Quality Art supplies?

[jeca]

Can anyone tell me who makes quality art supplies and where to get them from? Ds is twelve and pretty good. I would love to get him a nice are set but I was hoping for a pretty nice one at a decent price.

[doubledutch]

what is he good at / interested in? what do you want him to have? i think your best bet for quality and value would be to select a few things and put them together yourself, rather than buying a broad, pre-packaged set. if it's drawing that he's great at, then maybe oil pastels, charcoal, good pencils and a sketchbook. if it's painting, then watercolors, a few nice brushes, and an abundance of good paper. it depends on his interests (sculpture, printing, drawing, painting, whatever) and i understand that he probably likes to do more than one thing, but i would try to focus on one area if you're going for quality. i don't have specific brand recommendations, but if you go to an independent art supply store, the employees will be able to help you.

[Thalia the Muse]

Yep, the good stuff is sold individually, or in small sets of just watercolors, just pencils, etc. Here are some of the brands that I think are supposed to be pretty high-quality (my husband paints and draws):

Grumbacher and Winsor and Newton oils and watercolors (and they come in different grades -- you don't want the student grade)
Arches watercolor paper
Prismacolor colored pencils and markers

I know there are lots of other quality brands -- these are just the ones I'm familiar with!

[jeca]

He's shown the most interest in drawing and has won several art awards for that. His elective at school is art(it's pretty advanced) and they have been touching on many things lately some of which I have to run out and buy supplies for. I didn't even know they had homework in art class. I guess I would say drawing though so what would I look to get him?

[Thalia the Muse]

Acid-free archival sketchbooks or pads
Prismacolor pencils, if he likes to work in color
Sharpener
Charcoal and/or drawing pencils and/or pastels -- colored paper is nice to use with pastels, too, so you could throw some of that in (not construction paper -- it fades)
Spray fixative to keep finished drawings from smearing (plain old aerosol hairspray also works for this!)
Art-gum erasers
A portfolio

And why not throw in an art book or two? Either someting on technique or just a folio of great drawings for inspiration. My husband loves Robert Hale's books, but I think they might be a little heavy reading for a kid.

[texmama]

Originally Posted by Thalia the Muse

Acid-free archival sketchbooks or pads
Prismacolor pencils, if he likes to work in color
Sharpener
Charcoal and/or drawing pencils and/or pastels -- colored paper is nice to use with pastels, too, so you could throw some of that in (not construction paper -- it fades)
Spray fixative to keep finished drawings from smearing (plain old aerosol hairspray also works for this!)
Art-gum erasers
A portfolio

All great suggestions - when I was in art, I loved oil pastels and charcoal. A good portfolio is nice too - one that is actually portable - mine was way too big, so measure the paper he typically uses and gauge it on that.

Search Amazon, they have good deals on everything usually.