Ultimate Gifts & Staff Picks 2024: Gift Ideas for Artists

Opus Resource Library

Art Is the Ultimate Gift

Art has a magic all its own. It calls us to embrace our creative spirit and makes every moment of making a journey worth taking. It’s a lifelong adventure, filled with experiments, surprises, challenges, and triumphs. Along the way, it shapes who we are and takes us places we never dreamed of. Art truly is a gift that keeps on giving—nurturing our souls while opening doors to endless possibilities.

And the beauty of art doesn’t stop with us. When we create, we share something deeply personal—a spark of emotion, a new way of seeing, a moment of connection. The work of an artist moves others, challenges perspectives, and enriches the world in extraordinary ways. Through our creativity, we uplift and inspire those around us.

What Makes the Perfect Gift for an Artist?

Sometimes, the greatest inspiration comes from something unexpected—a tool we've never dared to try, a material with a story waiting to be told, or a high-quality product we’ve been longing for but haven’t splurged on ourselves. These are the treasures that can reshape how we create, unlock new ideas, and reignite the joy of discovery.

This holiday season, celebrate the artists in your life (or yourself!) with the gift of creative possibilities. Whether it’s a boutique brush, an extraordinary palette, or a unique medium to spark experimentation, art materials make thoughtful, meaningful presents that inspire and empower.

The Opus Team has curated Ultimate Gift Ideas to make your holiday shopping easy and full of inspiration. Discover the perfect creative surprises for every artist on your list—and watch their imagination soar!

More Ultimate Gift Ideas from our Staff!

Leah - Opus Kelowna

The Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolour Tube Studio Case 20 Piece Set

Winsor & Newton watercolours are one of my favourite brands to paint with. They are highly pigmented and offer beautiful washes. This box set has everything needed to start painting. Watercolours also have a special place in my heart since I started learning them with my mom. The tube format allows us to share colours!

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Brady - Opus Marketing

Books

I find endless inspiration in books, and these recent additions to our Opus collection are some of my favourites! This Lonely Planet book about colour (Lonely Planet Travel by Color) is a treasure – not only does it spark ideas for my daily painting practice, but it’s also universally appealing. I can imagine any guest visiting my space flipping through it and feeling inspired. The other two books are incredible aids in my creative process. As someone who loves to paint, I sometimes feel the pressure of making the first mark on a canvas. The ‘15-Minute Art - Painting’ concept is such a relief – it encourages me to create without overthinking. The drawing tips book, How to Rule at Drawing, on the other hand, isn’t just about drawing for me. It’s a tool to explore fresh ways to compose my artwork, pushing me to try new techniques and perspectives. Each of these books offers something unique to keep my creativity flowing!

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Brady with his Ultimate Gift: Art books including The Lonely Planet Travel By Color, 15-Minute Art Painting, and How to Rule at Drawing

GABBY - Opus Customer Support

A hundred Factis Gum Erasers!!

Not only do I go through these erasers very fast, but I lose track of them too, so I try to keep a lot around the house. If I lose one, I quickly find another. They're my favourite eraser. They're very crumbly and shed a lot of eraser dust, but that's what makes it so they don't smudge, which is extremely important to me. If I'm erasing pencil lines after finelining, most erasers will pick up a lot of the ink, leaving the lines faded, but these ones result in the least amount of ink fading while still erasing all the pencil lines. I'm an indulgent person, so if there's something I like and know that I'll actually use, I'll get it for myself. It's happened more than once where someone has gifted me things that I already had, but I will always need more erasers. If you fill my stocking full of these bad boys, I will marry you on the spot.

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Gabby champions for the small but mighty Factis Gum Eraser

Erika - Opus Marketing

WoodZilla Printing Presses

I would love to have a Woodzilla Press for printing linocuts! I've been wanting to get back into printmaking for a while now, and would be excited to have a small, easily portable (and storable) press to help speed up the printing process and get more reliable results with each print. The thought of being able to produce small editions of artwork and cards is so exciting - and this red one is out of this world!

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A woman holding a red and wood Woodzilla Printing Press

Erika with her Ultimate Gift, a Woodzilla Printing Press

KATIE - Opus Kelowna

Speedball Advanced All-in-One Screenprinting Kit

Its truly an all-in-one set! You could feel confident purchasing this set and knowing that the artist you're setting up has everything to start *that day*.

The instructions inside are easy to follow, it includes the remover so you can continue using this gift for many projects to come, and the fact it comes with the correct lamp to make things quick and easy is a game changer. Plus, the colours in the kit can be mixed to achieve custom colours, but the range is a great beginner selection. This is also a tried and true answer, as I gifted this earlier this year and it was a major hit :) This kit, a blank tote bag or some t-shirts, and you can be a professional screen printer in no time.

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Opus Kelowna Staff member Katie holding a box containing the Speedball Advanced All-in-One Screenprinting Kit

Katie with her Ultimate Gift, the Speedball Advanced All-in-One Screenprinting Kit

Looking for even more great gift ideas?

You'll find them in our Gift Guide for Artists! It's packed full of art supplies that will inspire and entice creativity for all kinds of artist — just in time for the holiday season!

To make it easy, we've added simple categories so you can shop gifts for Watercolour Artists, Drawing and Illustration Artists, Printmakers, Sculptors, Mixed Media Artists, and even people who look to art for it's relaxation and wellness properties!