It’s Amazon Prime Day, but You Don’t Have To Be an Prime Member to Get Great Deals on Art Supplies
We’ve found great Prime Day deals on art and craft supplies for nonsubscibers.
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This year, Amazon Prime Day, the online marketplace’s biggest sale event of the year, runs from 12 am Pacific Daylight Time on June 21 and ends at 11:59 pm PDT on June 22.
Prime Day has deals across all of Amazon’s categories. To get access to the deals, however, you have to be an Amazon Prime subscriber. Amazon Prime costs $12.99 a month or $119 a year. Its benefits include faster shipping on Amazon orders, discounts at Whole Foods, and access to Amazon’s streaming entertainment. Alternatively, you can pick up a free 30-day trial of Prime here in time to take advantage of Prime Day offers.
Amazon Prime costs $12.99 a month or $119 a year. Its benefits include faster shipping on Amazon orders, discounts at Whole Foods, and access to Amazon’s streaming entertainment. You can also pick up a free 30-day trial of Prime here.
If you’re still hesitating, we’ve found plenty of great deals on art supplies that are available to nonmembers (though shipping is free for most items if you are a subscriber, which will save you even more). See our picks below! (Prices accurate at time of publication.)
$5.50 off Mungyo soft pastel set
Mungyo makes good chalk pastels for beginners. If you’re looking for a complete set, their 64-piece collection of half sticks offers a cornucopia of rich colors. Easy to handle, smoothly blendable, and lightfast, these pastels are a great way to start exploring Degas’ signature medium.
Purchase: Mungyo Soft Pastel Set, 64 Colors, $8.48 on Amazon.
32% off Strathmore mixed media pads, tan
Strathmore’s 400 Series pads for mixed media feature heavy-duty, 184-pound sheets of extremely high quality. The vellum surface, with a medium tooth, grabs dry media but also does well with watercolor and gouache. It won’t buckle even under layers of paint. The design of this pad is well thought out, too—the sheets stay firmly in the glue-bound pad but tear out cleanly and easily, and the cover flips all the way over and stays out of the way while the pad is in use. Available in tan, it is perfect for sketching and opaque mediums, since both shading and highlights show up clearly. If you haven’t tried tan-toned paper yet, now is the time to do so.
Purchase: Strathmore 400 Series Toned Mixed Media Pad, Tan, 11″x 14″ Glue Bound, 15 Sheets per Pad, $10.50 on Amazon.
$2.48 off Strathmore mixed media visual journal
A cut above their 400 Series products, Strathmore’s 500 series papers are made with professional artists in mind: they are archival and acid-free, making this wire-bound journal feel especially luxurious. At a medium weight of 90 pounds, the vellum-finish pages hold their own against wet media without adding bulk, so you can carry this sketchbook with you to be ready when inspiration strikes.
Purchase: Strathmore 500 Series Mixed Media Journal, 9″x12″, White, 34 Sheets, $14.97 on Amazon.
53% off Tombow dual brush pens in primary colors
Owning these double-tipped art markers is already like getting two for the price of one, and now the 10-pack in primary colors is over half off. Designed with thin barrels that are easy to control, these brush pens feature water-soluble ink that is nontoxic and odorless. The brushes, which are made of felt, are firm yet flexible and capable of producing very fine lines as well as broader strokes. Flip each pen over to use the fine point, which is ideal for writing.
Purchase: Tombow Dual Brush Pens, Primary, 10-Pack, $13.76 on Amazon.
$15.30 off Tombow dual brush pens in landscape colors
One of the best features of Tombow dual brush pens are the hand-selected sets in coordinated colors. The lovely cool tones in the “Landscape” palette, which is also over half off, make for gorgeous mountain and water scenery.
Purchase: Tombow Dual Brush Pens, Landscape, 10-Pack, $11.69 on Amazon.
25% off Winsor & Newton Galeria acrylic paint set
Workable right out of the tube, Winsor & Newton’s student-grade Galeria paints are full-bodied yet easy to thin or further thicken using the brand’s mediums; the colors are clear, with high pigment strength and opacity. They aren’t as buttery as a professional-grade acrylics, but they’re still stiff and thick, and thus highly capable of retaining brushstrokes.
Purchase: Winsor & Newton Galeria Acrylic Paint, 20-ml Tubes, Set of 10, $19.05 on Amazon.
$7 off Kuretake Gansai Tambi set
We love both the look and the performance of these Japanese watercolors, which are notably vivid and creamy. Packed in a pretty washi-paper box, this set includes six useful pan colors (plus gold!), a water brush for painting, and a brush pen for line work. Perfect for taking on the road.
Purchase: Kuretake Gansai Tambi 6 color Set, $16.99 on Amazon.
31% off Hammermill Cardstock
Printed photos and images really pop on this very bright, very smooth white cardstock. It can be used with inkjet or laser printers and won’t jam either type of machine. At 100 pounds, it’s on the heavy side for standard cardstock, so it’s also a good choice for alcohol markers and cutouts as well as printouts. And, it’s acid-free, so professionals can use it without worry.
Purchase: Hammermill Cardstock, 100 lb, 8.5 x 11, 250 Sheets, $15.14 on Amazon.
$220 off Janome MOD-19 sewing machine
Janome, a Japanese manufacturer of sewing machines, often makes our top lists for sewing machines and related tools. The MOD-19, currently 55% off list, has everything the average sewer could want: 19 stitches, a buttonhole, an automatic needle threader, and user friendly controls. The interior frame is made entirely from metal, which makes it more durable and is hard to find at this price point.
Purchase: Janome MOD-19 Easy-to-Use Sewing Machine, $179.00 on Amazon.
47% off Arrow staple gun
This manual steel-constructed staple gun is all brawn and no frills. Designed to work with T50 staples, this gun is suited for a plethora of light-duty projects. The hand-held squeeze mechanism makes for simple operation, good leverage, and a jam-resistant application.
Purchase: ARROW T50 Heavy Duty Staple Gun, $17.10 on Amazon.
23% off Fredrix canvas pad
One of our favorite canvas pads is now discounted in a really usable size. The 8-by-10-inch canvas sheets are thick, acid-free, and primed with titanium white acrylic primer. With a backing of double-layered cardboard, this pad can be taken anywhere and worked on without bending. Note that while the paper’s texture is labeled medium, it is quite rough and is not our top choice for fine detail. But for painters who work fast and loose, especially those who work en plein air, this pad might be perfect.
Purchase: Fredrix 3495 Canvas Pad, 8″ x 10″, 10 Sheets, White, $6.99 on Amazon.
35% off Faber-Castell Polychromos color pencils
If you’re seeking colored pencils with an oil-based core (versus more traditional wax-based pencils), look no further than these pigment-rich ones from Faber-Castell. The 60-color set, an excellent mid-size collection of shades, comes in a handsome and handy tin case. (If you’re looking for even more colors, the 120-color set is also available at a steep discount.) Smooth to lay down and easy to blend, they are among the best tools for coloring.
Purchase: Faber-Castell Polychromos Artists’ Color Pencils, Tin of 60 Colors, $104.69 on Amazon.
$12 off Faber-Castell Pitt pen set
Faber-Castell’s permanent, waterproof, smudge-proof, acid-free, and lightfast Pitt pens are the favorites of many artists and calligraphers. They’re filled with India ink, which appears bold straight from the cartridge but can be diluted to create watercolor-like washes. This eight-pieces sampler set, which includes a range of nibs, from a fine 0.1 millimeter up to the 2.5 millimeter chisel tip pen. The set also includes a very versatile brush pen and a soft calligraphy nib.
Purchase: Faber-Castell Pitt Pen Set, Assorted Nibs, $12.99 on Amazon.
45% off Princeton Art & Brush synthetic brush set
These student-grade brushes are made of Golden Taklon, a high-quality synthetic hair ideal for water-based media. The brushes hold their shape even with hard use, and their “snap” makes them well suited both to fast sketching and to detail work. This set comes with seven well-made brushes that won’t shed on your painting. A useful range of brush sizes and shapes, including two rounds, two shaders, a liners, an angle, and a wash, makes it a great upgrade that still won’t break the bank—especially while it’s just over half-price.
Purchase: Princeton Art & Brush Real Value Brush Set, Synthetic Gold Taklon, $9.34 on Amazon.
28% off Fiskars titanium scissors
The discount on this pair of classic orange-handle Fiskars brings the below $15, which is a bargain for good titanium-coated scissors. Titanium resists dulling and rust, making these long-lasting and usable with almost anything—no more separate paper, fabric, and plastic scissors. Plus, the coating makes the blades nonstick, so they are a preferred choice for cutting tape and other adhesives.
Purchase: Fiskars Premier Softgrip Titanium Scissors, 8-Inch, $12.65 on Amazon.
$22.16 off Prismacolor double-ended markers
Prismacolor’s professional-quality dual-tipped markers have a fine nib at one end and a chisel nib at the other and are filled with richly pigmented, dye-based ink. Each pen has a single ink reservoir for color consistency when switching tips. Now just over half of its original price, this set of 12 makes a great starter set. (If you want more markers, the 24 pack currently 41% off.)
Purchase: Prismacolor Premier Double-Ended Art Markers, 12 Markers, $27.99 on Amazon.
23% off Staedtler Lumograph drawing pencils, set of 6
Staedtler Lumograph graphite pencils come in an extended range of grades from a very soft 12B to a very hard 10H. This set of six soft, B-grade pencils includes some of the most in-demand shades, the softest being 8B and the hardest HB. Sturdy, consistent, and smooth, the pencils in this set are well-suited for the gestural sketcher. A nice touch: the pencils come in a sturdy tin that keeps pencils organized and in one piece.
Purchase: Staedtler Lumograph Graphite Drawing and Sketching Pencils, Set of 6, $9.20 on Amazon.
