Gwartzman's Art Supplies

Great Selection and Excellent Customer Service! I recently visited Gwartzman ś art Supplies and was thoroughly impressed with the variety and quality of art supplies they offer. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned professional, this store has everything you need—from paints, brushes, and sketchbooks to specialty items for more advanced techniques. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable, always ready to offer advice or recommend products based on your project. I was particularly impressed with how organized the store is, making it easy to find exactly what I was looking for. The prices are fair, especially considering the high-quality brands they carry. One of my favorite parts of the experience was the hands-on area where I could test out some of the materials before buying. It’s clear that [Store they cares about supporting artists at all skill levels. I’ll definitely be returning for my future art needs and highly recommend this store to anyone looking for reliable, top-notch art supplies!

i had the loveliest time in the world buying new watercolors here. their prices are reasonable, and there's so many interesting items they have in stock! i love being able to look at items and feel them before buying them, and i love knowing i'm supporting a local business :)

I looked all over Toronto for a very large stretcher for a canvas I had and not only was Gwartzmans the sharpest price, the quality and workmanship is top shelf, second to none! I was actually blown away with the fit and the actual wood, which didn’t have a single flaw. I do a lot of my art supply shopping here and I am always impressed with the staff and the help they provide.

Beautiful store, high quality materials, and very helpful staff.

The staff is very nice, however customer service and the manager are not great. I purchased a can of spray varnish in the store to seal a painting on a window. I knew I can do that since I researched a bit. In the store, the associate suggested vinyl instead to ease (which they don't even carry). We discussed a bit that varnish is hard to remove and I assured her it's fine since my customer said he will be responsible for that. However, once I used the spray, white stains appeared. It's the first time I use that on a window, not the first time generally. So I was pointed by the store to the customer service. Once I explained the situation, they began to drop ALL the blame on me as I was supposed to do a full research and go by their suggestion (again, of a product they don't carry) and that I was supposed to read the label. I did. Label says to work in an area 12c to 24c, not humid, and to try it on a small part of the painting. All was done. Room was 24c, slight door open, dry air, window not frozen. Not once on the label was mentioning of such outcome or that weather will affect it from the outside like that, and not once the person told me that could happen. However, when I came to the store the day they pointed me to customer service, a nice associate did check that for me and explained it can happen and pointed me to a different varnish to use instead. I just wish that this warning would happen the first time I came. I thought the whole point is to help the customer and point them, at least mention something can get wrong and not demend from me to come with all the knowledge and all the research. My research told me I can use a spray, and follow instructions which I did. Otherwise what's the point in sales associates if I do everything by myself? I had to outsource the varnish elsewhere since customer service simply vanished from the email two days ago. Maybe I have a little part of the blame but don't drop it all on me and dissappear, as this is very unprofessional.

An extremely friendly and accessible place. I have very much enjoyed my time in the store and I have always felt welcome.

Sooo much specific selection in what looks like a small store. It's great when you want to do something like buy a single sketching pencil to replace a favourite that is all used up, as opposed to buying a whole kit on Amazon. (Though they also have whole kits). The staff is also very friendly and knowledgeable. Specific items for review: - charcoal (see photo). They have an excellent charcoal section with prices not been able to find in person or online anywhere else. (Except for normal white chalk, naturally.) After looking high and low on Amazon I got black, grey, and sienna/that reddish colour chalk that is serving me very well. 10/10 would recommend. - kneaded eraser. This is the least expensive kneaded eraser I have ever seen and it is working great with the charcoal! - oil pastels. I got a smaller set of oil pastels from here some time ago. The colours selection was a little brighter and the texture a little more waxy than I usually would go for, but I would still recommend it as a compact kit. - toned paper. They had more than one colour available for this, and the price is much more affordable than other places I've seen. - a softcover sketchbook with a magnet close. It was quite bendy which was a bit of a learning curb for sketching, but recommended by an employee because I Was hoping to find a sketchbook that wouldn't smudge my drawings and it has indeed kept them safe! - blending stumps. They work, and you don't have to buy a whole sketching kit to have them

It pains me to write this as I've been buying from Gwartzman's since childhood. Everything they offer you can now find online for a better price. Customer service is a zero. The staff can't answer basic questions like which of their gouaches are light-fast. They also don't accept all cards.