00 and for those of you in the EU €226.50.
120 Half Stick Extra Soft Sennelier Pastels
When compiling these Christmas lists, although colored pencils are my passion and favourite art medium, I try to ensure that I am providing gift ideas for all artists, at least artist using the mediums I have tested and know enough about to recommend. For this Luxury gift idea I have included a gorgeous set of Pastels from an incredibly well know art supply company.
This gorgeous Black Wood gift box by Sennelier holds 120 of the most gorgeous extra soft pastels, each half block looks like a colourful gem, accentuated by the dark black foam and box that each extra soft Sennelier Pastel has been placed in.
For artist in the UK this set will cost you £199.99, for artists in the US it will cost $216.38 and for those of you in the EU, this set will cost you €229.00.
Caran d’Ache Luminance Wooden Box Set
I referred to the Faber Castell Polychromos colored pencil as perhaps the work horse pencil for the colored pencil artist, however, it is fair to argue that this next luxury item on the list contains the best colored pencils in the world.
Next up is the absolutely gorgeous Caran d’Ache Luminance Colored Pencils 76 Wooden Box Set, now it is fair to mention that Caran d’Ache a while back added an additional 24 colors to the Luminance range totalling 100 gorgeous highly lightfast colored pencils, but even more recently they have provide the full 100 count in a single set, that is not the case however when it comes to the wooden box sets. At the time of writing this post the Caran d’Ache Luminance still only come in a 76 count Wooden Box set, never the less this is a staggeringly well crafted box set and sporting some of the most gorgeous colors you will find in a colored pencil.
For UK artists this set will cost you £262.92, artists in the US will have to pay $372.08 and artists in the EU can expect to pay €254.97
Sennelier 24 Pan Watercolor Set With Brushes
I have already included a set of gorgeous pastels from Sennelier, however I simply could not resist including this absolutely gorgeous Sennelier Watercolor Set for all you aspiring watercolor artists. I think using this set will help inspire any artists, perhaps making them feel as though they are in the times of their favourite Renaissance artist.
This Luxury Wooden Box set presents 24 beautiful Sennelier half pans and just to top off the authentic period piece, 6 ceramic mixing wells are inset into the box. Also included in the set are two quality watercolor brushes. The list of colors included are as follows. Lemon Yellow, Indian yellow, Naples Yellow Deep, French Vermillion, Bright Red, Venetian Red, Alizarin Crimson, Carmine, Quinacridone Red, Opera Rose, Cobalt Violet Light Hue, Dioxazine Purple, Ultramarine Deep, Phthalocyanine Blue, Cinerous Blue, Forest Green, Viridian Green, Phthalo Green Light, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Paynes Grey, Raw Sepia, Raw Umber and Ivory Black. All in all I think you can agree a pretty comprehensive palette.
For Artists in the UK this set will cost £104.93, for artists in the US $208.90 and for artist in the EU €144.73.
Conclusion
Should there be anyone in your life that is fortunate enough to receive anyone of these gifts from you, please consider me to be a member of your family, or if in fact you are a fortunate to receive one of these gorgeous gifts from a loved one, please consider trading families with me.
But in all seriousness, the items in this list are of course not essential, they are just as the title describes, luxury items that we would all love to see handed over to us one day. I hope you have enjoyed this Christmas Gift Guide and on behalf of myself, Harry from The Art Gear Guide and all at Ann Kullberg’s awesome Color Magazine, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, may this time be filled with love, peace, good will and above all, good health to you all.
