Art Supply Stores
I always love to visit art stores, for the obvious reason, when I'm travelling. I am a big advocate for independent shops and we are lucky in Toronto with some really great ones as well as a few chains. But check out these others in New York City, L.A., Buffalo NY, and Rochester, NY and Mexico City and South America and London, England.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
There are some great independents in Toronto and I'm so lucky to live close to them. If you are a bit further out in the Southern Ontario region I can highly recommend Wyndham Art Supplies in Guelph and Curry's in Hamilton and Waterloo. Wallack's in Ottawa is also great.
I have videos of some of these stores on Youtube here (Aboveground and Articulations in the west end) and here (Gwartzman's and Deserres on Spadina) and here (Aboveground on McCaul) note: Curry's is now gone from Toronto so it is not mentioned here (they still have a storefront in Hamilton, though).
Gwartzman's is in institution. If you like your art stores packed with supplies and creaky wooden floors with knowledgeable staff who are also artists, then this place is for you. They stock so many things that you can't get anywhere else like Nicker paint (a gouache like paint used by Studio Ghibli animation artists). Supplies run from child level to high end professional artist with many European brands like Tintoretto, A. Gallo, Fome etc. They've been in business for over 70 years with the original owner's daughter running the show now. It is very conveniently located on Spadina near University of Toronto and not to far from Ontario College of Art and Design University. It is between Chinatown and Kensington market - two great foodie areas.
In the city's west end on Dundas St West you have Articulations, another independent art store. They also hold workshops in the back and often have a gallery exhibition on. If I'm looking for Holbein products, this is where I go. Don't forget to pull out the antique drawers in the place or you might miss out. Very knowledgeable and friendly staff.
Aboveground has three locations but their flagship store is right beside the Ontario College of Art and Design University. In fact it kind of looms above it. It is jam packed with three floors full of art supplies as well as a good selection of printing, model making, and bookbinding materials.
They have 2 other locations - one near Articulations and one in the Beaches on Queen East.
This is a chain from Quebec with several locations in and around Toronto the largest of which is on Spadina near Richmond. There are also locations on the Danforth, on Eglinton.
This isn't really an art supply shop but you must go here if you love all things paper. There are some art supply and stationery materials but it is all about the paper. Located on Queen West near Trinity Bellwoods Park this is a great area to walk around with plenty of shops and restaurants.
Again this isn't technically an art supply shop. As the name suggests it's mostly about pens but they do have notebooks and sketchbooks. I no longer sell my handmade watercolour ot.to there. Located in the Distillery District it is a beautiful location with many restaurants and art galleries.
There are 3 locations for this store (Annex, Danforth and the Beaches). It is mostly a mishmash of stationery and kids' stuff but then they fit in a surprising amount of really good art supplies. Now they might only have a wittled down selection like Holbein oil pastels but they are there!
Wonders Pens is, again, most a stationery shop but a lot of these things can be used for artwork. They have dip pens, fountain pens and a beautiful array of inks.
Take Note is out in the Junction near two of the above art stores - Articulations and Aboveground, so why not stop in here too. They do have sets of coloured pencils and beautiful stationery and pens.
Paper Plus Cloth is another stationery store but with a Japanese focus on Queen West in Parkdale. They also run workshops in calligraphy etc. I love the antique display cabinets here. A gorgeous little space.
New York City
A lot of my favourite art supply shops have closed over the years but there are a few independents left. I haven't been to all of them though so this is just a list of the ones I have been to (with the exception of Artist and Craftsman but I have it on good authority that it is great so it made the list). Blick's is a large chain that you can find in many cities like Detroit and LA (see below). There new flagship in Soho is rather large.
I have a couple of videos of my trip to these stores and what I bought here and here (and for those who love a good old swatching out - here)
Soho Art Materials
I'm so glad that this store is still surviving in Soho on Wooster St. near Canal - the last independent in NYC. It is chock full of great brands and I believe the canvas end of things is really well stocked. Obviously while on vacation I wasn't going to pick up canvas.
Kremer Pigments
This is THE place to go for pigments. It is a German brand with their only North American store. They make their own watercolour as well from their pigments and the store does do workshops and sells other supplies like brushes. Worth it just to gaze at all of the colours even if pigment isn't your thing.
Blick's is a vast chainstore in the U.S. They do sell some things under their own brand so it might be worth checking out. Their new flagship on Broadway is 2 floors and quite large.
I have still not been to these stores. There is a location in LA that I also didn't get to. So why is it here? Well I know from other artists that it might be worth the trip to Brooklyn for it.
Goods for the Study is where you go when you want to buy a beautiful stationery related gift but why not one for yourself as well. They have a great pen and pencil wall, yes wall. And there are sketchbooks available too. There are two locations, one on 8th St in the West Village and one on Mulberry in Nolita. The one on 8th is larger.
This is not an art store but a stationery store. However, it is cute and quaint and full of Japanese stationery so I just had to include it. If washi tape and stamps and stickers are your thing, then this is pretty great little shop.
Los Angeles and environs
Los Angeles is a very large spread out place. And when I say LA I also mean all of the other places around or in it like Pasadena and Long Beach. We were not there long and it takes a while to get anywhere so my list isn't extensive.
Videos of my trip to the Art Supply Warehouse are available here and here. For Blue Rooster, check out here and here.
Art Supply warehouse was certainly worth the drive from where we were staying in Pasadena to Long Beach. It is the size of a small warehouse and full of materials. The sketchbook aisle was huge! If you want an easel or a lightbox, well there are loads to choose from. I picked up a few things here that were difficult to find back home like a tiny spatula for working with paper.
Blue Rooster is a fantastic shop with great customer service (we even got food recommendations). There are two locations and I went to both Pasadena and Los Feliz spots (the Pasadena location is slightly larger). So much beautiful stuff and a surprising amount of Canadian products like Stoneground paints, Beam paints, St Armand paper, the Japanese paper place etc. I felt at home.
Buffalo, NY
This store really needs the name warehouse in it because it is that big. They have a huge range of products. The ink area is very large and I highly recommend checking out the clearance or damaged section. I picked up a u.go easel here for a steal. And yes that's me outside the store! Their website is terrible and needs updating but the store is relatively new and well stocked. Check out my videos of this store here and here.
Rochester, NY
The online version of this store is the Fine Art store but it is well worth visiting in person especially to see one of the largest selections I have ever seen of pastels. It is just amazing. Drawer after drawer of American and European soft adn oil pastels. There's a video of my trip here.
Mexico City, Mexico
I was in Mexico city for the International Watercolour Society's Canadian and Mexican chapter's workshop. I was warned that the art supply stores would have much the same materials and probably for more money but I didn't care, I wanted to see them anyway. I was also warned that they are not like back at home where you can roam around and pick up things yourself. Most here have things behind the counter and you order what you want and then go to the cashier to pay where you will pick up your materials. It does mean that the brush I bought was wrapped up rather nicely, though. They did have some lines that I don't see in Canada like Pilot acrylic pens and more expansive range of Pebeo products.
The location we went to was in a Cultural park with Dance, concert and film facilities called Cenart (Centro Nacional de las Artes) not too far from where we were based in Cayoacàn. It was a large-ish store but everything was behind the counter so you have to know what you want. I had looked at their handmade watercolours online and one of the participants spotted them in the store and bought a palette so I bought one too. I also bought one of their house named brushes (made in Germany). There is another location in the centre of the city as well.
Casa del Arte is much like Casa Serra in that you have to order from one part of the store and pay at another part of the store. The store is full of artwork and frames as well as map cabinets full of papers with a soaring ceiling. It was quite overwhelming and a bit dark. There were a few things you could pick up for yourself like sketchbooks and blocks of paper or books but all of the paint was kept behind the counter. They write up your purchase in an old school way and then you pay for it. It is worth a look at the store. It really feels like you've stepped back in time.
Not far from Casa del Arte, this location was in the historic district and is much more like what you would find in North America in that you can pick out items for yourself. It was modern and easy to see products however sometimes oil painting products were mixed in with other things like watercolour etc. You really needed to go around the whole store in order to not miss anything although they had a number of staff patrolling for any questions (if you speak Spanish).
Buenos Aires, Argentina
During the Urban Sketchers conference in Buenos Aires, I made sure to check out the art supply stores. Now inflation and import issues may mean some of the products are a lot more expensive than back home. Also you may have extra fees on any credit card purchases so buyer beware. I mostly purchased things from Argentina or things that I couldn't get back home. You can see videos of the shops themselves or my haul here.
Rubens Artistica
I went to two different branches of this shop. The one on Av Córdoba was a bit tight. Half of the store was blocked off for staff only. There was another one on Bolivar in the San Telmo area that was much easier to walk around and browse. They had some European brands and Argentinian like Plantec and Eureka and Alba.
Leidi Artistica
This was a much larger store yet with probably the same or less in terms of quantity than its neighbour Rubens. I did find an Argentinian watercolour brand Tintto here. Most things were in the counters lining two sides of the store.
Location Libertad 757
Libreria Thesis
This was by far the best of the art supply stores I was in during the whole visit. The store in the Palermo district is divided into two with one side being mostly stationery and office supplies and the other, larger side, being fine art supplies. There is a vast assortment of canvases and papers. There are high end European brands and South American brands. There was also a great display of carving tools and brushes. They even had a roped off area dedicated to Faber-Castell. You could feel like a VIP shopping in this section.
Montevideo, Uruguay
I made a side trip to Uruguay while I was in Argentina. It's just across the river so why not. Apparently they prefer you to use a credit card in Uruguay unlike Argentina. Again, there is a mixture of European and South American brands. You can see videos of the shops themselves or my haul here.
Centroutil Liberia
Centroutil Liberia is a combination of art supplies and office stationery but the staff is knowledgeable and friendly. It is a small store but stacked with goods.
Colonia 974
Tangram
Tangram is mostly a stationery shop (beautiful journals and pens) with some art supplies. The top brands seem to be White Nights (paint and brushes), Da Vinci (brushes) and Tombow. I did get some very lovely souvenir pins there.
Convención 1303
Papeleria Acuarela
Again this was mostly a stationery shop with art supplies a lot of the latter being behind the counter so it was difficult to browse or ask for products when you have little to no Spanish.
Sarandí 514
London, England
London and England in general have some great art supply shops including independent companies. And of course there's Jackson's online. But it is always nice to see art supplies in person and some of the shops in London are worth just seeing for how they present their supplies. And of course some of the galleries and museums also sell art supplies if you're running short. I missed Green and Stone but it will be on my next visit.
L. Cornelissen
This shop has been trading in art supplies since 1855 and is conveniently located near the British Museum. So why not visit both? In fact two other shops are also nearby (see video). They have an amazing selection and beautiful display with Victorian cabinets filled with media and shelves stacked with pigment and other media that are frankly hard to get elsewhere. It is well worth a visit. I must have gone around and around the store so many times. It is small compared to some massive chain stores but it is packed and the staff is very knowledgeable.
105 Great Russell St, WC1B 3RY
Russell and Chapple
Feel Russell and Chapple looks a bit like Cornelissen? Well that might be because it was bought by them. They are nearby too. Russell specializes in canvas, though and other materials that artists in theatre design flock to. They also offer an array of frames. The store is slightly larger mostly because they specialize in larger items like bolts of canvas but they took have old cabinets full of materials and swatches of canvas and linen from all over. And they have been in the business since 1770!
Present and Correct
Present and Correct is more of a stationery store so there's the usual notebooks and other desk paraphernalia but you will find some materials for creating art. And trust me, you will want everything even if you don't know what you would use it for like these large standing brushes. What are they? They also had some calendar displays that I really wanted but couldn't pack even if I didn't mind the price. Everything is beautifully presented in a very modern way which is interesting after coming from the other two shops in Bloomsbury.
12 Bury Pl, WC1A 2JL
Shepherds Fine Papers
Word of warning there are two Shepherds. I went to the wrong one thinking that the bookbinders had a shop for supplies. They don't. It's just a conservation studio. You need to go to their Fine Papers shop. I wanted to see what materials they had as I do make my own sketchbooks. However, I tend not to fuss with them and so don't do covers or endpapers. But I did need thread and I love poking around such stores. The range of papers is incredible and they have everything that you could need for making your own books or lovely bond paper for writing an important letter (if you still do that). Just gorgeous. And it isn't too far from Tate Britain so I hit both that day.
30 Gillingham St, Pimlico, SW1V 1HU
Cass Art
There are several locations for this chain across the UK. I visited their locations on Charing Cross Road, Islington (largest of the 3) and High Street Kensington (the smaller of the 3). They have their own branded products which are slightly cheaper. They have every media you could want but usually only by a brand or two (depending on the store).
Choosing Keeping
Choosing Keeping is really an upmarket stationery store with beautiful notebooks and pens but they also have art supplies some of which are exclusive to the store like gansai watercolour palettes. I got three of their decade palettes before (1960s, 70s and 80s) thanks to a birthday gift. I went back for the 1930s. They also have ranges of pigments from Japan and handmade watercolours from Wallace and Seymour, a British brand. Unfortunately these are only available in sets and not individually.
They also have some lovely crayons and oil pastels by Sennelier so plenty to choose from for artists.
21 Tower St, London WC2H 9NS
London Graphic Centre
This shop is not far away from Choosing Keeping and Covent Garden so you can hit all three. And this store is worth it as it has two floors with everything you could want to get started or to stock up on supplies. They also had great display by brands like Derwent, Faber Castell and Caran d'Ache (including the new Neoart pastels open stock).
16-18 Shelton St, WC2H 9JL
Jackson's
So yes I had to visit the bricks and mortar version of the famous online store. And of course it doesn't have the range that the online version has but it was worth the trip. There are two locations but this one in Hackney looked bigger and brighter and was close to my aunts so two birds, one stone. It is on two floors with canvasses on the ground floor and media upstairs. The staff are great and knowledgeable. I only bought a few things including a watercolour block that I like to use for house portraits.
1 Farleigh Pl, London N16 7SX
or Arch 66 Station Approach SW6 3UH
Fabriano
I tripped across this Fabriano store while in Marylebone visiting the beautiful Daunt books shop. According to the website: "Fabriano has been making paper since medieval times and over the centuries has become a byword for high quality paper among artists, publishers and writers all over the world.
More recently, Fabriano Boutique has created a range of delightful articles based on paper for the non-professional community as well. Everything available in the boutiques is designed by Fabriano and made in Italy by highly skilled craftsmen using only the best materials."
I've used Fabriano paper before and it's lovely so I poked into the shop. They had watercolour paper and some art supplies (including a lovely watercolour kit) but it was mostly their stationery products.
43 Marylebone High St, W1U 5HE
Stuart R. Stevenson
I somehow missed putting this one on my map of art shops and so nearly forgot about it but I'm so glad I made the effort to get here on my last day in London. It was very much worth the visit as they had many things I hadn't seen elsewhere like Tom's Studio pens (I restrained myself). I did help myself to a Lillian May palette or handmade watercolour in Turner's colours set inside a ceramic palette. They also had open stock of some Stabilo products that are difficult to get out of sets back home. It's a family owned and in the business for 40 years. Very honest and informative staff too.
68 Clerkenwell Road EC1M 5QA
Green and Stone
I'm kicking myself that I didn't get here. Of course it will probably have the same things that some other art shops have but still. I was so close to it on the Saturday I went to the V&A. I have it on good authority that it is a great shop so it is worth the visit. I see online that they also sometimes have antique art supplies so that's different! Next time.
251-253 Fulham Rd., South Kensington, SW3 6HY