2024 Art Supply Gift Guide

HALMAIL is back! Here are some art supply recommendations.

Hello dear friends,

After a year-ish of dormancy, HALMAIL is back and now on Substack. In the interim, I moved to Ohio, closed my online shop, had twins, and sold a kid’s book. This newsletter is how I plan to stay in touch, offer art updates and share art supplies I’m loving. If you don’t want to be receiving this, please unsubscribe and I hope you have a nice day!

Yesterday my pal Marian texted me asking what art supplies I’d recommend gifting a youngster who loves making comics, and I realized I wanted to make a gift guide for those who are shopping for the creatives in our lives! I LOVE an art supply gift for anyone with creative inklings. Need convincing? I illustrated my case for why you should give art supplies this year.

OK here we go:

Artograph Light Tracer

This is definitely a gift for someone who A.) has storage space and B.) already likes to draw. But a light box is life-changing. You can pencil sketch roughly on printer paper and then lay your fancy, nice paper on top, turn on the lightboard, and ink away! This one is affordable, light, and a great way for an artist of any age to start honing their drawing practice. Buy here.

An Artistic License

A blank license the recipient can fill out, thus permitting themselves to make art. The back says, "This is issued as a license to make art. It does not mean the art has to be good or make sense." This would be a great stocking-stuffer or addendum to an art supply gift! Buy here. These are made by, yes, me.

Copic Markers

These markers are SO fun. They look kinda like watercolor, blend in neat ways, and are so pleasurable to use I’d say they’d be guaranteed to cause the recipient to make more art. Pricey? Yeah, but they’ll last for a very long time. Buy here.

A Book About Creativity

A book is an art supply, too! Here are a few inspiring books that’ve meaningfully shaped and re-shaped my creative life: What It Is by Lynda Barry, A Year In Practice by Jacqueline Suskin, Make Your Art No Matter What by Beth Pickens, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. My god, if you gave someone all four of these you’d be GOLDEN.

UglyBooks

My husband Jack got me into these colorful little sketchbooks and I love them. Drawing on colorful paper is so fun, an immediate way to see your art through a new lens. Plus, the paper is nice and thick. I like the smaller size notebooks – Jack and I bring them to restaurants and doodle together as we wait for our food. It’s the best! Buy here.

A Pen Sampler from Jetpens

For the art nerd in your life, nothing could be more decadent than a sampler pack of pens from Jetpens. They have packs of waterproof pens (my fave), Gel pens, Fineliners, and many more.

My Art & Books

My art & prints are sold exclusively on BuyOlympia these days. My books are sold wherever books are sold! And also on BuyOlympia!

A Really Cool Paint Palette

I recently got absolutely fed up with my plastic paint trays. So hard to clean! So I ordered some porcelain ones. This one is simply delightful to use and very easy to clean. Buy here.

Have any specific art supply gifty questions? Heck, email me and I’ll try to get back to you! I have twins!

xoxo Hallie