The best Christmas gifts for illustrators

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For this special round-up, I took a look at my own holiday shopping list, and I asked fellow artists and illustrators what was on theirs. Let's take a look at what we came up with, and why. There's options for every price point too – whether you're looking for a great value gift under £20 (just because you're on a smaller budget doesn't mean you can't get something cool) or want to splash out on something really special.

Gifts for illustrators under £20/$25

01. Personalised colour block cosy and mug

• Price: £18

Many illustrators rely on a coffee or tea to kick-start their morning – but as soon as their creative juices start flowing, it can be easy to forget all about it. This mug cosy will their caffeine hit hotter for longer. Choose from six different colours (to match the recipient's studio aesthetic) and add a personalised tag to keep it safe from mug thieves.

This is a complete sketching and drawing set for any artist. It includes graphite pencils, charcoal pencils, erasable pens, two different kinds of erasers, a craft knife, sharpeners, and more. It even comes with a random colour canvas roll-up pouch with individual slots, so you can take this set anywhere.

The Apple Pencil is great! In fact, it's #7 on this list; but the one thing it doesn't come with is a decent way to charge it. With the Apple Pencil direct charging Stand you'll be able to easily charge your Apple Pencil without having to worry about it rolling off your desk.

Gifts for illustrators under £50/$75

For illustrators looking for a way to increase their drawing and stippling speed, the Cuttlelola electric pen is ideal! This pen can be used on a variety of different papers and comes with a rechargeable lithium battery. You can plug the pen into a laptop or work with it on battery power, which usually lasts about an hour.

Hand crafted and totally unique, this soft and durable leather journal is stuffed with 120 sheets (125gsm thickness) made from recycled cotton. The gift set includes the box, the secret pen holder, and a luxury ball point pen – perfect for creating your next sketch masterpiece. The binding on the journal is hand stitched, so the pages stay in place.

Some artists don't like to draw with mechanical pencils, but the ones that do will love this set. These pencils are comfortable to hold, durable, and come with coloured pads, making it easy to distinguish the different lead sizes. Both the lead and the erasers are refillable, but each one comes pre-loaded with super Hi-Polymer HB lead.

Gifts for illustrators under £100/$125

07. ImagineFX magazine subscription

Special Christmas offers!

• Print: £54.50
• Digital: £45
• Print & digital bundle: £66.50 (save 62%!)

ImagineFX is the world's best-selling magazine for digital artists. Each issue is packed with an eclectic mixture of in-depth workshops from the world's best fantasy and sci-fi artists, plus galleries and interviews, community news and product reviews. 

If you're after a gift for a professional artist, art student or hobbyist, a subscription is a great option.

This one's ideal for friends that have an iPad Pro for drawing, but haven't got round to picking up an Apple Pencil to go with it (and it's a little cheaper than just gifting the whole iPad Pro). While you can certainly get some cool things done with just your finger, the Apple Pencil takes your work to the next level. It is highly responsive, and it works well with almost all of the art programs on the App Store.

09. Clip Studio Paint EX

Price: $75.54

Clip Studio Paint EX is easy to use and all the tools have a natural feel to them. It comes jam-packed with features and toolsets like pens, pencils, erasers, rulers, pattern brushes, and more. It even includes frame-by-frame cell animation support – ideal for digital creative. 

Worried about compatibility? Clip Studio Paint EX is available for both Windows and Mac, and it was recently introduced for the iPad.

10. Wacom Pro Pen 3D

• Price: $99.95

If your illustrator friend is considering taking their work into a new dimension, this could be a great gift. The new Wacom Pro Pen 3D is designed specifically with 3D creativity in mind; three buttons enable the user to easily pan, zoom and tumble in a range of 3D programmes. On top of that is Wacom's usual sensitive, intuitive pen technology. 

This is a great set for anyone interested in exploring the world of painting. With over 130 pieces, it includes everything to get started with acrylic, oil, and watercolour painting – including various paints, paper, easels, and brushes. It also comes with two different-sized canvas panels: 8x10 6-pack and 11x14 2-pack.

Gifts for illustrators over £100/$125

Paired with the Apple Pencil, the iPad Pro is great for drawing, painting, and sketching on-the-go – or better yet, in the living room. We liked it so much we gave it five stars in our review. I like the 12.9-inch, but it's also worth checking out the all-new 10.5-inch model, if the recipient would prefer something more compact.

While you're filling your Apple stocking, why not grab the Smart Keyboard too. The full-size keyboard makes the perfect companion hardware to the iPad Pro. Users can just hook it to the Smart Connector and get to work! Then when they're all done, they can fold it up and take it with them, because it also doubles as a lightweight case. Useful.

The Wacom Intuos Pro Paper Edition combines a digital workflow with paper. That's right! Users can clip their favourite drawing paper onto this device and sketch right on top using the Finetip Pen (or optional Ballpoint Pen). They don't need to even be connected to a computer at the time. When they're ready, they can import the sketch into their chosen drawing app, and continue to work on it there with the Wacom Pro Pen 2. It's really the best of both worlds.

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