Christmas Gift Guide for Creative Teen Girls

Looking for a Christmas gift for a teen girl who loves art, but have absolutely no idea what art supplies she already owns, or what any of them actually do? Start with what you do know about her.

Maybe she's always drawing characters. Maybe there are watercolours permanently taking over one corner of her desk. Maybe her pencil case weighs more than her school bag. Or maybe all you know is that she "does art" and you'd quite like to buy something she'll actually use.

That's enough.

The real worry isn't about money. It's that she'll be polite about it and it'll sit in a drawer until March. So we've sorted this guide by the things you're likely to have actually seen her doing, rather than expecting you to know the difference between alcohol markers, gouache and graphite pencils before Christmas morning.

And you're not getting recommendations pulled from a generic "gifts for teens" list either. Art Shed is a small, family-owned, artist-run Australian business, and your arty loved ones are usually the ones hanging around our shop. We hear what they're excited about, what they've been saving up for and what they can't stop banging on about all year long. So we've been paying attention.

Our team of artists has hand-picked the things we think make great gifts this Christmas, based on what artists actually use and love. And your author? Hello. I'm 19 myself, so you're getting at least part of this advice reasonably close to the source.

For every gift, we'll tell you who it suits, why we'd pick it and what's worth knowing before you buy. If something is messy, we'll tell you. If it's better for an older teen, we'll tell you that too.

One thing worth knowing before you scroll: if she's asked for art supplies, she means real ones. Teenagers who make art can tell the difference between a craft kit and the real thing almost immediately, and the better version usually isn't much more expensive.

Because the goal isn't to find the biggest art set with the most pieces in it. It's to give her something that gets an "oh my god, I wanted this" on Christmas morning, and is still being used long after the wrapping paper is gone.

Quick answer

If you want one recommendation and no scrolling: the Mont Marte Signature Drawing and Illustration Set in Tin, 51 pieces suits almost any teenager who draws, from about 12 upward.

It's a complete set in a metal tin, it looks like a present, and it covers pencil, charcoal and pastel so she can work out what she likes. If she paints, get the Kuretake Gansai Tambi Starry Colours palette instead.

Which one is she?

Pick whichever sounds most like her and jump straight there.

She's always drawing, especially characters, manga or anime → markers, fineliners and sketchbooks

She paints, or likes adding colour to her drawings → Japanese watercolour, half pans and gouache

She loves colouring, sketching or lettering → coloured pencils, drawing sets, calligraphy and books

She seems to have every art supply already → storage, lighting and studio gear

You're looking for the main present → the big-ticket gifts

What to buy a teen who loves drawing, manga or anime

If she's always drawing, whether it's characters, animals, faces, little illustrations or full comic pages, this is where we'd start.

Manga and anime-style art is one of the most popular things teenagers are drawing right now, and it needs two specific tools: a pen that gives a clean black line, and markers that blend into each other without leaving streaks.

Those same tools make a big difference to any kind of illustration or everyday sketching, so you don't need to know exactly what she draws for these to be useful.

Our pick: Mont Marte Double Ended Art Markers in Case, 48pc

Best for 12+ · character drawing and illustration

If she colours in her drawings the Mont Marte Double Ended Art Markers are our pick. Forty-eight alcohol markers with a small tip at one end and a chisel at the other, which means she can do fine detail and fill a background with the same pen.

They're a big step up from the markers she probably uses at school. Alcohol-based ink gives bold, even colour and lets different shades blend into each other much more smoothly, which is why these markers are so popular for character art. They're also massively popular with young artists right now.

Mont Marte is a great first step into alcohol markers without the price tag of other brands. The 48-piece set gives her enough colours to experiment, comes in its own case, and works whether this is her first set or an addition to a collection she's already building.

If you have no clue what she already owns, this is one of the safer picks in the guide. Markers get used up and colours run out, so an extra set gives her more shades rather than duplicating one very specific tool.

Smaller options: Premium Dual Tip Alcohol Ink Markers, 24pc or 12pc. Same ink, fewer colours. The 12pc is a good add-on rather than a main gift.

Copic Sketch Art Marker Set of 6

Best for 14+ · portraits, characters and the teen who's already into markers

The natural step up from a starter marker set.

Six pens can look steep until you know the name. Copic is the globally recognised name in alcohol markers, and it's a brand young artists tend to get very excited about. The markers are refillable and the nibs can be replaced, so they're designed to stay in her collection rather than be used up and thrown away.

The sets come split by theme, including skin tones, pastels and earth colours. Go for skin tones if you're unsure. They're the best for portraits and character work, and most marker sets don't include them, so it's an unlikely double up.

Think of it a little like jewellery: the box might be small, but the value is in the quality and how special it feels to receive. Pair it with a marker pad, or let it shine as a beautiful little gift on its own.

Sakura Pigma Micron Manga Sets

Best for 13+ · line work and detail

These are the pens she uses to line and finish her drawings. If you've seen her outlining sketches with a black texta or ballpoint pen, this is the upgrade.

Pigma Microns use waterproof, pigment-based ink that dries cleanly and holds up when she adds colour over the top. The lines stay crisp and even instead of going patchy or scratchy, which makes a huge difference to a finished drawing.

The manga sets include a mix of nib sizes, from very fine points for tiny details like eyes and hair through to thicker lines for bold outlines, plus a brush-style tip for more expressive marks.

They may look like an unremarkable little pack of black pens, But Microns are one of those names artists know. If she draws anime, characters or comics, there’s a very good chance she’ll recognise them straight away and know they’re a genuinely useful, quality addition to her drawing kit.

Mont Marte Technical Drawing Pens, 12pc

Best for 12+ · drawing, outlining and detail work

The Mont Marte Technical Drawing Pens do a similar job to the Sakura Pigma Microns at a more affordable price point, and come with a generous range of nib sizes and shapes in the one pack.

These are my personal favourites. I've rebought this exact set about five times, so this recommendation is very much coming from experience. They're great for everything from tiny details and fine outlines through to thicker, bolder lines.

If you're looking for a really useful all-round fineliner set, or an easy add-on to another art gift, this is the one I'd tack on. You get plenty of variety in the one pack, they’re genuinely useful, and they’re the sort of pens that actually get used.

Sakura Gelly Roll Pens

Best for 12+ · highlights, details, white on dark

Another gift that's popping up on every list this year, helped along by the adult colouring boom.

Sakura Gelly Roll Pens are fully opaque, which is the whole point. The ink sits on top of whatever it's drawn on instead of soaking in, so she can put white over black, add highlights on top of finished colour work, or draw straight onto dark paper.

If she draws characters with big eyes, journals, uses colouring in books or draws anything in a cartoon style, these are a no-brainer. The white highlight on an eye or on hair is the detail that makes those drawings pop, and there isn't really another pen that does it. They get plenty of use in card making and craft projects too.

They come in white, brights, pastels and metallics. If you're unsure, get white plus one coloured set. White is the one she'll use most and the one she'll run out of.

Talens Art Creation Sketchbooks

All ages

Talens Art Creation sketchbooks have become a real favourite with young artists, partly because they're lovely to draw in and partly because they come in so many colours, from baby pinks and lilacs through to deep reds, greens and blues. They also come in just about every shape and size: pocket size, landscape, portrait, big books, tiny books.

The paper's thicker than an average sketchbook and the hard cover takes a beating, so it survives living in a school bag.

Mont Marte Discovery Sketch Book A4

If you're looking for a simple, useful sketchbook to add onto another art gift, this is the easy option.

The Mont Marte Visual Art Diary is a classic white-paper sketchbook with plenty of room for drawing, doodling, character sketches and experimenting with new supplies. Nothing overly fancy, just the kind of book that actually gets used.

It's especially handy if you're gifting pencils, fineliners or markers and want to give her something she can open and use them in straight away.

If she paints, or likes adding colour to her drawings

If you've seen watercolours on her desk, little painted sketches in her book, or she likes adding colour over her drawings, this is where we'd look.

Watercolour is a really popular next step for young artists because you can do a lot with a very small set. And unlike the chalky palettes you might remember from school, good watercolour can be rewetted, blended, layered and lifted back off the page.

It's worth looking here even if she doesn't call herself a painter. Some of our favourite sets below are just as good for adding metallic details, highlights and little pops of colour to drawings.

Our pick: Kuretake Gansai Tambi Starry Colours and Pearl Colours

Best for 12+ · metallic details, highlights and small paintings

Kuretake Gansai Tambi has become a big favourite with young artists, and the Starry and Pearl sets make especially beautiful gifts.

They're traditional Japanese watercolours in large, flat pans with beautifully rich colours. Starry gives you deeper metallic shades, while Pearl is softer and lighter, and both leave a fine shimmer on the page rather than chunky craft glitter.

What makes them so good is that the shimmer doesn’t come at the expense of the paint itself. They’re still rich, beautiful watercolours that can be used in proper artwork, not something she’ll play with once and forget about.

And she doesn’t need to paint full watercolour landscapes to enjoy them. They’re brilliant for metallic details over illustrations, lettering, pen drawings and other mixed-media work.

Also worth a look: Gem and Opal Colours give her even more shimmery shades. Two coordinating sets together make a really lovely present.

Kuretake Gansai Tambi 24 and 36 Colour Sets

Best for 14+ · the teen who already loves watercolour

Kuretake Gansai Tambi is a beautiful Japanese watercolour range, with large pans, rich colour and a gorgeous green box that makes it feel like a gift before she's even opened the paints. If she's already a watercolour girl, this is one cracker of an upgrade, and Christmas is a very good excuse for it.

The Kuretake Gansai Tambi 24 set is plenty for most young artists, while the Kuretake Gansai Tambi 36 set gives her a bigger palette to play with if she paints all the time or you're after a more substantial main present.

This is one of those Christmas gifts where the product and the presentation both feel special. If you know she loves watercolour and want to treat her to something special, you really can't go wrong here.

Kuretake Gansai Tambi Portable Watercolour Set

Best for 13+ · sketchbooks, travel and painting away from home

This isn't really a smaller version of the studio sets. It's for a different kind of artist.

The Kuretake Gansai Tambi Portable Watercolour Set packs away neatly, with a brush that sits inside the case and its own built-in mixing area, so it’s a complete little painting setup in one compact pack. She can throw it in a bag and paint at school, outside, at a friend's house or anywhere she takes her sketchbook.

If she's always drawing out and about, carries a sketchbook everywhere or likes the idea of painting outside, we'd choose this over one of the bigger sets. If most of her art happens at a desk at home, go for the 24-colour set instead.

Mont Marte Watercolour Half Pan Set, 73pc in Tin

Best for 12+ · upgrading from a starter watercolour set

The Mont Marte Watercolour Half Pan Set 73pc is one of our top-selling watercolour sets, and it really comes into its own at Christmas.

You get 73 colours in one tin, including brights, softer shades and metallics, so she has a much bigger palette to experiment with without needing to mix every colour herself.

It also makes a great gift visually. The tin keeps everything together, the colour range feels generous, and despite how tiny half pans look, they last a surprisingly long time.

If she's still painting from a little school palette and you want to give her a big upgrade without stepping into premium Japanese paints, this is a really safe middle ground.

Mont Marte Gouache

Best for 12+ · illustration, bold colour and the teen who wants to try something new

If you know she likes painting but don't really know what she paints, gouache is a fun direction to go.

Gouache is one of the biggest rising trends in art right now and has been climbing steadily for a few years. It behaves a little like watercolour and acrylic, but dries opaque and completely matte, so she can paint light over dark and the surface has no shine at all.

That flat, storybook finish is why it's the medium behind traditional animation backgrounds, including Studio Ghibli and classic Disney, so it’s a particularly lovely choice if she’s into anime, animation or book illustration. It's also why gouache photographs and scans so well, which matters if she posts her work, and it's very satisfying to experiment with even if she's never used it before. If she already owns watercolours and you want to give her something different, this is where we'd look.

Holbein Acrylic Gouache Set, 12 x 12ml

Best for 14+ · the teen who already loves gouache

This is a "she'd love it, but probably wouldn't justify buying it for herself" Christmas gift.

Holbein is the leading name in Western gouache, and its Acrylic Gouache is a beautiful step up if she's already painting regularly and wants something more premium to work with.

The 12-colour set gives her a solid working palette without going straight into one of the enormous sets, and she can mix plenty more colours from there.

This isn't the one we'd choose for someone who's only just discovering painting. But if gouache is already her thing and you want to give her the nicer version she's been eyeing off, this is a very good place to start.

What to get a teen who loves colouring, sketching and lettering

The upgrade gifts. If she loves coloured pencils, sketching or decorating a page, these are the boxed sets that look like presents and hold up to real use.

Our pick: Mont Marte Signature Drawing and Illustration Set in Tin, 51pc

Best for 12+ · finding out what she likes

The Mont Marte Signature Drawing and Illustration Set is Probably the easiest gift in this guide if the extent of your art knowledge is "I know she's always drawing something."

Fifty-one pieces in a metal tin she'll keep: graphite pencils from light to very dark, tonal pencils, charcoal, pastels, blending stumps, kneadable erasers, rulers, and a sharpening block of the sort professionals actually use.

It's the right gift when you know she draws but not what she draws, because it lets her work out which material suits her without you having to guess. It feels professional rather than like a teen's kit, and because it all comes together in one tin, it feels like a Christmas present rather than a handful of supplies you've tried to match yourself.

Faber-Castell Polychromos Colour Pencil Tin of 36

Best for 13+ · serious coloured pencil work

The Faber Castell Polychromos Colour Pencils 36pc nearly went in the main presents section.

Polychromos are the pencil brand artists aspire to, and if she's a coloured pencil girl she'll know the name. They're oil-based rather than wax-based, which is why they feel nothing like the pencils you remember from school.

The 36-colour tin is a really useful range, and it's lovely enough to give on its own. If you want to go bigger, the 48 in a wooden case is in our main presents section below.

They're definitely an investment compared with most pencils in this guide. But if she already spends hours with coloured pencils, this is the Christmas upgrade.

Mont Marte Premium Colour Pencils, 72pc in Wooden Box

Best for 11+ · the safe, brilliant gift

This is one of our biggest Christmas sellers, so if it's on your list, we wouldn't leave it until Christmas Eve.

You get 72 colours laid out in a hinged wooden box that opens out in tiers, and it has that "oh wow" moment when she lifts the lid.

If she's into coloured pencils, or honestly any kind of art, and you're not set on Polychromos, this is where we'd point you. Premium quality, artist grade, beautifully presented, and far more colour for your money.

She gets a huge colour range to work with, the box feels special, and it's something she can keep coming back to as her art changes. If you want one wrapped gift under the tree and you're not sure what she'd choose herself, this is a very easy yes.

Mont Marte Premium Watercolour Pencils, 72pc in Wooden Box

Best for 12+ · drawing, watercolour and the girl who does a bit of everything

Another of our top sellers at Christmas, and an easy pick if you want something that feels a little special.

Seventy-two pencils laid out in a sleek hinged wooden box. It looks like a serious present before she's used a single one.

Watercolour pencils are more versatile than they sound. She can use them as ordinary coloured pencils, then add water with a brush whenever she wants to blend the colour into a painted effect. They're also used constantly for adding detail on top of finished work.

If she draws, paints, or you honestly aren't sure which she prefers, this covers a lot of bases. It's also a really gentle introduction to watercolour without handing her an entirely new medium to figure out.

Mont Marte Calligraphy Set in Metal Tin, 32pc

Best for 13+ · lettering, journalling and writing

This is another really popular Christmas gift, and one to look at if she spends more time decorating pages, writing headings and making elaborate notes than drawing people or landscapes.

Inside the tin she gets different calligraphy nibs, coloured inks and a workbook to help her get started, which is useful when you're gifting something she may not have tried before.

It's particularly lovely for the journal girl, the stationery girl, the one who writes letters, or the teen whose school notes somehow look better than most people's wedding invitations.

Art books

Best for 13+ · learning something new

An art book is one of those things she might stand in the shop flicking through for twenty minutes and still never buy herself, which is exactly what makes it such a good present.

There are books for drawing, painting, character design, chibi, gouache, clay and just about every other rabbit hole she might disappear down next.

If she's still figuring out what kind of art she likes, a good book gives her ideas and something new to learn rather than just adding more supplies to the pile.

They're lovely on their own, but we especially like them paired with the materials they teach. A gouache book with a small paint set, a character drawing book with fineliners, or a colouring book with a beautiful pencil set makes the gift feel much more considered.

What to get the teen artist who already has everything

This is the hardest gift to buy and the one most people get wrong. The answer isn't more materials. It's the things that make her materials better to use, and the things she'd never spend her own money on.

Our pick: TOYO Steel Toolboxes

All ages · a home for her whole kit

New to Art Shed this year and already one of the main things people keep asking us about.

Japanese steel toolboxes in colours that look like nothing else on a shelf: Italian Yellow, Japanese Indigo, Fuji Purple and Antique Green. Artists have very quickly decided they want to put absolutely everything in them.

Paints, markers, pencils, brushes, little tools, the strange collection of erasers she apparently needs six of. It all gets a home, and they range from small boxes that slip into a bag up to large cantilever boxes that fold open into multiple adjustable compartments.

You might be wondering why an arty teenager would get this excited about a toolbox. Don't try to understand them. Just trust us.

Sizes: the T-152 for a small kit, the T-190 for the usual choice, and the T-320 if she carries a lot.

Mont Marte Brush Set in Wooden Box, 7pc

Best for 14+ · the gift she wouldn't buy herself

Wooden box sets are ideal for Christmas. They're beautifully presented, they need almost no wrapping, and they feel like a real gift the moment she lifts the lid.

This one solves a problem most artists have and won't admit to. Brushes aren't always the exciting thing an artist spends her own money on. New paint? Absolutely. Replacing the brushes she's been abusing for the last two years? Somehow less urgent. A good brush set is one of the most useful things you can give someone who paints.

Seven brushes in a sleek wooden case, in a range of shapes and sizes she probably doesn't have yet.

It comes in oil and acrylic versions. If you're unsure, go acrylic. She can use those with oils too, and with most other mediums.

If you know she paints regularly but already seems to have every colour under the sun, this is a very good upgrade to give her instead.

Daylight Wafer 2 Ultra Bright Light Pad, A3

Best for 13+ · comics, animation and clean line work

If you've heard her complain about wrecking her good paper with sketch lines and eraser marks before she's even started colouring, or caught her holding a page up against a window, this is the gift for her.

It's a slim, bright, evenly lit panel she lays paper on top of. She roughs out her drawing on cheaper paper, puts her good sheet over the top and traces the final version cleanly. No eraser marks, no ruined pages.

It's how a lot of comic artists and animators work, and it makes the whole process faster, easier and a lot more fun, without any complicated tech.

This is one of the more unexpected gifts in the guide, which is part of why we like it. It doesn't just give her another art supply, it gives her a better way to work.

Mont Marte Multi-Purpose Storage Box

All ages · for the perpetually disorganised

If she's always losing supplies, has brushes rolling around every surface, or her bedroom desk looks vaguely like a paint-related crime scene, here you go.

Light timber, tiered compartments and room for brushes, paints, paper and tools. It sits nicely on a desk and travels to school or uni without everything ending up loose in a bag.

Storage might not sound like the most exciting Christmas gift, but for someone who already has plenty of supplies, having somewhere nice to put them is surprisingly satisfying, and it looks sleek and professional.

Mont Marte Desk Easel, Medium Tabletop Box Style

Best for 12+ · working comfortably in a small space

If she's forever hunched over the kitchen table or trying to paint flat on a tiny bedroom desk, a tabletop easel is a very useful upgrade.

This one props her artwork up at an adjustable angle and has built-in storage for some of her supplies, without taking over the whole room.

It's especially good for a teen who doesn't have a dedicated art space yet. She can set herself up at a desk or table, work comfortably, then fold everything away again when she's finished.

Artograph EZ Tracer

Best for 12+ · proportion, faces and working bigger

A small projector that throws a reference image onto paper or canvas so she can trace the proportions and then draw over the top.

This solves the problem almost everyone hits when they try to work larger. She's used to drawing small, and scaling a sketch up to canvas size goes wrong in ways that are hard to diagnose. With this, she sketches small, projects it big and draws straight onto the canvas.

Artists have used projectors for centuries, and there's no tech to set up. It's also one of the fastest ways to build confidence with faces and hands.

Art Shed Gift Voucher

$40 – $250

And if you're truly stuck, or by this point suffering a bit of decision fatigue (sorry), a gift card is still a thoughtful option.

For a teenager who already has a specific way of working, choosing her own colours is often the better present. It's also one of our most popular Christmas options and, conveniently, the only thing in this guide we can confidently promise she doesn't already own.

Big Christmas gifts for teen artists

This is the big one. If you're looking for the main present under the tree for the artist in your life, and she's been on the extra-nice list this year, these are the gifts we'd be looking at.

At this price point, though, we'd do a tiny bit of detective work first. You don't need to understand the medium yourself, but it's worth knowing whether she's a watercolour girl, a coloured-pencil girl, an illustrator, or the one who disappears into her room to paint for six hours.

These are the beautiful upgrades artists often dream about but have a hard time justifying for themselves, which is exactly what makes them such good Christmas presents.

Our pick: Kuretake Gansai Tambi 100 Colours, Limited Edition

Best for 15+ · the serious watercolour girl

If she already loves Kuretake Gansai Tambi, this is the kind of set she’ll be very excited to add to her collection.

The complete 100-colour Gansai Tambi collection brings together Kuretake's traditional Japanese watercolours in one huge, tiered wooden box, including metallics and all those beautiful, slightly unusual colours that make the range so loved.

Kuretake themselves describe the 100-colour collection as a gift set, and we agree. This isn't just more paint. It's the kind of extravagant upgrade a watercolour artist is very unlikely to casually buy herself, and as a limited edition, it won't be around forever.

We'd only go here if you know she already loves watercolour, and ideally if Kuretake is a name you've heard her mention before.

If it is? Good luck topping this next Christmas.

Holbein Acrylic Gouache, 36 x 20ml

Best for 15+ · the illustrator or gouache girl

If she already loves gouache and you want to give her the very nice version, this is the main-present upgrade, and the bigger sibling of the Holbein set in our painting section.

Thirty-six 20ml tubes give her a huge working palette to experiment with, particularly if she loves bold illustration, character work, graphic shapes and that smooth, matte style gouache is known for.

We wouldn't choose it blindly for someone who's only starting to paint. But if gouache is already her thing, this is the kind of box that gets a very different reaction when she realises what you've bought her.

Faber-Castell Polychromos and Pitt Graphite Matt Gift Set, 40pc

Best for 14+ · the teen who takes drawing seriously

This is one of those sets where the difference isn't really about getting more pencils. It's about giving her better versions of the tools she already reaches for constantly.

Polychromos are Faber-Castell's artist pencils, with rich, long-lasting colour and strong leads made for layering and detailed work. Alongside them are Pitt Graphite Matt pencils, designed to create much less shine than ordinary graphite, which is particularly useful when she photographs or scans her drawings.

So while it might look like a beautiful box of pencils, there's a lot going on underneath.

It gives her premium colour and graphite in the same collection, which makes it especially good for the teenager who still jumps between realistic pencil drawings, portraits, coloured illustrations and whatever else has caught her attention that week.

If she draws constantly but hasn't settled into one medium yet, this is one of the strongest main gifts in the guide.

Daylight Lumi Task Lamp

All ages · the teen who makes art at her desk every day

Stay with us here, because a lamp needs some explaining.

The Lumi isn't a decorative desk lamp. It's a work light designed for artists and anyone else who needs to see colour and fine detail accurately.

It gives her a broad, bright area of daylight-balanced light, so the reds, blues, skin tones and tiny tonal differences she's painting at 9pm look much closer to how they'll look in natural daylight the next morning. That becomes surprisingly important once she starts taking her art seriously.

The long adjustable arm also means she can bring the light directly over a drawing or painting, rather than relying on whatever ceiling light happens to be in her room.

Is it the flashiest present when it's wrapped? Maybe not. But if she spends hours at her desk making art, she'll benefit from it every single time she sits down to work, and those tend to make very, very good presents.

Faber-Castell Polychromos Artists' Colour Pencils, Wooden Case of 48

Best for 14+ · the serious coloured-pencil artist

If coloured pencil is unquestionably her thing, this is one of those gifts you remember receiving, and the big version of the Polychromos tin in our upgrade section.

Polychromos aren't expensive because there happen to be 48 pencils in the box. You're paying for professional artist pencils designed to give her control, consistency and colour that lasts. The leads are thick and resist breaking, and the colour can be built from very soft layers through to deep, saturated tones, which matters enormously to someone who might spend twenty or thirty hours on one drawing.

Then there's the box. Instead of opening a tin, she lifts the lid on a beautiful wooden case with 48 pencils laid out like a collection. It's the kind of gift that lives on her desk long after Christmas rather than disappearing into the art cupboard.

And because Polychromos are sold individually too, she doesn't have to replace the whole set when she works a favourite colour down to a stub. She can keep building the collection over time.

Stocking fillers for teen artists under $15

For stockings, or to go with something bigger.

Mont Marte Discovery Sketch Book A5 

Mont Marte Visual Art Diary A6

Mont Marte Mini Detail Brush Set 5pc

 Mont Marte Graphic Fineliners 7pc

 Mont Marte Gallery Series Brush Sets

Mont Marte Metallic Watercolour Cake 37pc

 Mont Marte Calligraphy Workbook

Frequently asked questions

Is this guide only for teen girls?

Not at all. Art supplies don't really care about gender, and neither do we.

This guide is built around the things we've seen teen girls gravitate towards most over the past year: the markers they ask for by name, the sketchbooks they carry everywhere, the paint sets they stand in front of for twenty minutes and the big-ticket things they quietly add to the mental wish list. We spend a lot of time around artists here at Art Shed, and we've been keeping notes.

If your artist is a teen boy, we've put together a Christmas gift guide for teen boys who love art too. And if they're twenty-five, fifty-five, or just someone who would lose their mind over a beautiful box of pencils, there's nothing stopping you from stealing a recommendation from this list.

Still not sure? That's okay. You don't need to become an art-supply expert before Christmas. Start with what you know they already love and choose the upgrade from there, or come and ask us. Helping people work out "they draw a lot... what do I buy them?" is very much part of the job.

Ready to find their present?

Shop all Christmas gifts for artists →

Or jump straight into gift sets, markers and pens, watercolour and more Christmas favourites.

Everything in this guide has been hand-picked by the artists and art lovers on our team, based on what we see people actually using, asking about and getting excited over.

And if you'd rather see everything before you commit, come visit us in store at Art Shed Moorabbin. We're always happy to help you narrow it down, even if the only information you have is "she does art."