It’s the most colourful time of the year,  and not just because our shelves are stacked with paint sets, shimmering pastels, and gift boxes that feel like they were handpicked by Santa’s art director. We’re talking luxe wooden boxes, French pigments, limited-edition releases, and brand-new treasures that you’ll want to hoard for yourself (and maybe, if they’re lucky, gift to someone else).

Some of these beauties have already landed in-store. Some are en route. But every single one has been chosen because it’s practical and stunning  and backed by the Art Shed seal of approval: if it doesn’t spark joy, performance, and a little bit of drama, it’s not going under our tree.

We’ve split this blog into the key categories,Pastels, Watercolours, Mixed Media, Luxe Sets, Stocking Stuffers, and more, so you can navigate your way through the best of the best with ease. Or just scroll and screenshot everything. We don’t judge.

Pastels: Creamy, Pigmented, and Oh-So-Giftable

Sennelier 6 Half Pastel Sets. Autumnal Landscape, Dark Skin Tones, Emerald Sea, Pale Skin Tones, Seascape, Spring Countryside, Stormy Sky, Summer Sky, Winter Mountains

If you’re looking to give a gift that’s equal parts poetic and powerful, look no further These curated 6-piece sets from Sennelier are inspired by real-world colour stories, from dusky twilight skies to wind-swept coastal cliffs. Each pastel is buttery-soft, made with high pigment and natural binders like gum tragacanth, and glides across paper like silk. They’re small, yes, but mighty. Think of them as the fine fragrances of the pastel world: beautifully designed, emotionally driven, and destined to be collected.

30 Half Pastels Set ‘Urban Landscape’

This moody, modern set is made for the city-dweller who sees colour in concrete. Tones lean smoky and atmospheric, think misty skylines, rusted signage, and wet pavement. Half-stick format means more colour options in less space, and the soft texture makes layering and blending feel effortless. This is street-inspired luxury in a box.

12 Soft Pastels Set ‘Introductory’

For the beginner who deserves the good stuff. This set offers lush, high-chroma colour with a professional feel, soft enough to smudge, rich enough to layer, and pigmented enough to make a real impression. Whether they’re dipping a toe into portraiture or florals, this is a reliable gateway into the pastel life.

Tips from the Shed: Pair soft pastels with pastel paper or cold-pressed cotton for the best grip. Don’t forget to seal it — your future self (and your walls) will thank you.

Oil Pastels & Sticks: For Artists Who Like to Get Messy (In Style)

Sennelier Oil Pastel Sets

Available in:

6pc: Discovery, Iridescent, Fluorescent, Pears, Rose in Bloom, Seascape
 

12pc & 24pc: Assorted Colours
 

These aren’t the cheap, waxy pastels you remember from primary school. Sennelier oil pastels are creamy, highly pigmented, and blend like butter. The 6pc sets are themed and gift-ready, ideal for stocking fillers or as an intro to the range. The 12 and 24-piece sets bring the drama with expanded palettes, perfect for expressive layering, textured effects, and vibrant underpainting.

Each stick contains a high oil content that keeps them workable, meaning you can smear, scrape, or build them up like paint. Messy, vibrant, indulgent.. just how we like it.

12 Oil Sticks Set in Wooden Box

Solid oil paint in stick form, packed into a polished wooden box that feels part art supply, part artefact. These oil sticks allow artists to paint directly onto canvas with the texture of traditional oils, minus the brush. The formula dries to a rich, velvety finish perfect for expressive works, abstract gestures, and spontaneous studio moments. This is a hands-on, sleeves-up, all-heart kind of gift.

6 Oil Sticks Set ‘Introductory Selection’

For artists curious about oil sticks but not ready to commit to a big box. This six-piece set offers a curated taste of the texture, vibrancy, and freedom that oil sticks provide, with enough range to explore layering, mark-making, and mixed media applications.

Watercolour: From Travel Tins to Collector Sets

Sennelier Artist Quality Watercolour Metal Box – 24 Half Pans

The Rolls Royce of watercolour tins. This premium set includes 24 hand-poured half pans crafted in France with honey-based binders for extra brilliance and longevity. The pigment load is intense, the pans rewet smoothly, and the colour payoff? Absolutely luminous. Whether painting outdoors or in-studio, this set elevates every brushstroke.

Sennelier Artist Quality 12 Half Pan Sets Choose from three curated collections, Granulated Colours, Intense Colours, or Neutral Colours

plus a pocket box that includes 12 pans and 12 empty slots for your dream palette. Ideal for serious watercolourists looking to build a palette with purpose.

Sennelier La Petite Aquarelle Watercolour Sets

Hands-Free Box Set with Magic Arm
This is the travel setup of your dreams. A fully adjustable ‘magic arm’ holds your palette off your desk or sketchpad, freeing up valuable working space and keeping things ergonomic. Includes half pans, a water brush, and mixing space. A favourite among urban sketchers and plein air painters.

La Petite Aquarelle Black Box with 16 Half Pans
A sleek upgrade from the classic travel tin, this set includes a stylish black box, 16 curated pans, and a layout that’s designed for flexibility. A great mid-range set for someone who wants a little more without going full pro.

12 Half Pans Travel Set
Perfect for artists on the move. Includes essential colours, a compact format, and built-in mixing space. Ideal for holidays, café sketching, or creating while commuting.

12 Tube Travel Set
This student-grade set includes 12 vibrant tubes in a portable case, ideal for artists who prefer squeezing out fresh paint. Great for classroom setups or artists working on larger washes.

Artist Quality Iridescent Watercolour Sets

Set 1: Introductory Set of 6 Tubes
This curated set features a selection of metallic shades perfect for layering over dry watercolour, adding sparkle to florals, or illuminating a dark background. Shades are bright, bold, and versatile.

Set 2: Pastels & Metallics Set of 6 Tubes
A more specialised offering for artists who want shimmer and subtlety. These colours include pearl-finish pastel tones and deeper metallics that shine on both light and dark paper. Think icy blues, champagne golds, and luminous rose.

Both sets are made with the same artist-grade binder and pigment system as Sennelier’s core line, ensuring high lightfastness and a consistent finish.

Tips from the Shed: These shine brightest on black or toned paper, but also work beautifully over dried layers of standard watercolour. Let dry between layers for the best results.

Sketchbooks, Journals & Paper Treasures

Hahnemühle Sketch Books – A4 & A5

A quiet achiever with cult status. These lightly textured, acid-free books are ideal for dry media, ink, and even light watercolour washes. The binding is strong, the covers are elegant, and the pages hold up beautifully to layering. A thoughtful gift for the everyday sketcher.

TAC Sketch Books – Various Styles

Art Deco, Forest Green, Milkmaid, Pink Champagne, Shiny Silver, White Gold, the TAC range is as aesthetic as it is practical. Inside: heavyweight, bleed-proof pages that are built to handle markers, pencils, fineliners and light paint. Outside: total shelf candy.

Sennelier accordion-style sketchbooks 

Available in standard and mustard editions, these sketchbooks are made for artists on the go. The paper takes pencil, ink, and light washes with ease, while the flat-lay binding makes it ideal for cafés, benches, and anywhere else inspiration hits.

Khadi Folded Card & Envelope Set (15 × 15cm)

Handmade in India using 100% recycled cotton rag, these luxurious square cards are perfect for holiday notes, thank-yous, or mini artworks. They’re textured, tactile, and come with matching envelopes, ready to gift or post.

Fabriano Leporello Cromia Journals

Accordion-fold Italian journals with smooth pages and dreamy covers. Available in light ochre, blue, green, grey, and more. Perfect for panoramic sketching, comic sequences, or visual journaling with flair.

Watercolour Bookmark Pads – Cold Pressed & Gift Set

Choose between the 15-sheet 100% cotton pad or the beautifully boxed set that includes three Schmincke watercolour tubes and a Da Vinci brush. A charming little gift that’s as useful as it is adorable.

Fluid 100 Watercolour Pad – 300gsm Large Landscape

100% cotton, mould-made in France, and an absolute dream to work on. This heavyweight pad handles wet washes and reworking without buckling. A professional’s choice for everything from landscapes to large-scale experiments.

Linen Watercolour Pads – Various Sizes

Refined and ready to gift. Bound in linen with cold-pressed 200–300gsm paper inside, these pads come in square, portrait, and landscape formats. Elegant, durable, and a low-key flex for watercolourists.

Calligraphy & Ink: Write It Like You Mean It

For artists who like their lines crisp, their inks punchy, and their pens just a little bit extra

This range isn’t just for people who hand-letter birthday cards. It’s for designers, illustrators, journalers, and typography nerds who know that the right pen and the right ink can change everything. Whether you’re chasing that perfect hairline flourish or building a bulletproof lettering setup, these sets are built to perform, and they make bloody good gifts too.

Speedball Calligraphy Collector’s Set

The big one. Comes loaded with a full range of nibs, pen holders, and a step-by-step instructional booklet to help you master broad edge and pointed pen styles. Ideal for someone wanting to try both traditional and modern calligraphy with the right gear from day one.

Speedball Complete Calligraphy Kit

A reliable all-rounder with everything you need to dive into the world of beautiful writing. Includes two pens, a variety of nibs, and ink,  all packed in a neat case with clear guides to get started. Practical, compact, and genuinely useful.

Speedball Modern Calligraphy Kit

Designed for the looser, more expressive styles you see on wedding invites and menus. Features a flexible nib, straight pen holder, and black ink,  a great intro kit for modern brush and script lettering.

Speedball Fountain Pen Set

Includes three fountain pens with varying nib widths, converters, and black ink cartridges. Smooth, consistent ink flow makes this ideal for journaling, sketching, or everyday writing with a little extra flair.

Speedball Hand Lettering Brush Marker Set

Includes a set of firm, flexible brush markers in black with a fine point for clean strokes. Great for signage, illustrations, or anyone who wants the look of brush lettering without the ink bottles.

Speedball India Ink 12-Colour Set with Palette

Waterproof, permanent, and seriously vibrant,  these pigmented inks can be used with dip pens, brushes, or for washes. The set comes with a mixing palette, making it great for custom colours and layered effects.

Speedball India Ink 29ml Bottles

Available in a range of gem-inspired shades including Amethyst, Teal Agate, Pink Tourmaline and more. These highly pigmented inks are lightfast, permanent when dry, and compatible with dip pens, ruling pens, and brushes. Each bottle is 29ml with a dropper lid for easy control.

Encre Ink Set in Wooden Box (12 × 10ml Colours + Pen and Nibs)

This premium boxed set includes 12 brilliant colours of French ink along with a dip pen and multiple nibs. Great for artists exploring inky techniques like linework, calligraphy, or layered mixed media pieces. Plus, it looks damn good on a desk.

Herbin Glass Pen & Ink Sets

These include a hand-blown glass dip pen and matching 10ml bottle of Herbin ink. The fine grooves in the pen allow for smooth ink flow and a surprising amount of writing time per dip. Perfect for journaling, sketching, or adding a luxe touch to your stationery kit.

Tips from the Shed:

Use bleed-proof or smooth hot-pressed paper for best results.

Let your layers dry between colours if you want to avoid smudgy chaos.

Want to gift a full setup? Pair a calligraphy kit with a premium sketchbook and one or two individual ink bottles. Easy win.

Luxe Gift Sets, Tools & Tracers

Winsor & Newton Essence of Australia Wooden Box Sets

Each of these premium sets has been curated not just for quality, but for story. Inspired by Australia’s natural palette, from ochre desert sands to deep ocean blues and dusty eucalyptus greens, every box is a love letter to the land and the art it inspires. Housed in elegant wooden cases, they’re the kind of gifts that feel ceremonial to open.

Winsor & Newton Artists Oil Paint Essence of Australia Colour Collection Wooden Box Set

For the traditionalist with a love for texture, depth, and timeless technique. This set includes artist-quality oil paints with maximum pigment load, buttery consistency, and impeccable permanence. Comes complete with brushes and accessories designed to help artists get straight into the work, no faffing, just painting.

Winsor & Newton Winton Oil Essence Of Australia Colour Collection Wooden Box Set

Winton strikes the perfect balance between quality and affordability. It’s ideal for artists who are serious about their oils but not yet ready to splurge on the full professional line. This set includes a wide palette of richly pigmented colours, plus everything needed to start building an oil practice.

Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolour Essence Of Australia Colour Collection Wooden Box Set

Handcrafted with the highest pigment concentration and a carefully milled binder system, these watercolours are pure luxury. The selection of colours is refined, balanced, and highly lightfast, with soft washes and luminous intensity. Includes professional brushes and a mixing palette, a dream for seasoned watercolourists.

Cotman Watercolour Essence of Australia Colour Collection Wooden Box Set

A special edition from the beloved Cotman student range, curated to celebrate the rich tones of the Aussie landscape. Housed in a beautifully crafted wooden box, this set features Cotman’s most versatile watercolours alongside essential brushes and tools. A practical and inspiring gift that feels premium without the pro price tag,  perfect for artists levelling up their watercolour journey.

Winsor & Newton Professional Acrylic Essence Of Australia Colour Collection Wooden Box Set

Bold, brilliant, and built to perform, this set includes heavy body acrylics that hold shape, mix beautifully, and dry with a vibrant satin finish. Ideal for artists who love texture, layering, and a bit of punch. Brushes, palette, and tools included for a full start-to-finish acrylic setup.

Every box is premium in feel, practical in contents, and absolutely stunning wrapped in a bow. A true wow moment under the tree and a serious upgrade from socks.

Cotman Watercolour Compact Set with 14 Half Pans + Brush

A crowd favourite that’s practical, affordable, and reliable. The Cotman range balances quality and price perfectly, and this compact palette is the ultimate take-anywhere companion.

Heritage Cotman Watercolour Brush Wooden Box Set

A brush upgrade in a handsome wooden box. This curated set of synthetic brushes covers everything from fine detail to juicy washes, and pairs beautifully with any Cotman or W&N paint set.

Hamilton Studio Mahogany Easel & Mersey Studio A Frame Mahogany Easel

Handcrafted in rich mahogany, these studio easels are the real deal. Adjustable, elegant, and built to last a lifetime. Whether it’s a centrepiece in the studio or a quiet flex in the lounge room, it’s a gift that says, “Yes, you really are an artist.”

Artograph EZ Tracer & LED Tracer

The cheat code for scaling up your sketches. These projectors help you transfer and trace with ease, perfect for murals, paintings, or hobbyists building confidence with proportions. The LED version is brighter and sleeker, while the EZ Tracer is ideal for beginners.

Encre Ink Set in Wooden Box (12 × 10ml Colours + Pen and Nibs)

A premium wooden case filled with richly pigmented inks and classic calligraphy nibs. Elegant, nostalgic, and perfect for inky experimentation.

118 Masters Mop by NEEF (Sizes 0, 10/0, 2, 5/0, 6)

These mops are the softest of the soft. They hold huge amounts of water, glide across paper like butter, and are perfect for juicy skies, dreamy blends, and big washes. If you paint with watercolour, you need at least two.

Herbin Glass Pen & Ink Sets (Coral, Emerald, Navy Blue)

A stunning fusion of elegance and function. These French-made glass dip pens are as beautiful as they are practical, especially when paired with Herbin’s luminous inks. Ideal for calligraphy, journaling, or simply writing like a witchy scholar from the 1700s.

Walnut Stain 250ml

This rich, water-soluble brown stain is perfect for ageing paper, wood, or mixed media pieces. A must-have for junk journalers, collage artists, and anyone who wants to add a little drama without harsh chemicals.

Fun & Unexpected Gifts (aka Stocking Stuffers That Rule)

Sennelier Artist Quality Watercolour Dot Card (Full Range)

A full spectrum sampler with every colour in the Sennelier watercolour range. Each dot can be activated with a wet brush, making it ideal for swatching, experimenting, or figuring out your dream palette before investing.

BYRON Paint by Numbers Sets

Designs include: Bird, Butterfly, Aurora Borealis, and Wave
These aren’t your average paint-by-numbers kits. Each one is intricately designed with a full set of paints and brush. Relaxing, frame-worthy, and a great screen-free activity for artists of any age.

Derwent Inktense 12 Pan Ink/Watercolour Paint Travel Set

Intense, vibrant ink in a compact pan format. These colours dry permanent, making them perfect for layering and mixed media. Comes with a waterbrush, sponge, and palette. Portable and punchy.

Derwent Chromaflow Pencils (Tins of 12–150)

Smooth, bold, and built to blend, Chromaflow is Derwent’s answer to premium pencils at an accessible price. The full 150-piece tin is a collector’s dream, while the smaller sets make excellent stocking fillers.

FAQs – Straight From the Shed

What are the best art gifts for beginners?
Start with sketchbooks, pastel sets, or travel watercolour kits like the La Petite Aquarelle range. They’re affordable, beautiful, and practical.

Which products are artist quality vs student grade?
Sennelier, Winsor & Newton Professional, and the Essence of Australia boxes are artist quality. Cotman, Chromaflow, and La Petite Aquarelle are excellent student-grade choices.

What’s the difference between half pans, full pans, and tubes?
Half pans = compact dried paint cakes. Full pans = double the size. Tubes = fresh, creamy paint great for studio work or big washes.

Do you ship Australia-wide?
Sure do! Fast and reliable, from metro hubs to the tiniest towns.

Are these sets limited edition?
Some are. Especially the wooden box sets and Christmas bundles. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.

What paper should I pair with these products?
Use cold-pressed 300gsm for watercolour, pastel paper for chalky media, and smooth, bleed-proof paper for pens and markers.

Can I mix and match these products?
Absolutely. Mix watercolour with ink, pastel over gouache, and more. Just let each layer dry properly and experiment boldly.

What’s a good gift for a teen artist?
Try Chromaflow pencils, Posca pens, or the Inktense travel palette. They're colourful, versatile, and seriously cool.

When does the full Christmas range launch?
It’s already rolling in! But keep checking the site, more goodies drop throughout the season.

Final Words from the Shed

Christmas isn’t just about giving, it’s about giving well. Every single thing in this blog has been hand-picked because it’s beautiful, practical, joy-sparking, and made to be used (not shoved in a drawer). Whether you're shopping for a seasoned artist, a curious beginner, or yourself (yes, that counts), the 2025 Art Shed Christmas Collection is stacked with gifts that truly hit the mark.

From paint tins to pastel sets, easels to inky treasures this year, skip the boring gifts and give something that’ll light up their studio and their face.

Start your list. Send this blog to your group chat. And most importantly?

Stay bold. Stay cheeky. Never settle for beige.

Love,
The Art Shed crew