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| Pearl Paint, 308 Canal Street, TriBeCa, New York NY 10013 |
I've constructed the section by reviewing what I can find online.
The thing is - I KNOW I've read excellent reviews by art bloggers in the past about different art materials stores in New York - but I simply can't find them! It's driving me potty!
Have people stopped writing reviews of art supplies stores in New York or has Google stopped identifying them? The only ones I've found so far are the Handprint reviews of retailers which include three reviews of stores in NYC.
Anyway I'd like to develop this section to include a poll, links to reviews and a map on the website to help people visiting New York. However first I'd like to be clearer as to the relative ranking of the top ten stores - so I can construct my top 10 poll! My initial conclusions to date are:
- Pearl Paint in Lower Manhattan, between Tribeca, SoHo and Chinatown probably gets the most visitors and certainly gets the most reviews - but it also gets quite a lot of dissatisfied customers.
- Dick Blick in NoHo, Manhattan gets the most favourable reviews and is actually the top art materials store on Yelp. Plus points are well laid out store makes it easy to find what you want and helpful staff
- New York Central Art Supply between Green Village and the East Village is very much the "go to" store for fine art paper
So I'd like to ask you two questions:
- Which are your top three art supplies stores in New York? Please leave the names and locations of your top three as a comment
- Have you written a review of any of them? If so please leave a comment with the URL of your blog post and I'll link to it or reference it.
I'll then add in a poll to the website and more links to reviews of the different recommended stores.
10 comments:
Also couldn't find many reviews when I was looking last year - so I wrote my own - http://glasgowpainter.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/art-supplies-new-york-city.html - in it should be a link to a google map with the art stores on it.
Top three? Blick, without a doubt. Vasari paints are amazing, even if my shopping experience not the best, and the New York Central Art Supplies place had the best range of paper - which they let me browse for ages, taking notes. Not everywhere will let you do that . . .
Hope this helps!
Brilliant - that's exactly the sort of review I'm trying to collect!
I've added links to both review and map into my reviews section http://www.squidoo.com/art-supplies-USA#module166341776
I am an artist in New York and have visited many art supply stores. Da Vinci Art Supply on West 21st Street is excellent. They have an excellent assortment of paper and specialty sketchbooks as well as a framing center.
Also, there is a brand new Utrecht on 13th, just east of Fifth Avenue, that is surprisingly good.
Thanks Laura.
I keep hearing that the Utrecht shops while good are more attuned to the needs of graphic artists rather than fine artists. Does this vary from shop to shop?
Thank you so much for this post! I am going for the firts time to New york this coming Saturday, and was planning to do some shopping for art materials. And now I know where to find them! You really are a gem!
Charlotta/Pappersdraken
New York Central for art, decorative and handmade papers. Worth a visit just to go to the paper department where all papers are in wall mounted displays you can handle. Also unique sketchbooks, especially for watercolor, nibs for dip pens, lots of brushes. Open stock Lyra colored pencils.
Davinci has widest range of open stock colored pencils, including Luminance, and carries Stillman & Birn sketchbooks which are wonderful.
Blick is big and has widest range of watercolor brands.
Utrecht had cheapest prices on most staples. They're close to several art schools and geared toward needs of students.
Pearl seems to be languishing. Stock is always low on many shelves. It used to be a great place.
New York Central is worth a trip just for the paper department. It's a tiny room upstairs, and a sample of every single paper they sell is mounted on the wall on big boards on hinges that you can flip through and touch, somewhat like a map room. They also have Lyra colored pencils in open stock and are the only place I know in the city to get real dip pen nibs and holders in open stock.
Davinci has the most brands of open stock colored pencil, including Caran d"ache Luminance. They also have Stillman & Birn sketchbooks which I haven't seen anywhere else.
Dick Blick is big and well stocked. They have the greatest number of watercolor brands I've seen.
Utrecht has the lowest prices for staples. They cater to the needs of the many nearby art students, so are best for basics.
Pearl used to be great, but I stopped going because everything was always out of stock. Lots of empty shelves last time I was there.
Soho Art Materials
7 Wooster St New York, NY 10013
(212) 431-3938
Best place to spot a famous artist!
I agree with Elisabeth - Peal has lost its luster. New York Central has best paper. Blick best inventory. DaVinci, which is across the street from School of Visual Arts, best sketchbooks. Utrecht (the new one on 13th only) is good for picking up odds and ends. Their inventory of graphite pencils, however, is poor.
When I was i NY your reviews were a great help! I managed to get to Utrecht on the 13 th and it was well stocked, at least if you compare to a swedish art material shop! To my delight I found encaustic material, something totally lacking at home!
Da Vinci was a dream, I could have stayed there for hours, but my wallet had its limits! I found more brands of encaustic and some newbrands of gouache and watercolour I havent tried before.
Just wish I could go back and seethe other shops in your review!
It doesn't seem this thread is too active anymore but I thought I'd let anyone who has to travel a long way to the US/NYC that Pearl Paint on Canal street closed a couple of months ago.
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