My twelve year old loves to draw. Her birthday is coming up so it is gift time. I'm thinking a drawing tablet with colored pencils? Seems kind of basic though. Suggestions?

Budget? Cause you could easily have a big one.

Crayola has some decent erasable colored pencils -- but i would throw in pastels, conte crayons, regular black pencils in various hardnesses, stencils, french curves -- and a nice pencil sharpener.

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The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs [www.fakesteve.net]

A gift? Tell them to try something else b/c you certainly don't want to end up with a career in art.

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How about a Spirograph?

dabbled in charcoal yet ?

One of those lap desks with a lid to keep paper and pencils?

Book on how to draw horses, animals, people, landscapes, whatever her interests. We got our son one years ago and now, at 12, he's a master at drawing zombies, Batman, Transformers, etc. Best thing is, he developed his own style, so his drawings don't look photographic or generic.

an iPad

I would have LOVED a gift like this when I was that age:
[www.amazon.com]
You certainly don't have to go with this exact kit, there seems to be oodles of them out there. But the wooden box would have made me feel like a "real" artist.

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"Stop thinking about art works as objects, and start thinking about them as triggers for experiences." ~ Brian Eno

Lots of paper, good paper, not just a regular notebook but a sketchbook. Some direction is also a valuable thing.

Try this source:
[www.dickblick.com]

Thank you for the suggestions. I bought the kit $tevie linked to.

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lazydays
Thank you for the suggestions. I bought the kit $tevie linked to.

I would've gone for the Prismacolor pencils ahs linked to. Colored pencils are not created equal. From my art class days.... I remember the Prismacolor pencils to produce smooth, rich and saturated colors. Worth the extra few bucks.

Yeah, if that set keeps her interest then Prismacolor would be the next thing to get. Pencils are great for fine illustration, but nothing like charcoal on a nice toothy paper.

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mikebw
Yeah, if that set keeps her interest then Prismacolor would be the next thing to get. Pencils are great for fine illustration, but nothing like charcoal on a nice toothy paper.

I would love to see the kid's expression when she unwraps the gift and finds out she got a piece of coal for her birthday. LOL

If you do decide to go with Prismacolor at a later date, Micheals sells them in 3 different sized sets, and in singles for refills, you can usually find a 1/2 off coupon in the Sunday paper. We bought the larger 120 color set for our daughter last Christmas.

I like Jesse's idea and I really think with your budget Dave there should be a trip to France and the best art schools in her future. Maybe a summer trip include her art supplies and a 6'13" Samoan Chaperone *(:>*
Rudie *(:>*

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I like the gift you ordered. I'd give her some cash too for her incidentals.