Painting Kits for Gifting

Best Acrylic Gouache and Painting Gift Sets for Beginners and Painting Enthusiasts

A painting set gift is a great way to encourage creativity. In my book, Pretty Simple Painting, I talk about these necessities for a painter. With a few tips and a short shopping list, you can pull together the perfect gift for your creative friend or family member. Here’s how to get started!

Make a Shopping List

The first thing you’ll need to do is make a shopping list of the items you want to include in your gift. Your creative friend may have some things already, but we’ll go over the essentials so that you’re not missing anything in your giftable kit.

Brushes

A brush kit is your most essential item to include. Princeton, Brown, Artist's Loft, and Golden all make synthetic brush kits available in your local craft store. You’ll want to make sure there is a variety of sizes included in the grouping - flat tip, round tip, filbert, fine tip, and angled brushes. Having a variety of brushes is great for a beginner so they can learn and play with the different tips to gain a better understanding of the marks they will make on paper.

Paper

Watercolor paper is generally the thickest painting paper in most cases, and this is a great option for a beginner as they’re learning to layer paints. A thick 300gsm paper or higher weight will keep from buckling and warping if too much water is added to the paper - a common occurrence, especially in beginner painting practices. Using a watercolor paper will decrease painting frustration. There are many affordable brands of watercolor paper to choose from in a large variety of packages, from single sheets to full sketch pads. 

Paint

Your friend may already have some paint, but adding to their collection is always a great gift for any creative. There are a lot of paint brands to choose from. I find that beginner painters go through a lot of paint as they are learning about paint volume and how much is needed - so getting paint tubes that aren’t too small and are of decent size and weight is always a good idea. While a painter can certainly choose from a large palette of colors to paint from, you can always go with the classics, red, yellow, blue, black, and white. These colors can mix into any color they’d like. Extra white paint is always a good idea as it is used quite often to lighten paint colors on a palette. Golden, Liquitex, and Arteza make lovely paint sets that are perfect for your painting gift set.

Miscellaneous Artist Tools

Painting is fun on its own, but there are so many other tools and textures you can enjoy while painting by incorporating other tools into the craft. Pencils, colored pencils, pastels, crayons, paint pens, and markers all make great additions to your gift set - together or on their own. 

Pretty Simple Painting

My book, Pretty Simple Painting, is a great starting place to inspire your painting gift! It has over 25 projects and exercises for beginners and painting enthusiasts, tips and tricks, as well as educational information about technique and color theory.

Finishing Touches & Other Gift Ideas

Your options for add-ons to this gift are endless, and there are so many things painters enjoy - whether they are experienced or just beginning. 

Easel

There are portable and stationary easels available for artists. Find one that is well rated as stable and will stay put when painting. Some even come with built in pochade boxes - which are a great option for a painter who enjoys plein air painting outside.

Apron

A good quality thick canvas or denim painter’s apron is a lovely gift for a painter that will give them many years of enjoyment. Many painters aprons can be found in home improvement stores where aprons for other professions that work with their hands can be found. There are also great options available on Etsy in different silhouettes. 

Palette

There are a few options for gifting palettes to your friend. Palette paper is a great beginners tool (and experienced artist’s tool - I use it!) and makes for easy cleanup. But a great gift for a painter who is leveling up in their creative process is a paint palette. Treated wood palettes are great and have wonderful longevity. Some artists choose to keep them very clean, while others let the paint dry for a visual of how to recreate certain colors. There are also acrylic palettes which are very easy to keep clean, and wipe off easily after painting is done for the day. Think of your friend’s style preference when choosing a palette - there are some amazing handmade ones on Etsy, as well as Amazon and Target.

Any number of these items, together or on their own with my book, Pretty Simple Painting, will make a great gift for your friend or loved one. Help spur them onto creativity and build their collection of painting supplies little by little - you’ll be surprised how far a little encouragement will go!

Don’t have your copy of Pretty Simple Painting yet?

Pick one up, along with the suggestions from this blog post, to create the ultimate gift for the creative person in your life.