So you have a kid who loves painting and drawing but you’re not creative yourself. You know you want to support them but you don’t know where to start! (This is not an ad, all equipment recommendations are my own and I’ve received no incentives to recommend brands)

Here’s my top tips for parents of creative kids!

Tip 1 – if you can, give them somewhere to create.

We all struggle for space in our busy homes, but if you can give them a little desk in their room where they can keep all their arty things and sit comfortably to create, you’ll be really supporting their creative journey.

If you’re really pushed for space you can buy lap-desks and fold away drawing boards which have storage space inside for all their art equipment.

Tip 2 – buy the best art equipment you can afford.

This may sound obvious but it’s often where parents can slip up. Kids over 8 don’t need ‘kids art equipment’…(maybe an apron though!)

Spend money smartly on quality not quantity. That way they can start building a collection of semi-professional art materials which will take them through their teen years, to college and into professional creative work if they choose.

Paints and brushes

Shop the sales for well respected paint brands like Windsor & Newton and Daler Rowney. For under £20 you can get paint sets that will last for years and years and can be replaced individually when they run out.

I still use the Daler Rowney watercolour palette my parents bought me when I was 13.

For brushes look at multipacks of synthetic hair brushes designed for watercolour (it will usually say in the packaging!) Even cheap & cheerful ones are super useful and last for years is they’re looked after well!

Pens

If they love drawing with alcohol marker pens or paint pens, big brands like Copic and Posca are top dollar but they’re also refillable. Look out for refillable brands of pen in the sales as if they’re serious about art then it’ll save you money in the long run and mean less throwing away of old pens!

Pencils & erasers

Ditch the HB school pencils and get a cheap set of graded pencils. Soft ‘B’ pencils for shading, hard ‘H’ pencils for light sketching and fine details. Simple! Staedtler erasers are my go to, cheap, very effective, no graininess, smudging or ripped pages.

Coloured pencils aren’t my area of expertise as a professional artist but Prismacolour and Caran D’Ache have long been considered the ‘go to’ for artists. If that’s out of your price range you’d be surprised how much a budding artist can do with an ol’ faithful pack of Crayola. They’re by far my top pick of pencil crayons aimed at kids.

Tip 3 – Get the right paper for the job!

Even if you can’t afford the best, getting paper that is designed for the materials your child is using will make a difference to the artwork they are making.

For example; buy watercolour paper if they’re using watercolours, marker paper if they’re using marker pens. The quality of paper makes a huge difference to the outcome of the art they make and when they see their art improving it will give them the boost to make more!

The Works has its own range of super cheap and cheerful beginners art paper pads. Also look out for Seawhite of Brighton watercolour pads sold online, they’re designed for students and they’re excellent for aspiring artists, I still use them a lot.

One of the best gifts I was even given was a pack of 100 sheets of good quality watercolour paper by the grandparents when I was a teenager. It seems like the most dreadful gift to a non-arty person, but to an arty kid it’s the freedom to create, experiment and get the ideas out of your head and onto the page without the fear of running out of paper, plus the paper made my watercolours look so much better!

I hope that helps you support your creative kid!