Best tools for artists in 2026: painting, drawing, and selling

Every finished piece starts with the right supplies. Try watercolors on regular drawing paper, and the sheet will warp before the paint settles. The best tools for artists won’t replace practice, but they will save you a lot of frustration. 

The good news is that you don’t need everything in the art store. You need a few reliable tools that match your medium and the way you work. And once a piece is done, you need a way to show it to buyers.

This guide covers the top picks for 2026, from paint to selling apps. Each pick comes with what it does well and what to keep in mind before you buy. 

For drawing, start with Faber-Castell 9000 pencils, Sakura Pigma Micron pens and a Canson XL Mix Media sketchbook. For painting, Golden Heavy Body acrylics or Gamblin oils, Princeton Aspen brushes and Fredrix canvas cover most needs. To show and sell your work, ArtPlacer lets buyers see your art on their walls before they buy.

What are the essential tools for artists?

If you are starting your path as an artist and want to make sure you have the right art tools, or you already have some experience and are ready to update or upgrade your art supplies, check this list of essential art tools.

What are the best drawing tools for artists?

The best drawing tools are a graded pencil set, a precise eraser, a pigment-ink pen, and a sketchbook that suits your medium. With these four, you can sketch, shade, ink, and plan your paintings. Whether you’re starting out or a seasoned artist, some paper and a couple of good pencils are must-haves for your kit.

Pencils and erasers

Pencils come in grades from 9H, the hardest and lightest, to 9B, the softest and darkest. H pencils give crisp, pale lines. B pencils give rich darks that blend and smudge easily. If you are just getting started, you might want to get the basics: an HB pencil for sketching, a 2B for drawing details and contrast, a 6B for shading, and a 9B for darker tones and blending.

• Faber-Castell 9000 is the pencil set most artists grow into. The grades stay consistent, so your lights and darks behave the same every time. Keep in mind it costs more than student sets.
• Staedtler Mars Lumograph suits detailed, precise drawing. The grades are very even and erase cleanly, but note the harder grades can feel scratchy on smooth paper.
• Derwent Graphic is a good-value first set, with the full range in one tin. The grades are less consistent than in pricier brands, but it’s perfect to get started.

If sustainability is important to you, look for pencils with recycled-paper or cardboard barrels instead of wood. Pair them with non-toxic cores for a lower-impact option. Refillable mechanical pencils are another good choice, since you only replace the lead.

To erase, a kneaded eraser lifts graphite without leaving crumbs. You can shape it into a point to pull out soft highlights, or erase minimal details. It does collect dirt and needs replacing over time. Another option is the Tombow MONO Zero, a pen-style eraser with a tiny tip. It’s ideal for fine highlights, like light in an eye or a single strand of hair.

To blend, use paper blending stumps. They create smooth gradients, and you can clean them with fine sandpaper. But watch out that you don’t over-blend and lose texture.

Pens and markers

Pens let you commit to a line, from crisp outlines to expressive strokes. Here are some recommendations depending on how you like to work.

• Sakura Pigma Micron is the go-to pen for line work. It has waterproof ink, so you can add watercolor on top without bleeding. Don’t press too hard because the fine tips can wear down.
• The Pentel Pocket Brush Pen has a real brush tip and refillable cartridges. A single pen gives you thin and thick lines, depending on pressure. Great expressive results, but it does take practice to control.
• Uni Posca paint markers are great for mixed media, because it works on paper, canvas, wood and glass. Many painters use them to add fine details over acrylic. Keep in mind they can streak on large areas.

Sketchbooks and paper

Before asking yourself “What should I paint?”, first you need something to paint on. Paper is perfect, whether you’re getting started or a seasoned pro. When choosing paper, you can go with either pads or sketchbooks. 

You should take the weight of the paper into account. This refers to its thickness. Lighter paper is thinner and might not resist wet media or using an eraser. Paper’s texture is given by its “teeth”, the little bumps you might find on its surface, which have more or less capacity to hold the pigments.

These are the main paper types to know:

• Sketch paper: thin and affordable, for practice and quick studies.
• Drawing paper: thicker, with medium tooth, for finished pieces in dry media.
• Watercolor paper: cotton fibers absorb water without warping.
• Mixed-media paper: handles watercolor, markers and ink on the same sheet.
• Printmaking paper: a coated surface keeps inks bright for high-quality prints.

Whatever you choose, look for acid-free paper. It won’t yellow or deteriorate over time. Here are some options:

• Canson XL Mix Media is a great everyday pad. It’s affordable and heavy enough for light washes, but does buckle under a lot of water.
• The Strathmore 400 Series Drawing has a tooth that holds graphite and charcoal well. It’s made for dry media only.
• Stillman & Birn Beta is a hardbound sketchbook with heavyweight paper. It takes watercolor, ink, and gouache without falling apart. It is one of the more expensive options.

From brushes to canvas, every artist needs the right set of art tools to bring their ideas to life.

What are the best painting tools for artists?

The best painting tools are quality paint, a few versatile brushes, the right surface, a palette that suits your medium, and a varnish to protect the finished piece. Start with the basics, discover what you like and what works for you, and then upgrade as your practice grows.

Paint

Acrylic, oil, gouache, graffiti, watercolors. When it comes to the type of paint, artists have many options to choose from depending on what you want to create and the medium you’ll use.

Acrylic and oil are the most common choices for painters, and each one offers something different. This is how still-life artist Cristina Lupuleasa puts it: “Oil painting is where I feel most truly myself as an artist; it allows me to engage with slow, classical glazing and chiaroscuro, achieving depth and atmospheric softness. On the other hand, acrylics offer immediacy and sharp precision”. 

If you’re starting out, acrylic is a forgiving choice. It dries fast and cleans up with water. You don’t need all the paint tubes available: think about a few basics for your color palette and how you can mix them to achieve different hues.

• Liquitex BASICS is a reliable starter acrylic, with a wide color range at a low price, perfect for experimenting. It does have less pigment, so colors look a bit darker once dry.
• Golden Heavy Body is a professional acrylic with a thick, buttery feel, and high pigment load. This one costs considerably more.
• Winsor & Newton Winton is a good first oil paint. It handles well and comes at an accessible price. Note some colors use cheaper substitute pigments, labeled “hue.”
• Winsor & Newton Artisan is a water-mixable oil. It handles like traditional oil paint but cleans up with water, without heavy solvents. 
• Gamblin Artist’s Oil is a professional oil with rich, saturated color. It’s one of the pricier options.

If you want to reduce waste, look for refillable tubes and acrylics made with plant-based pigments.

Brushes

Choosing brushes starts with the bristle. Soft bristles leave smooth strokes, while stiffer ones create thick, textured layers. Synthetic bristles work for most acrylic and oil painting. Then, choose the shape of the brush for the marks you want to make:

• Flat: covers large areas, and the edge creates fine lines.
• Round: smooth strokes, with pointed tips for details.
• Filbert: a flat brush with a rounded tip, for soft edges and varied marks.
• Fan: splayed bristles for texture, blending and softening edges.
• Wash: wide and flat, holds a lot of paint for large surfaces.

Here are some brush recommendations for artists to consider:

• Princeton Aspen is a durable synthetic brush for acrylic and oil. It holds its shape well, even with heavy paint. Not designed for watercolor.
• Rosemary & Co Ivory brushes are handmade in the UK and loved by oil painters. They have great spring and control. They’re mostly sold online, so shipping times vary.
• Winsor & Newton Cotman brushes are a budget-friendly choice for watercolor. They hold a decent point for the price, but wear out faster than professional brushes.

Always remember to clean your brushes properly to maintain quality. Eco-friendly brush soaps are a good lower-impact alternative to solvent-based cleaners. They work especially well if you paint with oils.

Mixing colors on a palette is one of the first steps in bringing a painting to life. The right size, shape, and material of the palette depends on what is comfortable for you to hold and manipulate as you work.

Surfaces

The surface you paint on affects how paint behaves and how long the piece lasts. Here are some ideas, from canvas to panel:

• Fredrix stretched canvas is a dependable everyday option. It comes primed and ready to paint, in many sizes. 
• Ampersand Gessobord is a rigid panel with a smooth, archival surface. It’s ideal for detailed work and glazing, and it won’t warp. It’s heavier and pricier than canvas.
• Canson Figueras pads have a canvas-like texture on paper. They’re perfect for studies and color tests. Keep in mind they’re not meant for finished pieces.

Palettes and palette knives

A palette holds and mixes your paint. They come in different sizes, shapes, and materials, from plastic to glass, metal, and ceramic. Choose one that’s light enough to hold and big enough for your colors plus mixing space.

• Masterson Sta-Wet Premier keeps acrylics workable for days under an airtight lid. That means less wasted paint between sessions. The sponge and paper need regular replacement.
• A glass palette is a favorite among oil painters. It’s easy to scrape clean, and a gray glass helps you judge color values. While beautiful, it’s heavy and can break.
• Reusable silicone palettes are a newer option worth trying. Dried paint peels right off, which makes cleanup easy.

Palette knives are used to mix paints in a palette to create different shades and hues. They can also be used to apply paint directly on the paper. A palette knife provides a thicker and textured stroke, and works well with acrylics. 

Varnish

Once a piece is finished, varnish protects it from dust, UV light, and moisture. It also evens out the sheen across different paint layers. Acrylic and oil paintings need different types of varnish, so always check that it matches your medium before applying.

• Gamblin Gamvar is a varnish for oil paintings only. It’s removable, so the painting can be cleaned or restored later. 
• Golden Archival Spray Varnish works on acrylic and mixed media. It adds UV protection and goes on in an even coat. Use it outside or with all the windows open because you need good ventilation when you spray.
• Liquitex Professional Varnish is an easy brush-on option for acrylics. It’s water-based and beginner-friendly. Not for oil paintings.

Removable varnishes are a good choice if you might restore the piece later. They can be removed without damaging the paint underneath. Spray varnish gives an even coat and is the easiest option for beginners. Brush-on varnish offers more control for thicker or textured areas.

 Digital art tools like ArtPlacer’s Room Mockups are now essential for artists for both the creation and presentation of their artwork.

What are apps and digital tools for artists?

Today, tools for artists go beyond the traditional pencil and sketchbook. Digital tools don’t just redefine what we understand as essential tools for artists, but also provide different solutions and opportunities for creators. 

For example, once your artwork is ready to be shared with the world, digital art tools like ArtPlacer come in handy. Showcasing your art, connecting with an audience, and closing sales become a lot easier when you have these available.

The best way to share your art is by letting people see it in a real space before they commit to buying. With ArtPlacer, you can place your work in styled rooms, on your website, and on buyers’ own walls through augmented reality.

Show art in context

You can display your pieces in styled rooms to show how they fit a space with Room Mockups. Just upload your artworks and drag and drop them into a digital mockup of a room. Choose or create your own frame, then adjust the brightness and shadow. The result is a wall art mockup ready for your professional website or your social media profiles.

You can even build a gallery wall for several pieces at once. Or generate a Room Mockup video, a five-second cinematic that’s perfect for socials and catches collectors’ attention.

Share your body of work

A great way of sharing your body of work is putting together a professional portfolio. With ArtPlacer Presentations, you can create polished Portfolio PDFs that include your selected artworks, titles, descriptions, prices, and artist bio.

Share them with collectors and galleries, or keep them as a visual archive of your work. They’re useful when preparing for an exhibition, applying for a residency, following up after a studio visit. Since all your artworks live in one catalog, you can also create inventory reports and artwork labels in a few clicks.

Let buyers try before they buy 

To go a step further, let visitors see your art on their walls before they buy, right from your own website and directly on their phone. ArtPlacer’s Website Integrations work as art visualizers on your product pages. With the Augmented Reality Widget, visitors point their phone camera at a wall and see the artwork at true scale, in real time.

For artist Elena Dragoi, this changed how buyers decide: “A ‘try before you buy’ tool builds trust with customers.” 

If you don’t have an ArtPlacer account, now’s the perfect time to join and see how digital tools can help you share your art. Start your free trial today!

Share your artwork in a Viewing Room, where collectors select their favorite pieces and contact you directly.

What other digital tools should artists use?

Beyond showing your art in context, a few everyday apps help you edit photos, create content, stay organized, and write about your work. Most have free versions, so you can start without spending anything.

Edit your artwork photos

Good photos are the base of everything you share online. If you need help with the shooting itself, here’s how to take professional photos of your artwork. And here are some tools to help after:

• Adobe Lightroom Mobile lets you correct color, exposure, and white balance so your photos match the real piece. The advanced tools require a subscription.
• Snapseed is a free photo editor from Google that works perfectly for quick editing. Keep in mind it has fewer professional features than Lightroom.

To prepare images for the web, TinyPNG compresses large files without visible quality loss, so your website loads faster and emails don’t break.

Create social media content

Room Mockups make strong social media content, and you can post them as they are or edit them further for more elaborate posts. Here are a couple of tools you can use:

• Canva is the easiest way to design posts, stories, and newsletters. For example, you can also build a carousel: the artwork first, then a close-up detail, then the piece in a Room Mockup. Some of the best features, like the background remover, are part of Canva Pro.
• CapCut is a video editor made for reels and short-form content. Combine a Room Mockup video with clips of your painting process to show the piece from studio to wall. CapCut adds captions automatically, which helps since many people watch without sound. 

If you have several links to share on your profile, a link-in-bio page like Linktree keeps them all in one place. For content ideas, here’s what to post on Instagram as an artist.

Plan and schedule your work

• Notion helps you organize your practice in one workspace. Use it to plan your production, track open call deadlines, and map out your content calendar. It takes some time to set up the way you like it, but it’s worth it if you’re a Type A.
• Meta Business Suite lets you schedule Instagram and Facebook posts for free. Batch your content once a week, and your profile stays active while you paint.

If you also post on other platforms, Buffer schedules content across several networks. Keep in mind the free plan limits the number of channels and posts.

Digital tools make sharing your art easier: from organizing your posting schedule to creating content that stands out on social media.

Key takeaways

• Start small and upgrade as you grow. A few reliable tools that match your medium beat a full set you won’t use.
• Choose by medium. Graded pencils, pigment-ink pens, and acid-free paper cover drawing. Quality paint, synthetic brushes, and a good surface cover painting.
• Protect what you finish. Varnish shields paintings from dust, UV light, and moisture, but remember to match it to your medium.
• Show your art in context. Buyers decide faster when they can picture a piece at home, which is what ArtPlacer’s Room Mockups and AR are made for.
• Let apps handle the busywork. Photo editors, design tools, and schedulers keep your online presence active while you focus on creating.

Now that you know the essential tools for artists, it’s time to build or upgrade your toolkit and start creating. Want to try the digital tools that can make a difference? Start your free ArtPlacer trial today!

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