The best art supplies in 2022, from sketchbooks to pastels

Hand dipping paintbrush into a watercolor palette

These are the best sketchbooks, pencils, erasers, pastels, watercolors, acrylics, oils, brushes, and canvas to buy in 2022.
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  • The all-time art supplies tin can be expensive, just you don't have to spend a lot to get great materials.
  • We've rounded up the best essential and beginner fine art supplies you can purchase online.
  • Our listing includes pencils, pastels, watercolors, paint sets, sketchbooks, canvases, and more than.

Equally someone who's been drawing since I could concord a crayon, I've been through my fair share of graphite pencils, sketchbooks, and paint sets. I've tried dozens of different brands over the years, and some are still my favorites.

Whether you've been painting for years, are going off to art school soon, or just want to go into drawing for the kickoff time, y'all need quality art supplies. And while professional person artists may utilize pricey supplies to create their masterpieces, you lot don't necessarily have to trounce out on the fanciest pastels or canvass.

In fact, in that location are plenty of. more affordable options that can serve you just every bit well, if you know how to use them to your reward. To help, we rounded upwards many of the bones fine art supplies you demand in your studio in one handy guide.

Learn more nearly how Insider Reviews reviews and researches hobby-related products.

Here are the all-time art supplies you can buy:

The best sketchbook:Strathmore Sketchbooks, $12.76 from Amazon
Strathmore makes first-class sketchbooks with all kinds of newspaper, including cartoon, watercolor, pastel, charcoal, and more.

Best graphite pencils: Staedtler Pencil Mars Lumograph 12-Slice Set, $12.82 from Amazon
Staedtler comes with all the graphite pencils you need to describe like a pro.

Best charcoal: Cretacolor Charcoal Cartoon Fix, $29.41 from Blick
The Cretacolor Charcoal Drawing Set has every kind of charcoal you demand to create beautiful work.

All-time colored pencils: Prismacolor Quality Art Gear up, $46.99 from Amazon
Prismacolor Quality Art Gear up includes 48 colored pencils that are rich in color.

Best erasers:Prismacolor Premier Kneaded, ArtGum, and Plastic Erasers, $2.48 from Blick
Premier will erase whatever mistake you make.

Best pastels: Sennelier, $45.17 from Amazon
Sennelier makes the absolute best oil and soft pastels, but Van Gogh, Koh-i-noor, and Prismacolor are fine alternatives.

Best watercolors:Winsor & Newton, $36.88 from Amazon
Winsor & Newton makes wonderful watercolor paints and sets, while Derwent makes first-class watercolor pencils.

Best acrylic paints:Liquitex BASICS Acrylic Paint Tube 12-Piece Set up, $23.79 from Amazon
The Winsor & Newton 2190517 Galeria Acrylic Paint ten Tube Fix are swell starter kits for painting.

Best oil paints:Winsor & Newton, $19.99 from Blick, Gamblin, $88.l from Blick, and Williamsburg Handmade, $10.28 from Blick
Oil paints represent very different price points to satisfy whatever budget.

Best paintbrushes:Da Vinci, $12.95 from Blick
Da Vinci makes great brushes for watercolor, acrylic, and oil painting.

Best canvas:Fredrix, $120.57 from Blick
Fredrix makes skilful canvas, and it's almost ever cheaper to stretch your ain canvas than to buy pre-made ones.

All-time sketchbook

Amazon

Strathmore makes splendid sketchbooks with all kinds of paper, including drawing, watercolor, pastel, charcoal, and more than.

Pros: Sturdy sketchbooks, great paper quality, paper types for different media, affordable

Cons: Larger sizes cost more, specialty papers have fewer pages

I've used Strathmore sketchbooks for years. I typically buy the ones with recycled newspaper, but I've likewise used the pastel, charcoal, and watercolor pads for when I need a dissimilar texture. No thing which media you cull, these sketchbooks can handle it.

The standard newspaper will warp if yous utilise watercolors on it, simply for any kind of pen, pencil, marker, or another drawing implement, it will practice the task — it'south a good thickness and weight.

When it comes to Strathmore'due south watercolor paper, information technology'southward sturdy and strong enough to stand up upwards to lots of water. The charcoal and pastel paper notebooks both accept a wonderful texture to them that actually works for the softer media and expert blending. Strathmore'south prices are fairly reasonable, too, so you lot tin can sketch away.

Hither are other Strathmore products we recommend:

This versatile felt-finished paper is platonic for mastering watercolor techniques or finished pieces.

The Strathmore charcoal pad is the ideal foundation for charcoal and pastel, and information technology's free of acid.

For graphite pencil, colored pencil, charcoal, sketching stick, marking, soft pastel, mixed media, oil pastel.

Best graphite pencils

Amazon

The Staedtler Pencil Mars Lumograph 12-Piece Set comes with all the graphite pencils y'all need to draw like a pro.

Pros: Bold graphite pencils, 8B to 6H range, affordable, long-lasting

Cons: None

If you draw with graphite pencils, you know that non all graphite is the same. This Staedtler set comes with 12 pencils in dissimilar hardnesses from 8B to 6H. For the uninitiated, the higher the number in forepart of the B, the softer the pb. Conversely, the higher the number in front end of the H, the harder the lead.

Most people will use 2B, HB, and B the about, but if you lot need deep dark blacks that blend well, you lot'll need 4B and upwardly. For hard, light lines, H pencils are perfect.

The pencils come in a can for safekeeping, and they're easy to sharpen and comfy to hold — fifty-fifty when y'all depict for hours on end. I've used dozens of graphite pencils, merely Staedtler's are the best for the price.

Best charcoal drawing set

Amazon

The Cretacolor Charcoal Cartoon Set has every kind of charcoal you need to create cute work.

Pros: Large fix with many pieces, includes charcoal pencils and compressed charcoal; comes with an eraser, charcoal sticks, and a charcoal block; affordable

Cons: None

If you're simply getting started with charcoal or you want to try a new medium, this charcoal fix has everything you lot need, including pencils and compressed charcoal.

Each pencil is labeled with its hardness level, and the kneaded eraser is a cracking blending tool, but it tin can besides erase any mistakes adequately well.

Best colored pencils

Amazon

The Prismacolor Quality Art Set includes 48 colored pencils that are rich in color.

Pros: Bold colors, lots of diverseness, long-lasting, eraser and sharpener included, affordable

Cons: None

The Prismacolor Quality Art Prepare comes with 48 colored pencils in beautiful, vivid shades. You'll also go a sharpener and a Latex-Free Scholar Eraser in the set.

These colored pencils aren't like the basic Crayola ones yous used in unproblematic schoolhouse. — they're high-quality, soft lead pencils with rich colors. You can create boggling drawings with these Prismacolor pencils or color in an developed coloring book to brand a black and white blueprint come to life.

Best erasers

Amazon

The Prismacolor Premier Kneaded, ArtGum, and Plastic Erasers volition erase whatever mistake you make.

Pros: Three types of erasers, affordable

Cons: None

To err is homo, and hither to set up your mistakes are Prismacolor'due south erasers. This three-pack gives you a kneaded safety eraser, an artist gum eraser, and a latex-free plastic eraser.

I personally only utilise kneaded erasers, considering they piece of work with all media and don't shed eraser bits everywhere, but the ArtGum eraser is neat for stubborn graphite and the plastic eraser doesn't shed, either.

Since this ready gives you all iii, you lot tin can pick and choose which one you need based on the medium you're working with.

All-time pastels

Amazon

Sennelier makes the absolute best oil and soft pastels, but Van Gogh, Koh-i-noor, and Prismacolor are fine alternatives.

Pros: Beautiful oil and soft pastels, good variety of colors, strong pigments

Cons: Sennelier's pastels are expensive

One of my favorite mediums is pastel. The rich, bold colors and like shooting fish in a barrel blending brand for the perfect cartoon experience. Of all the pastels I've used, Sennelier's are the best. Its oil pastels, in detail, are stunning. The richness of the colors is unparalleled and you tin can experience the oiliness of the pastel. I lust over them every time I got to the art store.

All the same, Sennelier pastels are very expensive, because they are among the highest quality ones you can buy. Since not anybody can spend hundreds on them — myself included, alas — Van Gogh makes great oil pastels for much less, Koh-i-noor sells wonderful soft pastel pencils, and Prismacolor makes cracking soft pastels for an affordable price.

I mostly utilise soft pastel pencils, because the fine tip gives you lot more control over your drawing and fine detail. Nonetheless, when you're working big and you need to blend, Prismacolor's pastels are perfect. Van Gogh's oil pastels are nearly as pigmented and rich as Sennelier'southward and they blend very well. Y'all tin even thin them with linseed oil, just like you would for oil paint if you want a painterly look.

Here are the best pastels nosotros recommend:

Use on a diversity of surfaces including canvas, newspaper, metal, wood, stone, fifty-fifty drinking glass.

Sennelier Soft Pastels are extra soft pastels made with pigments called for colorfastness and luminescence mixed merely with natural binders.

Made with pure pigments, mineral oils, and wax binders for a remarkably soft and smooth laydown with no dust.

Made from high-quality, pure, micro-pulverized pastel pigments, encased in California cedar, thus creating less mess and dust particles than traditional soft pastels.

Composed of rich, flossy pigment that's the artist's choice for blending and shading.

All-time watercolors

Amazon

Winsor & Newton makes wonderful watercolor paints and sets, while Derwent makes excellent watercolor pencils.

Pros: Brilliant colors, good variety in the sets, sturdy pencils

Cons: High-end tubes are pricey

While y'all may think about those plastic sets from elementary school, the best watercolors come in tubes similar acrylic and oil paint. Yous can go proficient sets in plastic, of course, and there are wonderful watercolor pencils, too. We've got picks for all iii.

The Winsor & Newton Cotman Water Colour 12-Tube Set up is best for the serious watercolor artist who wants a overnice gear up of colors, while the Sketcher'due south Pocket Box is great for anyone on the go who want a travel-friendly plastic set. Both provide rich, lovely color.

My favorite watercolor pencils are Derwent's because yous can go a dainty multifariousness of colors without paying too much. The watercolor pencils requite you more than control over fine details in your paintings, then they may exist a fun addition to your supplies.

Hither are the best watercolor art supplies we recommend:

Winsor & Newton Cotman Water Colours are a range of water colours that are made to our high quality standards only costs are kept to an economical level by replacing some of the more costly pigments with less expensive alternatives.

Cotman Water Colours possess expert transparency, fantabulous tinting strength, and adept working properties.

Derwent Watercolour Pencils can be mixed with water to create unique colour flows and stunning watercolour furnishings.

Best acrylic paints

Amazon

Liquitex BASICS Acrylic Paint Tube 12-Slice Set and the Winsor & Newton 2190517 Galeria Acrylic Paint ten Tube Ready are smashing starter kits for painting.

Pros: Strong colors, affordable options, high-quality options, sets offering good value

Cons: Small tubes, can become expensive

My first set of acrylic paints was the BASICS gear up by Liquitex. The fix comes with 12 colors that you can mix to your heart's content to create more than shades. You really just need these basic colors to create every shade of the rainbow.

Of course, this budget set isn't that high-end, so if you're looking for something a bit amend, the Winsor & Newton 10-tube set up is a great pick. You'll pay more for higher-quality paint and stiff pigments. You can't go wrong with either one, really.

Hither are the best acrylic paint sets we recommend:

Each color is uniquely formulated to bring out the maximum brilliance and clarity of the individual pigment.

Galleria acrylic colour is a high quality acrylic which delivers professional results and is ideal for artists who want expert quality colour at an affordable toll.

Best oil paints

Amazon

Winsor & Newton, Gamblin, and Williamsburg Handmade oil paints represent very different price points to satisfy any budget.

Pros: Strong colors, affordable options, loftier-quality options, sets offer practiced value

Cons: Small tubes, tin get expensive if you get with the high-stop paint

The most expensive art form you can get into is oil painting, merely information technology's too one of the most flexible. Oil paint is richer than acrylic and it stays moisture longer for improve mixing, blending, and utilise over the course of long-term projects.

Winsor & Newton make a good oil paint that's suitable for beginners or artists on a budget. Gamblin falls in the middle, while Williamsburg'southward handmade oils are considered among the best. They're sold by tubes and not by sets, so you tin pick the colors yous need.

The differences are in the richness of the pigments, the oils used to make the paints, and the process by which the paint is made. Y'all tin can spend hundreds on modest tubes of the best oils, simply these three options will serve you well until y'all become as famous equally Picasso.

Here are the all-time oil paints we recommend:

The Winton range has a uniform consistency offering first-class retention of castor and palette knife strokes.

The Gamblin oil color set creates colors that are luscious, intense, and paint-rich.

These full-bodied oils are handmade in small-scale batches with each color treated differently to bring out its unique holding.

Best brushes

Amazon

Da Vinci makes peachy brushes for watercolor, acrylic, and oil painting.

Pros: Brushes for all media, relatively affordable, no shedding, sets offer good value

Cons: Real hair and bristle toll more

The main advice we have on brushes is don't go cheap terrible ones that shed all over your sheet.

No matter what medium you paint in, da Vinci Brushes has the brush you demand. There are more than brushes out at that place than tin can be put in a simple guide like this, but da Vinci'due south wares are relatively affordable and long-lasting, then we've included them here.

Some of the brushes are synthetic, but others are made from real animal hair and bristle. There's a lot of statement over what materials are all-time, merely we've included a mix at different price points.

Here are the all-time da Vinci brushes we recommend:

Universal brushes are a great starter set for beginners, young artists or teachers.

Excellent for watercolor, gouache, analogy, blitheness, restoration and rendering.

Maestro 2 interlocked grunter bristle shapes are deeply set in their ferrules and concur their shape afterward vigorous utilize.

Best canvass

Blick

Fredrix makes expert canvas, and it's almost e'er cheaper to stretch your own canvas than to purchase pre-made ones.

Pros: Canvas is cheaper when you make your own; adept quality canvas material, available in primed or unprimed

Cons: Sheet is expensive and time-consuming to make

If you're working in oil or acrylic, it's tempting to buy pre-stretched canvases and have information technology done. However, you can save loads of coin — especially if you paint on huge canvases — if yous brand your own canvases.

To do information technology yourself, you'll need wood for the frame, canvass, a staple gun, and canvass pliers to stretch it properly. I've made canvases before, and it may be difficult work, but it's worth information technology.

Fredrix sells sail in many forms and sizes. You tin can become it primed or unprimed if y'all prefer to practice it yourself with a behemothic bucket of gesso or if you just want a raw canvas.

Hither are the canvases and accessories nosotros recommend:

A medium weight all Polyflax with substantially greater force than cotton wool fibers. Medium texture with near perfect uniformity.

Unprimed cotton canvas great for all artists. Includes six-yards unprimed cotton wool sheet.

The Fredrix Canvas Pliers fabricated from heavy-duty chromium plated metal with a spring render handle.

This framing kit allows yous to create your ain solid wood frame for your canvas from scratch, even if you have zero experience!

Art supplies FAQ:

What are the nearly essential art supplies?

While our listing covers a range of art supplies, 1 of the most versatile is the Strathmore sketchbook, which works with a wide range of mediums — from pencils to pastels.

As for what you really draw with, pencils are great because you can use them to create stand-alone art or outline a slice before you apply paint or pastels.

What art supplies should I get as a beginner?

According to our guide on drawing for beginners, all you need to really get started is a sketchbook, eraser, and some pencils — yous don't even necessarily need a whole set or even colored pencils.