The Quest for the Best: Art Supplies in Seattle

Beni Jurion and Hobbs Hegedus, Staff Writers

Art supplies help define an artist’s abilities, and even the best new need quality materials to meet their needs. To help artists reach their max potential, here provided by this article are a list of stores specifically sell the top artisan tools, from paints to frames, in Seattle.

Stores from Blick’s to Michaels are highly rated and liked by the crafts people of Seattle and are thriving communities for not only obtaining supplies but inspiration from classes and such. One of these stores is titles Joann Fabrics and Crafts and as well as selling art tools, it has classes for many forms of art like baking, jewelry making and knitting. This is a prime example of how these shops supply the community with skills as well as materials.

Each store unique in their own way and some are even specialized in certain areas. This can be seen at Michael’s which has Seattle’s largest collection of frames and even hosts classes about creating custom frames. Daniel Smith’s Fine Art Material store has sessions for improving calligraphy and has a wide selection of paints and pens. Actually, all of their paints are made in store fresh for their gracious users. Art Primo has a wide selection of spray paints and is the best supplier for street art enthusiasts.

Overall the stores mentioned, and more help influence Seattle’s art community and helps interests many in the many different forms of art. A lot of people from profession to hobbies go to these stores and the support from hobbyists and professionals help keep these stores in place in the competitive war for real-estate within in growing Seattle. Seattle Prep’s own art instructor Ms. Dold is a proud supporter of many of these stores and said that

“Art stores make you happy until you get to the cash register. But art is fun, so it builds a community. Also, some stores have classes in the back for all ages and skill levels”

All of these stores as Ms. Dold agreed are special in their own ways which makes it harder to decide who the best supplier in Seattle is, but that is up to its buyers. She herself however believes,

“Artists and Craftsmen [is the best art store] because they have the best student grade products, for quality and bulk.” She then proceeded to say that artists and craftsmen store is the best store because,

“They cater to those who like to make crafts and those who indulge in fine arts.”

Down below is a list of the top eight are stores in Seattle as reviewed by thousands of people online. At least one of them is guaranteed to satisfy any various form of art, and their creator.

Blicks Art Materials:

1600 Broadway ~9 Minutes

 

This supplier at Blicks Art Material has an extensive selection of art supplies, including paints and canvases. This store also has, according to Drew Polzin 22’ “very good customer service and I highly recommend shopping there.” Their paints include oil, acrylic, Gouache, and even spray paints. They also sell ceramic and sculpting supplies.

 

Michaels:

1700 W Armor Way ~18 minutes

 

Michaels carries art and hobby supplies plus home decor. They also contain classes and custom framing. Framing seems to be the focus of Michaels as the frame section seems to be the largest. They also have classes on custom framing if you want to learn how to make frames. Michaels also has a huge array of different supplies for scrapbooking, and even baking supplies. Michaels is a fantastic store for many different art projects.

 

Daniel Smith Fine Arts Material:

4150 1st Ave S ~21 minutes

 

Daniel Smith contains a wide variety of different paints, from watercolor paints to Acrylic Paints to Walnut Ink for those interested in calligraphy. There is also a fair selection of art pens which come in many different colors. Overall, Daniel Smith is a good store for shopping for paints.

 

Art Primo:

415 E Pine St ~ 9 minutes

 

Art Primo is a fantastic store for street art. They contain a huge variety of different spray paints along with many different spray paint colors. They also have paint markers in any size, with many different mops waiting to be filled with ink or dye of your choice. They also have a easy to use website that allows you to buy their goods from almost anywhere.

 

Seattle ReCreative:

8408 Greenwood Ave N ~13 minutes

 

Seattle ReCreative is a non-profit organization that is focuses scrapbooking supplies, yarn for knitting, and sewing supplies. All of their supplies are donated from the community and most of it is reported to be eco-friendly. As their supplies are donated, this place is perfect to get scrapbooking supplies, as they have old books, magazines, and more.

Artists & Craftsman Supply Seattle:

4350 8th Ave NE ~6 minutes

 

Artists & Craftsman Supply has art supplies perfect for painting and sculpting, to bookbinding and even origami. On their website, they also have a blog where they post many different ideas for projects and some DIY projects. This is alongside some quirky one liner that are tied to the project. A short 1.7-mile skip away, and with usual traffic, a 6-minute drive.

JOANN Fabric and Crafts

2217 NW 57th St, Seattle, WA 98107 ~ 19 minutes

A short 5.2 miles away, Joann has a huge variety of different fabrics and sewing supplies, not to mind their wide variety of traditional arts & crafts supplies. Joann hosts many different classes that touch on jewelry to knitting and even baking.

Dakota Art Store

2000 NW Market St ~17 minutes

Dakota Art stores contains more of the traditional painting supplies. This store focuses on selling paints, brushes, paper, and canvas, they also provide all the necessary supplies for acrylic, oil, and watercolor paintings. From our experiences, the staff was generally friendly and helpful. It is only 17-minute drive away from Prep.