I realize this post is coming quite late in the season and those of you who are on top of your shit probably already purchased your holiday gifts this past week or at least have decided what gifts you’re planning on buying. But if you’re anything like me, gift-giving can be a real challenge and you often put it off to the last minute. If you’ve got an artist in your life, be it a friend, a partner, a family member (perhaps that person is me…) and you’re not sure what to give them this holiday season, hopefully this guide will give you some ideas.
In general, I find gifting to be very difficult. And often, shopping for an artist can be particularly hard, as artists tend to be very particular about all sorts of things like color, aesthetic, and design. So often, gifts end up in the landfill or the donation box, either because they are not needed, poor quality, or something that the person already has. In our hyper-consumerist age, where things are designed to be disposable and obsolete, it’s more important than ever to be thoughtful and intentional about our gifts to ensure that we’re not contributing to the problem.
Rather than providing a list of specific items, I am providing a guideline on how you can approach gifting for an artist. I’ve distilled it down to five main points:
Give something digital, that takes up no physical space.
Give something consumable, something that can be used.
Give an experience, something that is fun, memorable or enriching.
Give them something handmade
Give them your support
1. Give Something Digital
The benefit of a digital gift is that it takes up no physical space, so it is ideal for people who live in small spaces or value the Marie Kondo lifestyle with minimal unnecessary clutter. These gifts also don’t contribute to physical waste and won’t end up in a donation bin or a landfill somewhere. An added benefit is that these gifts can be very last minute as you won’t need to worry about shortages, shipping times, or any possible delays due to a cargo ship getting stuck in the Suez Canal.
A membership to a local museum, garden, or cultural institution. Because I live in New York, I’ll list some local ones here: Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), The Metrograph, The MET Museum, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (we recently received a membership here as a gift from our friend Nicole and her husband and it has been wonderful. You can read Nicole’s newsletter here if you’re interested in creative writing).
A subscription to a streaming service or digital service. If they are a cinephile, you could get them a few months of Shudder or the Criterion Channel etc. If going to the cinema is more their thing, you could get them a movie theater membership such as an AMC A List subscription or Alamo Drafthouse Season Pass. A membership to an art theater like the Metrograph (mentioned above) or the Music Box (if you’re in Chicago) would also be great.
A membership to a coworking space or makerspace. If they’re a writer, you can get them a membership to the Center for Fiction. If they’re a craftsperson, perhaps a membership to Brooklyn Spark or Makerspace NYC. If they’re a film photographer, you can give them access to a local darkroom like Gowanus Darkroom here in Brooklyn. These memberships can be quite expensive and you’ll want to pay for at least a few months, so make sure it’s something the person will actually use and can commit to.
A digital gift card to Blick, B&H, Ebay or another store where they can buy all the gear and supplies they need for their work. If they’re a prolific reader, get them a gift card to a local bookstore. This is great if you don’t actually know what kind of gear they want, but don’t want to opt for the generic Target gift card.
If your artist friend is a designer, you can get them some fonts. Fonts from fancy foundries can be very expensive and fonts on Fontsquirrel or DaFont are often really bad. A great middle ground is individual type designers like Taylor Penton and Brandon Nickerson who make tons of great fonts at accessible price points, often with few or no commercial license restrictions. Both of these designers offer font bundles which are a really great value. Brandon has a newsletter and each week, he makes one of his fonts free. Trust me, any graphic designer will love these gifts. (just make sure they don’t already have those fonts). At the slightly higher end, Pangram Pangram offers a font starter pack. However these have stricter licensing restrictions.
Other digital assets or plugins can be a great gift as well for designers or illustrators. True Grit Texture Supply offers an array of cool Photoshop, Procreate and Illustrator plugins to add cool texture effects and speed up workflow. Doron Supply has some cool Photoshop plugins to create all sorts of cool vintage effects like dithering and worn plastisol textures. These tools can really help bring your work to the next level.
If they are a 3D artist, you can get them asset packs, plugins, add-ons and extensions. I will make a whole separate post at another time about all the different places to find these. Just a few of them are: Gumroad, Superhive and Fab (formerly Sketchfab).
2. Give Something Consumable
Almost every type of artist has some sort of expendable resource. This is a great gift, because it’s something you know they need, and it’s something you know they will use, so it won’t sit and collect dust. If it’s something they use regularly, they’ll really appreciate not having to buy it themselves for a little while.
If they knit or crochet, get them yarn. Some places in New York to find yarn: West Village Knit and Needle, Argyle Yarn Shop, Downtown Yarns.
If they quilt or sew or make clothing, get them fabric. Some fabric stores in NYC: Mood Fabrics, Keaton Quilts Shop. There’s also a nonprofit organization here called Fab Scrap that sells used and recycled fabrics and is dedicated to reducing worldwide textile waste.
If they are into film photography, get them film. This one is a no brainer. They will always appreciate the classics like Kodak Portra or Cinestill, but you could also get them some fun novelty films. There are a ton of weird ones from Lomography. Just make sure the film type can be processed by a normal lab (C-41 process for color negative film). I once bought a special film type in Hong Kong and it turned out that none of the local labs could develop it.
If they draw a lot or simply love stationery and writing on real paper, give them a nice sketchbook, notebook or planner. Canson and Strathmore make great sketchbooks. Alternatively you can get them a nice pen, pencil set, or some other cool desk accessory. Check out the Japanese Stationery Awards winning products if you want to find some cool stuff in this category. Muji also always has really nice stationery and desk accessories.
If they paint, get them paint. It might be worth doing some sleuthing to find out their preferred brand, most used colors, and which ones they are running low on). Alternatively, you can find a new type of paint that you think they’d be into. Nice paints can get quite expensive, so they will really appreciate it. This applies to other mediums like ink, colored pencils, pastels etc.
3. Give An Experience
I always love an experience gift. Like the first category, these won’t waste away in storage or in a landfill.
A ticket to a show, be it theater, a concert, ballet, opera or comedy show. These are especially great if you’re buying for a partner or close friend and you can share the experience with them. It’s a gift to yourself in away.
A creative class or workshop, either something you guys can do together or something they can do on their own. Craftsman Ave in New York has a ton of workshops for all sorts of things like knife-making, leatherworking, woodworking, stained glass making etc. Brooklyn Glass offers glassblowing classes and workshops. If you’re in Chicago, Lillstreet Art Center has a ton of classes and workshops on ceramics, metalworking, jewelry, and textile arts. Make sure it’s something they’re actually interested in and have the time for, so it doesn’t feel like you’re giving them extra work to do. But these types of experiences can often be enriching and fulfilling for artists who are so often creatively drained from sitting in front of a screen making art only for work all day. It might also be good for those artist types (like myself) who have always wanted to pursue a craft but always put it off for one reason or another, or who need some form of structure or guidance to learn a new skill.
4. Give Something Handmade
If you do opt to give them something physical, rather than going to the traditional online marketplaces like Target or Amazon, try getting something handmade. I won’t list specific sellers as there’s simply too many out there but you can find tons of talented shops on Etsy. You can also try to take a peek at their Etsy favorites or wishlist if they have one. Just carefully read the reviews and details to make sure the products are actually handmade, as unfortunately, nowadays, sites like Etsy are teeming with online drop-shippers selling poor quality mass produced items masquerading as handmade. Alternatively, find a local ceramics shop, jewelry shop etc.
An easy tip is to see what artists they follow on Instagram and then follow the links to see if they have a shop. Many visual artists sell prints of their work on Society6 or INPRNT or have their own print shop.
An art print or original art piece for their home.
Something custom for their home like a lamp, plant stand or a magazine rack. I would keep these items small, especially if they live in a smaller space.
A nice ceramic dish or planter
A pet item of some sort.
A custom pet portrait of their cat or dog. There are many artists on Etsy that offer painted portraits or embroidery portraits of pets (yes, and humans too if you’re into that). However, double check to make sure it’s not made with AI as there are a lot of scammers selling fake ai portraits trying to pass them off as handmade.
A custom commission from an artist they like.
Give them something you made yourself. Whether it’s a card, a simple drawing, a ceramic dish, a quilt, a knit scarf, something you made yourself is always more meaningful of a gift than something you purchased.
Alternatively, if you’re not much of an artist yourself, and you’re strapped for cash, 3D print something for them. There’s tons of free blueprints on Makerworld that are fully setup to print with the press of a button. Don’t have access to a 3D printer? Oftentimes public libraries, tool libraries or schools have ones that you can use for free (plus the cost of the filament) or a small fee.
With a handmade gift, you are also supporting real-life artists and craftsmen
5. Give them Your Support
This leads me to my next point. More than any gift, physical or digital, the the most meaningful way to show any artist in your life that you care is to support their artwork, whatever it is. Back their Kickstarter for their new project. Back their Patreon if they have one. Go to their gallery shows. Buy their artwork, if they sell prints or original art or commission them if they take commissions. Our own home is filled with art from our friends and it is so much more meaningful than having bland generic art.
If they’re a performing artist, attend their concerts, plays or dance performances. Go to their book releases, poetry readings, their improv or comedy shows. Show up for them when they need you. Even if money is tight this holiday season, there are many ways to show your support without spending any money.
Hopefully you find this guide helpful. Even if you don’t use it this holiday season, bookmark it for the next time you need to get an artist gift, or even if you’re thinking of getting something for yourself. Have any other ideas to contribute to this list? Drop them in the comments below.
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