Our selection of unique gifts for sketchers: sketching gifts such as a pocket watercolour set, a set of fineliners and a sketch pad. See our range of gifts perfect for the person in your life who loves sketching out and about.
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1Winsor & Newton Cotman watercolour sketchers' pocket box
This pocket box has 12 Cotman half pans and a travel brush, so they can paint wherever they stop. The colours are a mix of warm and cool shades, including ultramarine, sap green and burnt sienna, and it all folds down small enough for a coat pocket.
Pros
12 half pans and a travel brush.
Small enough for a coat pocket.
Cons
Only 12 colours, so mixing is needed for more.
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2Tombow Fudenosuke brush pens
Fudenosuke pens are the favourite for modern brush lettering. The small, springy tips make it easy to switch from hairline upstrokes to thicker downstrokes, and this pack has one hard tip and one soft so they can find their style.
Pros
Easy thick and thin strokes.
Hard and soft tip in the pack.
Great for beginners.
Cons
Works best on smooth paper.
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3Sakura Pigma Micron fineliners, set of 3
Pigma Micron pens are a favourite for inking drawings and sketchbooks. The ink is pigment-based and archival, so it won't fade, and it's waterproof once dry, which means they can paint watercolour over the lines. This set has 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5mm tips.
Pros
Waterproof once dry, so it's safe under watercolour.
Archival, fade-resistant ink.
Cons
Fine tips can wear down if pressed hard.
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4Pentel Aquash water brush, pack of 3
A water brush holds its own water in the barrel, so there's no jar to knock over. This pack has fine, medium and broad nylon tips, each with a refillable 10ml tank. It pairs well with watercolour pencils and pocket paint sets for painting on the go.
Pros
Fine, medium and broad tips.
No water jar needed.
Cons
Nylon tips, not natural hair.
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5uni Posca PC-5M paint markers
Posca markers put down opaque, water-based paint that covers well on almost anything, from paper to wood, stone and canvas. The PC-5M has a medium 1.8 to 2.5mm tip, and the range runs to nearly 40 colours, including fluorescents and metallics.
Pros
Opaque paint that covers in one coat.
Works on wood, stone and canvas.
Cons
Needs shaking and priming before use.
Water-based, so outdoor work needs a varnish.
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6Rhodia No.16 dot pad, black
The No.16 dot pad has 80 sheets of 80g acid-free paper with pale dots every 5mm, handy for notes, lists and planning. The sheets tear off cleanly along a micro-perforated top, and the cover folds right back.
Pros
80g acid-free paper.
Micro-perforated sheets tear out cleanly.
Cons
A stapled pad, so it won't lie flat like a notebook.
Dot grid only.
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7Faber-Castell Polychromos colour pencils, tin of 24
Polychromos are the coloured pencils a lot of serious artists work with. Each has a thick 3.8mm lead, and Faber-Castell bonds the lead into the wood so it's highly break resistant. The colours are made to be lightfast, so finished drawings won't fade.
Pros
Thick 3.8mm leads.
Highly break resistant.
Made to be lightfast.
Cons
24 colours is a starter set for keen artists.
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A small graph-paper notebook with thin Tomoe River paper and a cover illustration by Hiroko Kubota.
Pros
Thin, fountain-pen-friendly paper.
Pocket size.
Cons
Limited artwork editions sell out.
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What to buy someone who loves sketching
The best gifts for sketchers are small, portable and ready to use. A pocket watercolour box and a water brush suit sketching on location, and fineliners give clean lines. A good pad helps with everything. Check whether they work in ink, pencil or paint before choosing.
How we picked these gifts for sketchers
We picked each product for what sketchers enjoy and because it makes sense as a present. The order is our own choice. The pros and cons come from published product details, not customer reviews.
Amazon shows the current price and delivery. Where we've checked that the US listing is the same product, the US link goes there. Otherwise you'll get the UK listing, labelled as such. More about our research.
