Tax Strategist Jere Doyle admits that, like his clients, he doesn't fully understand the inherent value of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), but it's hard to ignore the eye-popping prices they can fetch at auction.

A tax strategist for BNY Mellon Wealth Management since 1981, most of Doyle's high-net-worth clientele are baby boomers like himself. In the past six months, he has gotten increasing inquiries from moneyed clients about NFTs asking whether they should buy them and, bluntly, what non-fungible tokens even are.

"A lot of our clients who have artwork are older and they assemble a collection over a longer period of time, so NFTs are new to them. But when people saw an NFT sold for $69.3 million at Christie's, that woke a lot of people up," the senior vice president said, referring to an NFT created by digital artist Beeple that was auctioned by Christie's in March.

"I think people are leery of using it because they don't understand it, but when they see the prices that have been paid for this stuff, they pay attention."

Several wealth advisers and fund managers told Insider in March that they were wary of advising clients to invest in NFTs, calling them a "fad." Doyle thinks NFTs are here to stay, but he is concerned that art collectors, even experienced ones, don't understand the tax liabilities that come with investing in conventional artwork, let alone digital assets. The bill only gets steeper for those in the highest tax brackets.

"I can't tell you how many programs on art and collectibles I've done for investors and collectors. And I can honestly say that with 85 to 90% of them, their jaws drop when you tell them about tax ramifications," he told Insider. 

NFTs are taxed at a higher capital gains rate than stocks and real estate

The IRS hasn't issued any tax guidance specific to NFTs yet, but they will likely be treated as collectibles. The IRS defines a collectible as "any work of art" and is allowed to deem "any other tangible personal property specified by the Secretary" as a collectible. NFTs are not tangible, but Doyle thinks it will still be designated as collectibles.

The maximum long-term capital gains tax rate on assets such as stocks and real estate is around 20%. For collectibles, that maximum rate jumps to 28%, which kicks in at about $400,000 of taxable income.

It adds up, especially for high-income individuals in states with higher taxes. Doyle gave the example of a California investor or collector with an income of more than $1 million who sells an NFT. The taxpayer would have to pay 13.3% (the state's marginal tax rate) on their income in excess of $1 million as well as 3.8% surtax on net investment income and 28% on the gains from the NFT sale.  

"It's important to think about the tax liabilities before you invest in anything," he said.

How NFTs are usually bought also incurs capital gains tax as well

NFTs are frequently bought with cryptocurrency. The IRS treats cryptocurrency as property, not currency, which means that if you use cryptocurrency to buy something, you have to pay short-term ordinary income tax (a maximum of 37%) or long-term capital gains tax (topping at 20%) depending on whether you held the cryptocurrency for a year or more. 

"If you buy an NFT with bitcoin, you are basically trading property for property," Doyle explains. 

Many bitcoin users, even though they skew younger, don't understand the tax implications of using cryptocurrency for purchases. It's even murkier for high-net-worth art collectors, who typically belong to an older demographic and are less likely to be crypto-savvy. 

Sales tax on NFTs is down the pipeline

So far, states have not imposed sales tax on NFTs, but more than 30 states tax sales of digital products like song and movie downloads. These laws could be interpreted to allow for sales tax on NFTs, and Doyle thinks it will happen in the near future, and the nature of buying digital assets will make it more complicated.

"States will wake up to the fact that there's a sale they can grab some revenue from by figuring out to apply sales tax to intangible assets like NFTs," he said.

"The problem is where does that transaction actually take place? If you buy it using cryptocurrency, does the transaction take place where you were sitting at the time you purchased it on your computer or where the servers are located and the transaction is processed?"

The moneyed have small armies of lawyers and accountants to navigate tax liabilities as they arise. But Doyle warns that investing in NFTs at their current peak might burn investors later down the line. Between concerns about copyright issues with NFTs and cryptocurrency's association with money laundering, NFTs are hardly a strategy for wealth preservation.

"I think NFTs are here to stay but I would be surprised if the prices stay at where they are right now," he said. "And it's going to take time to sort out not just the taxes but the intellectual property and money laundering issues. There's more to come on all this because it's in its infancy."

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"Dreams weigh more than excuses."

So says an all-white, bold font splashed across a seesawing elephant and dancing butterfly in a mystical-looking forest. It's inspirational, colorful, and a bit magical — like a motivational Instagram meme brought to life.

It also happens to be a non-fungible token, a digital file tradable by blockchain, and the brainchild of the millennial entrepreneurs Mark Mastrandrea and Jeff Cole, the cofounders of IKONICK, an online canvas-art company. It was IKONICK's inaugural NFT drop, sold as two different editions that raked in over $100,000 in sales collectively.

"This space is moving faster than anything I've ever seen in my life," Mastrandrea said of crypto art.

The $250 million NFT market is new for Mastrandrea and Cole, who founded IKONICK in 2016 as a way to make art both affordable and aspirational to millennials, translating pop culture and inspirational quotes into something worth hanging on your wall.

Mastrandrea said they would be "stupid" as a digital art company to not take crypto art seriously. NFTs shot to fame in March, when Beeple's "Everydays: the First 5000 Days," a collage of images, sold for $69.3 million, the third-highest price paid at auction for a work by a living artist. That month, people dropped millions on crypto art. NFTs have been around for about five years, but the craze has seemingly come out of nowhere, fueled by the wealthy, who had extra time and money on their hands during the pandemic; the popularity of bitcoin; and the volatility in prices. Mastrandrea and Cole hoped to dominate this emerging space.

Until May, IKONICK only sold canvas art. Canvases range from $90 to $650, depending on the size and depth, and feature everything from an image of a cassette tape emblazoned with "Pause if you must. But don't stop" to a meme of "Mona Lisa" with hundred-dollar bills underneath her canvas, aptly titled "Money Lisa." Some are even the product of cobranded art collections made with Monopoly, Peanuts, and the NBA, among others.

Within 18 months of launching, the founders said, IKONICK raked in $10 million in sales in canvas art alone, meaning thousands upon thousands of pieces sold. Gary Vaynerchuk, an entrepreneur, and Scooter Braun, an investor and record executive, became strategic advisors. In 2019, an "outside investment" valued the company at $30 million.

With the launch of IKONICK NFT, Mastrandrea and Cole aim to take their company to the next level using the same DNA they said fueled IKONICK's initial success: value and storytelling. Much like they made high-quality art accessible, the duo plans to produce rare, high-quality NFTs with owned IP, inspired by their canvas-art designs and geared toward the millennial investor.

Since they already have existing art, animating it to produce an NFT wasn't difficult, they said. But, they added, the process was tedious, given how new the market is. They're focused on producing both proprietary designs and licensed NFTs, the first licensed partner of which is Popeye — the sailor man, not the fried chicken.

They've also established Open Residency, a new-age artist management and creative agency, to provide creative, marketing, and distribution support to brands and artists also looking to enter the NFT space. Their roster includes Gal Yosef, a 3D artist and 21st century sculptor, and Alex Alvarado, an artist at Disney Animation.

"There's a really great, more cerebral story that we can tell with not only IKONICK and Cole but with bringing in these really talented artists as well," Mastrandrea said.

Through both their canvas and NFT art ventures, as well as their new agency, Mastrandrea and Cole are staying on top of all the ways a new generation of art buyers is reshaping the art market. They spoke to Insider about how they created social-media-inspired art for millennials, their plans to dominate crypto art, and the future of NFTs.

Speaking to the millennial art buyer

Mastrandrea and Cole are betting big on a new phenomenon during a time when the art market is shrinking — by 22% in 2020 to $50.1 billion in sales, the lowest level since the Great Recession.

But the young and tech-savvy buyer that is the wealthy millennial could be saving the art market. Pre-pandemic, they were already digitizing the space, more willing to buy art online than other generations and dropping more than $100,000 doing so. Instagram in particular had become a tool for both emerging artists and millennial collectors, Adweek reported.

The online trend was only exacerbated during 2020, as wealthy millennials leaned into art and culture investments during quarantine. Come March 2021, they began reshaping the art market further as they led the crypto craze. Sixty percent of bids on Christie's NFTs overall were made by those under the age of 40.

It's a consumer that Mastrandrea and Cole know well.

Consider the winners of their Eternal Auction: 20-something male millennial entrepreneurs who purchased 10 pieces of IKONICK canvas art in the past. "It was literally us four years ago," Cole said.

Mastrandrea and Cole have known each other for about a decade, since working together on marketing and design, respectively, at a luxury hat company. Back in 2014, Mastrandrea met a young artist in Boston and began managing him.

The experience made Mastrandrea realize that there was a hole in the market for affordable art, he said. At the same time, Cole noticed that his Instagram feed was full of motivational quotes and memes, and the idea to put pop-driven art that spoke to millennials on social media was born.

Cole said he was able to combine a high-end feel with affordability, which helped drive a compulsion to buy, like, and share. "I thought of a way to make motivational stuff cool," he said. "I was kind of marrying high-end art with what was going viral on the internet."

While Cole may be the creative mind of the operation, Mastrandrea oversees the business side. In the beginning, they said, they worked early mornings, late evenings, and weekends until they sold enough pieces to quit their jobs and take on IKONICK full time. Now, IKONICK is a team of 12.

It wasn't until January that they learned what NFTs were, when Vaynerchuk brought up the latest form of cryptocurrency during their quarterly business meeting.

"We started going down a rabbit hole, and it's been insane," Mastrandrea said, adding that he spends about 15 hours a week self-educating himself on NFTs by reading the latest news, watching YouTube videos, looking at the marketplace and artists, and talking to people.

"Conversations with people in this space are always going to unlock something," he said.

A 'wild, wild west' of art

"I think NFTs are going to be as big as social media and the internet," Mastrandrea said. "There's going to be a zillion types of applications, but in the here and the now, the first most adopted application is probably in the art scene."

Mastrandrea said NFTs are changing the concept of ownership in the art world. An NFT and blockchain gives a hard stamp of approval that can offer true ownership to the consumer, he said. For digital art businesses such as IKONICK, he added, it also protects their IP so competitors can't create knockoffs.

But there's also an element of fractional ownership, in which multiple people can share ownership of art they wouldn't be able to afford otherwise. Mastrandrea likens it to investing in stock. If an NFT costs $100,000, for example, four different people could put in $25,000 to own it.

The most interesting thing to Mastrandrea is how NFTs are deployed in the real world. He said technologies are emerging to help display them. As an example, he mentioned Mark Cuban's Lazy.com, where you can showcase NFTs.

"It's just a wild, wild west of how you can display art," Cole added.

But whether the market lasts is an open-ended question. The number of NFT sales for the week ending June 4 is about half of what they were during March's peak, the industry tracker NonFungible.com showed.

Mastrandrea thinks NFTs are here to stay: "It is, in my eyes, the safest way to validate true ownership of something. It's going to disrupt all industries — insurance, textbooks, art, music, video. NFTs are going to be an underlying technology for everything and anything."

The problem is that the technology for NFTs is underdeveloped, he said, with applications not fully built yet. For example, gas fees — fees you have to pay to buy or sell an NFT — are still high, around $200. Mastrandrea anticipates these costing zero in the future. He likened it to the early days of the internet, when you needed dial-up to connect.

"There's going to be a tipping point," he said. "That's what's going to unlock everything."

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When I first started building an online community on Instagram around my conceptual photography work over a decade ago, I was constantly worried about how to create content people actually wanted to view and share with their friends. 

Deciphering the ins and outs of the online world was tricky at first, but all those years I spent posting and experimenting with my photography helped me recognize and understand what audiences love, as well as what keeps them coming back for more.

I now have over 620,000 followers on TikTok, 145,000 on Instagram, and was nominated for a Shorty Award in 2020. Here's what I've learned and how you can cultivate your own online following. 

Infuse your personality 

Audiences love originality, authenticity, and vulnerability. When you're posting online, offer your audience content that's infused with your personality or the ethos of your brand identity.

If you're posting content just to meet an arbitrary quota you've set for yourself, you're not going to retain and grow that core group of followers that will stick with you. 

For example, I'm an unapologetically weird creative who loves to use artistic creation as a form of self-expression, and I want my followers to understand that channeling their emotions into an artistic medium can be both rewarding and rejuvenating.

So when I'm creating, writing, or posting content, I like to mix the vulnerability of my own emotional states with my weird creativity.

Whether I'm painting with my mop or pulling the pin on a colorful smoke grenade, my audience loves to watch and share because they love my message, they enjoy my art, and they're happy to defend both when the negative comments come around. 

Share insights into your process

I know that the idea of sharing your "how-to" can seem counterintuitive and even a bit scary. 

A lot of artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs are afraid to share their secrets, falsely believing that sharing their process could end up crippling their audience or sales since it opens the door for copycats. But I believe this advice is one of the biggest reasons for my success. 

Showing the behind-the-scenes of your process is compelling and holds attention. I can't tell you how many times I've watched a 10-minute video of a Renaissance-era art restoration, let alone how many of my friends I ended up sharing those videos with.

Take this example from my own experience: Months ago, I began an online performance-art series with my youngest son. We both poured paint all over me, and I showed the progress from start to finish.

Several of the videos went viral and were eventually viewed by tens of millions, which opened up a world of opportunity for growth and exposed my work to new audiences. 

Stay connected to your audience

As your audience grows, so too will your inbox. You're going to be inundated with people asking questions and leaving comments, and you should try to reply to each and every one. Audiences love engagement from creators, and you never know what interaction could lead to your next big boost in followers. 

A few months ago, I was hanging out on my couch and replying to my audience when a fan from Spain sent me a direct message about one of my performance-art mop paintings posts. This follower absolutely loved the video and asked if they could repost it on their Instagram account. I happily agreed to let them repost my work and then quickly forgot about the exchange. 

It wasn't until several weeks after that interaction that I noticed my video had exploded in Spain. Hundreds of thousands of people were viewing my work and commenting, which led to a huge increase in new followers. It turned out that the fan I connected with had a very popular Spanish Instagram page. 

That one interaction introduced my art to a whole new group abroad — one that probably wouldn't have found me otherwise — and it's something that wouldn't have been possible if I hadn't taken the time to connect with a member of my audience. 

Showcase your work in the real world 

This has played a very important role in my success over the last couple of years, and I always recommend it when other artists ask me how to create buzz around their work. 

I started to see real traction in my following when I began posting images of what my work actually looked like in my clients' homes. Showcasing my work like this allowed my audience to see the practicality of a large-scale mop painting and imagine a similar design within their own home.

While this advice seems geared toward artists, it's applicable to a variety of people and professionals. For example, if you're designing clothes, show them the clothes on a variety of body types. If you're offering coaching, ask a satisfied client to do a voiceover with you. And if you're selling a product, don't just show the product — show real people using it. Help your audience envision themselves using, owning, or experiencing your product or service. 

Try to be consistent

Posting consistently could mean once a day on one platform and three times a week on another. I like to post weekly on Instagram and in my email newsletter, and at least twice a week on TikTok.

Consistency is key to keeping and growing a dedicated audience. The more you create, the more chances you have to be seen. 

While I don't think you should just post to post, putting in the work and dedication to create and share brand-driven content will aid in growing your following. Post to create value for your audience, because the people viewing your content are investing in you, so you should invest in them. 

Carolyn Mara is a photographer, painter, and online performance artist who specializes in creating artwork with a mop and bucket. You can see her work or reach out to her on Instagram or TikTok, and view her current inventory gallery at www.carolynmara.com.

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A replica of Leonardo da Vinci's world-famous "Mona Lisa" painting on Friday sold to a European collector for about $3.4 million at Christie's Auction House.

The copy, known as the "Hekking Mona Lisa," had been expected to sell for €200,000 to €300,000 in an online auction. It sold for about 10 times that. 

"This is madness, this is an absolute record for a 'Mona Lisa' reproduction," a Christie's spokesperson told Reuters.

Named after its previous owner, Raymond Hekking, the replica was believed to have been painted in the early 17th century by an Italian painter.

Hekking said he was in possession of the true "Mona Lisa," according to the auction house. He said a look-alike was returned to the Louvre Museum after the real painting was stolen in 1914. 

Hekking devoted much of his life to proving the painting he bought for $4 was the true da Vinci, while the work in the Louvre was a copy, Christie's said.

"Art challenges, fascinates, sometimes obsesses," said Pierre Etienne, international director of Old Master Paintings at the auction house. 

"This work and its history illustrate the fascination that the Mona Lisa and the aura of Leonardo da Vinci have always held," the auction house said.

It said the replica "is not as compelling as the work in the Louvre but it conjures something of that world and, in a world of images, in which only the strongest ones stay in our mind, allows the dream to go on."

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Look at the artwork in Axel's office in "Billions," the canvases that costarred with Timothy Spall in his acclaimed role as the namesake painter in "Mr. Turner," and the party at the Guggenheim museum that Rose Byrne as Gloria Steinem attended in the recent miniseries "Mrs. America."

None of these would have been possible without a niche position on TV and film productions: fine-art coordinator, a recognized role among the creative union 829.

It's a curious job that's equal parts curator, set designer, and paralegal.

New York-based Fanny Pereire is arguably the best known stateside, though her fame is below the line. Pereire worked in the art world in various roles after graduation, including in the press department at Christie's auction house and helping to establish Art & Auction magazine.

Having met producer Scott Rudin through mutual friends, she was recruited for the movie "Changing Lanes," a 2002 thriller starring Ben Affleck, as the script required significant art wrangling. Instantly smitten with the job, Fanny swapped magazines for movie sets and has spent the last two decades curating displays and galleries for fictitious collectors. She said she's paid a daily rate for each job she works on.

The process for her begins with the production meeting, where the producer, director, and scenics pour over a script. Art-minded actors might weigh in directly at this stage, as Donald Sutherland did recently, Pereire recalled.

She was hired to curate a collection for his billionaire character on HBO's recent miniseries "The Undoing.""He came in and we both had a shortlist of what artworks his character would have, and I think seven out of 10 were the same," she said. "He really cared and would arrive on set and literally look at them, like, 'These are mine.' He's so knowledgeable." 

Pereire relishes the research stage, as she has with the upcoming Apple TV adaptation of the bestselling book "Pachinko." The show's set in the 1980s between New York and Tokyo. "That's when the wealthy Japanese were buying Impressionists — I know because for me, that was the time I was at Christie's, so I knew exactly," she said.

Much of a fine-art coordinator's time is spent the same way: wrangling permission

The next step in production in any project is paperwork — and lots of it. "The costume designer doesn't have to check with legal to see if they're allowed to use a Gucci belt, but I have to talk to them about everything," Pereire said. "35% of my job is just the legal part."

For name-brand works, Pereire will approach the artist or artist's estate to seek permission. Exhibition posters, she explained, are particularly troublesome because they require double clearance — from the original artist and the museum or institution by which they were produced. Most fine-art coordinators will avoid them as a result unless absolutely necessary.

She admitted that artists might ignore requests, but it's rare to be refused point-blank. In fact, so far, only the estate of abstract expressionist Franz Kline has demurred, its bylaws requiring that his works can only be deployed in educational film or TV.

It doesn't hurt that many movie producers are heavyweight art collectors, too — Scott Rudin is one, and his sister, Beth, is among the most important contemporary collectors in the world.

Creating replicas is always preferable to borrowing originals

Clearance granted, she'll now set about creating a replica — several, usually, to allow for damages. Only occasionally will she risk borrowing an original.

"300 people come in and out of a movie set all the time. Why put something in jeopardy?" she said.

The metal sculptures by Aaron Young she wrangled for the set of "Billions" were an exception: They were intended as a long-term item of set-dressing, and their construction meant they were safe from damage.

That wasn't the case for the $20 million Cy Twombly painting Pereire borrowed for the thriller "Paranoia" in 2013. So why take the risk? "Because our actor requested it," she said. 

Pereire works with scenics on set to produce the replicas, though she treats these faux masterpieces with a charming reverence. "They become my children, and when someone touches them, I think 'Aaargh!'" she said.

Photographs and paintings are straightforward enough thanks to high-resolution printing and some finishing techniques. Sculptures, however, are much harder to make and move, so will be rarer on set as a result. See them in a movie, and it's a sign that art was important to the production — like in the case of 2002's "Changing Lanes," where Affleck plays a wealthy Wall Street lawyer and Pereire placed an Antony Gormley replica. Styrofoam subbed for the original cast metal.

Pop-artist Alex Katz also figured prominently in the same film, in particular a portrait of his son and the man's soon-to-be wife. The intrigued pair asked if they could visit the set, and Perreire readily agreed, noting that if they had problems accessing the set they should call her. The two strolled in without trouble, astonishing her when they walked up to say hello. They apparently looked so familiar to the crew that no one stopped them. "That's because we had the portrait hanging close to craft services when it was drying, so everyone had had lunch 'with' them for the last two weeks," she said.

Movies about artists require even more complex replicas

Art as background is one task. It's an entirely different proposition when art is central to the script. 

Suzie Davis is a British fine-art coordinator who's carved out a niche working on films where the storyline centers on an artist, including Timothy Spall's 2014 "Mr. Turner" and "The Electrical Life of Louis Wain" starring Benedict Cumberbatch and scheduled for release later this year.

On films like these, there's an additional stage: working with a fine artist to develop replicas of well-known works — Turner's "Fighting Temeraire," for instance.

The artist will be tasked with creating the painting at various stages of completion. Each will be painted in oil on canvas, much like the original, for practical reasons.

"When the time came and we needed to film Tim painting on them, we used acrylic paint, which we could wipe off and let him do it again," Davis said.

That film also featured an exhibition at London's Royal Academy, for which Davis and her team had to produce almost 400 works. She admitted that some were prints in that case — the Yale Museum of British Art is always a great source for shortcuts, Davis said, as it holds a hefty haul of images that are copyright-free. They were varnished to suggest age and framed in plastic rather than wooden frames to reduce costs.

On the upcoming film about Louis Wain, she said, Cumberbatch proved a passionate artist himself and spent time on set near the props table with the fine artist hired to ape Wain's works. 

"He's a really good artist, and they'd both be drawing together — he wanted to completely inhabit the character and totally understand how he drew," Davis said.

The biggest challenge for that film, Davis added, was permissions and clearance. Wain died destitute and without heirs, and so she couldn't use her usual channels to secure clearance, like Jeva Film, a firm whose specialties include securing such right. Instead, she contacted a collector of the artist's works, gallerist Chris Beetles, and secured permission to use images of works he owned.

The hardest part is destroying the replicas at production's end

Once production wraps, Perreire, Davis, and their colleagues must take back these impressive replicas and, in most cases, destroy them, per legal agreements.

"The day I know I'll have to do it, I have stomach pains in the morning — the first cut is always a little hard," Perreire said. She'll often slash them into pieces and provide proof of destruction via photographs or mail the shards back to the artist.

For images printed on canvas, some artists simply ask them to be returned so they can paint over them with new work. Masterpieces from Alex Katz and company could reveal confusing depths when X-rayed by curators in the future.

In one case, Perreire didn't destroy the paintings she reproduced by portraitist Alice Neel. "We worked with the foundation on them, and some of the paintings we picked the family had never really seen [in person]. They were having a big family reunion, so we gave them all the reproductions because we thought it would be fun for them to have a second life in their offices over the world," she said.

As for Davis, while the finished old masters were junked at the end of shooting "Mr. Turner," she and the art department kept the in-process replicas as souvenirs of a happy shoot. "I think we probably should have thrown them away, but we know where they are," she said. "I've got a half-done 'Fighting Temeraire' somewhere, and it looks great."

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I joined TikTok much later than most of my classmates. 

When I was growing up in rural Wisconsin, art was my priority, not social media. I've been into art and drawing for as long as I can remember. As a self-taught artist, I went through many different phases: first drawing, then origami, then pencils and pastels. 

In fall 2019, during my senior year of high school, I started taking art classes and got into painting since I wanted to create bigger pieces, like murals, which would be too time-consuming to draw with a small pencil. 

I started my TikTok account in November of that year after several classmates told me that I should post videos of my artwork. My first video ended up getting over 400,000 views.

Before this, my art had gotten attention locally, but having hundreds of thousands of online viewers felt wild to me. After that, I became devoted to posting. The more videos I posted, the more they kept popping off. It was absolutely wild.

At the beginning, posting on TikTok every other day was hectic. As soon as I got home from school, I'd rush to my desk, start another piece, and work for six hours every night. It was a grind.

I gained over 100,000 followers in my first month on TikTok.

This felt unbelievable to me, as I'd had an art Instagram account for over five years and had only about 1,000 followers. After I launched my TikTok account, my Instagram profile grew to over 95,500 followers.

In February 2020, I gained over 500,000 followers in one month after posting a series of four videos featuring Kobe Bryant, who had recently died. Those videos accumulated over 8 million views. My followers always send suggestions on whom I should feature next in my artwork. After Bryant's tragic death, I received so many requests for him that it was a no-brainer. 

Because of TikTok, I'm now a full-time artist. I graduated from high school last year, and while my plan was to go to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to study art, I convinced my parents to let me focus on making art instead of attending college.

I built a website to launch an online art store in June 2020. It was rough at first because I have zero business experience and had to build everything myself from scratch. In the first month, I made only about $1,000. After that, I committed to learning everything I could about selling.

With my store, I've learned that time spent creating a piece does not always increase its value.

I've spent four hours on pieces that have made thousands of dollars, versus over 50 hours on art that earned me only $200. To make money, I've learned it's important to cater to your audience, not just create whatever you want.

Most importantly, I diversified and created multiple services and products slowly over time. I launched with custom work, then added originals, prints, and tattoo designs.

These days, my store makes between $8,000 and $15,000 a month.

It's wild to think about because my business is only a year old.

One of the popular services that I offer is custom commissions. These are priced between about $500 and $2,500 apiece. Most of my requests are for artwork of family members or memorial pieces of relatives who have died. I also get many commissions from sports enthusiasts, so I paint Bryant all the time.

As for prints, the most popular one is Harry Styles from One Direction. I sold at least $10,000 worth of that print after the TikTok video I posted of it received over 2.3 million views.

I also make money from sponsored posts on TikTok. Brands reach out to me directly, and I charge a couple thousand dollars for each post. Most recently, I collaborated with Sweethearts and EA Sports. 

My typical day starts with checking emails and answering customer questions. Then I work on commissions, have a midday break, and spend the rest of the day creating TikTok content or painting whatever I want. On Sundays, I spend the full day fulfilling, printing, and shipping out orders.

For new artists starting on TikTok, I recommend checking out what's trending and brainstorming how you can make that fit your style and niche. The most important metric on TikTok is watch retention, so it's important to keep viewers engaged.

Thanks to my income from my art, I moved to be with my girlfriend in Minnesota in January. Next up, I'm saving up to build my dream art studio. I'd love to one day be recognized and collected as an artist and be featured in museums and galleries worldwide. It's been such an exciting year, and I can't wait to see what comes up next. 

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A gallery owner who struck an arrangement to sell Hunter Biden's paintings says the individual pieces of art could go for anywhere from $75,000 to $500,000 each, The Washington Post reports. 

White House officials came to an unprecedented agreement with the gallery that allows Hunter, President Joe Biden's eldest son, to earn a living from his art while not knowing who buys his paintings. 

Hunter took up painting as a hobby during his recovery from drug and alcohol addiction and found refuge in art while he was at the center of the 2019 impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, he told The New York Times for an expansive 2020 feature on his art.

Under the terms of the arrangement, the gallery owner, Georges Bergès, will set the prices of the art himself, won't disclose who bids on and purchases the paintings, and will reject offers that seem too high to just be for the art alone. 

Read more: Republicans are salivating over going after Hunter Biden if they win the majority in 2022

Still, ethics experts told The Post that the agreement falls into an ethical gray area because of the often-secretive nature of art purchases and how difficult it can be to trace who buys and sells expensive artwork. Importantly, they said, it doesn't entirely preclude someone who wants to exert influence over the Biden White House from trying to do so via a painting.

Richard Painter, the former top White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, told The Post the whole thing is "a really bad idea." 

"The initial reaction a lot of people are going to have is that he's capitalizing on being the son of a president and wants people to give him a lot of money. I mean, those are awfully high prices," he said. 

This is another ethical quandary the White House faces over Hunter's business dealings and how they could influence the Biden administration. While no evidence emerged that Hunter's work has unduly influenced his father, Hunter's work for Ukrainian oil and gas company Burisma Holdings drew scrutiny and was at the center of Trump's first impeachment. 

The latest development also comes as Republicans are gearing up to launch congressional investigations into Hunter if they retake the House majority in 2022, with high-profile acrimonious public hearings and probes, Insider reported.

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• Saied Hussain has been making cement tiles by hand for over 50 years in Cairo, Egypt.
• His business has withstood competition from marble and ceramic tile makers.
• He says he's one of the last artisans in Egypt still making tiles this way — and he doesn't expect the industry to last much longer.
• See more stories on Insider's business page.

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These pixelated avatars, known as "CryptoPunks," were first released in 2017 by creators Matt Hall and John Watkinson as an experiment. The characters, initially available for free, are now being auctioned off to eager billionaires for up to $11.7 million. 

CryptoPunks are among the most famous NFTs, a type of computer-generated art stored on the Ethereum blockchain. 

"The whole thing is pretty weird, and that's kind of why we did this," Hall told Mashable."There's like a weird intersection here between these virtual, digital things and an artificial rarity, but a rarity that is real and valuable in some sense."

Ten thousand unique CryptoPunks exist in the world, and some are considered more 'rare' than others — a tricky word for describing digital art that anyone can download. However, only one person can be the owner of an original CryptoPunk, and millionaires everywhere are clamoring for the title. 

See the top 10 most expensive CryptoPunks and how much they sold for here. 

1. CryptoPunk 7523, the most expensive CryptoPunk to date, sold for over $11.7 million. Billionaire Shalom Meckenzie, the largest shareholder of DraftKings, purchased the work at Sotheby's auction in June.

2. CryptoPunk 3100, another rare alien, was sold for $7.58 million, It sports the sole accessory of a headband.

3. CryptoPunk 7804, one of nine rare Alien punks sold for $7.57 million. Original owner Dylan Field, the CEO of Figma, calls it "the digital Mona Lisa."

4. CryptoPunk 3011, one of 6039 Male punks, sold for $1.76 million. Its rarest feature is the "vampire hair" style.

5. CryptoPunk 6965 sold for $1.54 million. It is one of 24 Ape punks, with a fedora accessory.

6. CryptoPunk 2066, a rare Zombie punk with a knitted beanie, sold for $1.46 million.

7. CryptoPunk 1190, one of 88 Zombie punks, sold for $1.38 million.

8. CryptoPunk 4156, another Ape punk, sold for $1.25 million.

9. CryptoPunk 2140, an Ape punk with a knitted cap and small shades, sold for $1.18 million.

10. CryptoPunk 6297, a Zombie punk, sold for $1.17 million.

11. The least expensive CryptoPunk currently for sale is #3173, priced at just under $38,000. It is a Male punk with a cap, beard, glasses, and mole as its included accessories.

Image Source: CryptoPunk/Larva Lab

Crypto exchange Binance has partnered with Russia's State Hermitage Museum to release non-fungible tokens (NFTs) depicting works of art by some of the world's greatest painters, from Leonardo da Vinci to Vincent Van Gogh, according to a company blog post on Monday. 

The Hermitage art museum is the world's second largest after the Louvre in Paris. It will work with Binance to release the NFTs in time for a fall exhibition this year. Each token will also contain the signature of Hermitage director Mikhail Piotrovsky with the corresponding date, place and time to ensure their "absolute uniqueness," Binance said. 

Binance said this was another step on the road to crypto assets becoming mainstream. 

"Recognition of blockchain technology and NFTs by one of the largest museums in the world is another step towards global digitalization. We highly appreciate the opportunity to cooperate with The State Hermitage; together we are making history," Helen Hai, head of Binance NFT, said in the blog. 

"The experience that the Hermitage shows to the entire art market is invaluable, it opens up a lot of new opportunities for development. I am sure that soon we will see even more projects that will positively affect the development of a unique union of blockchain and art," she said.

Each piece of art will be represented by two copies of an NFT - one will be stored by the museum, while the other will be sold on the Binance NFT marketplace. All proceeds will go to the Hermitage, the blog said.

NFTs are unique digital tokens that represent a real-world asset, such as a piece of video, or audio, as well items such as artwork or sports trading cards. They are essentially digital collectors' items that run on blockchain technology, but cannot be exchanged, like-for-like, as cryptocurrencies are.

Cryptocurrencies have been virtually banned in Russia. But the NFTs will comply with current national legislation, Binance said. 

The museum said it wants to use NFTs to improve accessibility and emphasize the democratic nature of art. 

"New technologies, in particular blockchain, have opened a new chapter in the development of the art market, led by the ownership and the guarantee of this ownership. This is an important stage in the development of the relationship between person and money, person and thing," Piotrovsky said.

"We will expand other opportunities, in particular digital ones, which will introduce the collections and the palace. We will build new experiments based on new technologies," he said.

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Name(s): Alexis de Bernede and Marius Jacob

Age(s): 22, 23 

Location: Paris, France  

Business: The art world has a bad reputation among many young people. Some find it old and too exclusive for their generations, which value inclusivity.

Alexis de Bernede and Marius Jacob didn't wait for the market to transform — instead, they innovated it themselves. In 2017, with $2,000 saved, the duo launched Darmo Art, a gallery specializing in contemporary and modern artworks that also highlights up-and-coming artists. 

Young artists have trouble finding support in the art world since many can't estimate their overall value, de Bernede told Insider. The duo's gallery aims to spotlight emerging artists and help them grab a piece of the $50 billion market. Simultaneously, they hope to create a more welcoming environment for aspiring art patrons. 

"We want to be the first dealers for our artists," Jacob said. 

Growth: Darmo Art started by hosting public exhibitions and sending cold invites to collectors, dealers, and journalists. Its first show, in 2017, booked nearly $30,000 in sales. Today, Darmo Art's shows occur in places like the high-end Salvatore Ferragamo store in Paris and typically net six figures per exhibition. What's more, pieces sell for between $1,200 and $600,000, according to documents seen by Insider. 

Darmo Art represents five artists — including Raf Reyes, 23,creative director of clothing brand Very Rare, and Pauline d'Andigné, 24, who is working on an exhibition at a hotel in Athens. Darmo Art also works with nearly 50 collectors, ranging from young patrons in their early 20s to established connoisseurs. 

The cofounders are prepping for upcoming exhibitions in Paris and are broadening operations to the French Riveria and at the Grand Hotel Heiligendamm, an exclusive report in Germany. Additionally, Darmo Art is expanding into modern art by selling blue-chip names such as Henri Mattise, Paul Gauguin, César, and Marc Chagall.

Before Darmo Art: De Bernede received a Master's in art history from the University of Oxford and worked as a special events intern at Christie's auction house. Meanwhile, Jacob is still studying art at L'Ecole du Louvre in Paris. 

Challenges: Making transactions in the art world is about building trust with potential buyers, but people were wary to trust de Bernede and Jacob because of their inexperience and young ages. To prove themselves, they started working on smaller projects before expanding into bigger collaborations. 

"Studying art is also what made us trustworthy," Jacob said. "People saw even if we were trying to elbow our way into the art world, we were still following the path of becoming art historians, not just business people who want to start a gallery." 

Business advice: "Always sell a work at a price you'd been willing to buy it back for," de Bernede said. The art market can be uncertain and by ensuring customers that they can return their investments with zero losses helps establish trust between the gallery and its buyers, he said. 

Business mentor: The duo leans on Jacob's family, which owns a Parisian antique gallery that specializes in 17th- and 18th-century artwork, for mentorship. They taught the pair how to develop and maintain relationships with customers and collectors. 

Why is now the best time to start a business? The pandemic revealed big companies are often slow to innovate themselves, de Bernede said. This leaves a white space in many industries that can be filled with entrepreneurship. "You can be an entrepreneur without necessarily changing the world," he continued. 

On hiring: Right now, de Bernede and Jacob run Darmo Art. However, they're ready to build a team that they can trust and will tap talent from the networks they've established. 

Managing burnout: The cofounders depend on each other to manage stress by making sure each is doing their equal parts in running the business. "Having a business partner you can trust and who can be there to motivate you is important," de Bernede said. "Because having a business is an emotional rollercoaster." 

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Arts Help, the nonprofit organization founded by 29-year-old Mo Ghoneim, announced Thursday it received $5 million in funding from tech billionaire and Ripple cofounder Chris Larsen. 

The money will be used to fund art initiatives that address the climate crisis, Ghoneim told Insider. Arts Help has already started building platforms and resources to better educate creatives on environmental issues and how they can use their craft to bring awareness to it. 

Founded in 2018, Arts Help was ranked by Startup Pill as one of the top 101 art start-ups to follow and has amassed nearly 3 million followers on Instagram. As Insider previously reported, the company is now one of the largest digital art publishers in the world, in terms of volume.

"We are leveraging art as a catalyst for social change," Ghoneim told Insider, adding that he and Larsen are "greatly aligned vision-wise" in that pursuit.

"Art has the capacity to bring together diverse populations to achieve the common good," Larsen said in a statement. "Climate change is real, and the time for action is now. I believe that Arts Help's mission-driven programming is a testament to their creativity and efficacy in addressing urgent global issues."

Larsen currently sits on Arts Help's advisory board and serves as a mentor to the team. After numerous conversations, Larsen gave the money citing the urgency of having Arts Help further address the climate crisis, according to Ghoneim. 

Arts Help has also partnered with a tech developer to launch an NFT marketplace for artists as well as create educational tools to teach artists how to be a conscious crypto-creator, though details on the deal are still confidential. 

"One of the key takeaways from this pandemic is the need to stay agile and abreast of new technologies as many aspects of life move digitally," Arts Help COO Adiam Gafoo said about the company's expansion into NFTs. 

"Gone are the days of being a starving artist to be credible and the stigma of 'selling out,'" she continued. "We would like to replace that with encouragement for artists to be informed participants in owning equity in their work in the intersectionality of the current and the new creative economy." 

Since 2019, Arts Help has worked with the United Nations to create art addressing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which include eradicating poverty, promoting gender equality, and combating the climate crisis. 

In June, Arts Help launched an exhibition entitled "Zero Gravity" into space via balloon, showcasing global artists, such as Nigerian-based Alex Peter and American-based Zaria Forman, who addressed the SDGs through their work. A portion of the $5 million in funding will go toward further such projects.

"The time is now" to use art as a way to address the environmental crisis at hand, Ghoneim said. "Art has the ability to evoke and inspire people to take action. We're doing what we do best by putting art at the forefront of solving these challenges."

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Mo Ghoneim was just 16 years old when he wrote his first television show — a pilot in which teenagers discuss issues impacting them. He sent the idea to various networks in his home city of Toronto, Canada, and actually got a response.

"I went to the network after school one day and met with the general manager," Ghoneim recalled to Insider. "They assumed I would be a lot older." 

The show, TeenzTalk, stayed on for nearly three seasons and set the groundwork for what Ghoneim, now 29, would dedicate his life to — showcasing the stories of underrepresented individuals in order to educate and inspire the next generation of leaders and creators. 

In 2013, he did just that — cofounding the Arts Help initiative with artist Sophie Brussaux, who left the company in March. At first, Arts Help was just an Instagram page reposting and highlighting the work from lesser-known artists around the globe. But as the page became more popular, Ghoneim and Brussaux saw an opportunity to help make a real impact for people. They self-funded and officially launched Arts Help as a nonprofit in 2018.

A year later, Arts Help began working with the United Nations, using art to help promote the UN's 17 sustainable development goals, which include eradicating poverty, advocating for gender equality, and combating the climate crisis.

Today, the organization is one of the largest art publishers in the world. It offers free classes, has amassed over 2.8 million followers on Instagram reaching over 50 million people monthly via the platform, as seen in stats confirmed by Insider. Arts Help also created award-winning exhibitions, and its website has profiled over 5,000 creators. Last year, Arts Help was ranked by Startup Pill as one of the top 101 art start-ups to follow.

This year, it won the Award of Excellence from the Economic Club of Canada for its work supporting artists, became the first digital art publisher to launch an exhibition into space, and received a $5 million investment from billionaire Chris Larsen to create more work addressing the climate crisis. The next goal for Arts Help is to look at starting a for-profit arm to help teach artists about entrepreneurship. 

Arts Help uses social media to showcase artists 

Arts Help is free for artists to use, so the organization makes money from designing art-centric programming for companies and provides corporate responsibility services.

Its staff consists of four people and 22 contributors, alongside a robust advisory council that includes lawyers, retail CEOs, top marketers, and entertainment and CEOs such as Larsen. 

To find artists to highlight, Arts Help encourages people to use the hashtag #arts_help, and each quarter the team goes through the tag, searching for the work of those often underrepresented in the art world, and those who create work that references the missions of the UN's SDGs. The hashtag currently has nearly 4 million submissions. 

Artist Zack Wolfe, 22, told Insider he's been tagging Arts Help for a while, trying to get the organization's attention — once he got it, however, it helped him gain credibility as an artist. 

"I credit some of the most pivotal career highlights to Arts Help," he continued, adding that he eventually started becoming more involved with the organization. "Like designing digital work for Disney or even opportunities to partake in their program Artist for Social Change curriculum last month." 

Arts Help does not charge artists to be highlighted, and they do not pay them to feature their work; it also does not run ads on its platform. To help artists gain maximum exposure, oftentimes, it creates private group chats on platforms such as WhatsApp to connect with art enthusiasts.

It also takes advantage of the Instagram algorithm, which favors users who do activities such as post photos at the same time every day. For one local artist, Katarina Mogus, Arts Help posted a reel showing off her work, which has since amassed over 20 million views and 988,000 likes on Instagram. That's not including TikTok, where her work has gotten another 10,000 views. 

Arts Help also uses digital billboards to showcase the work of artists, which it is able to obtain via its partnership with billboard companies. For artists getting a billboard, placement can cost thousands of dollars. "This is life-changing for an artist that typically would never get something like this," Ghoneim said. "Unless you're like a celebrity or you're endorsed by a brand, it's hard for you to get on radio or on a billboard." 

Education will play a bigger part in for-profit 

Arts Help's next plan is to enter the for-profit space, Ghoneim said. CEOs, alongside bitcoin and NFT enthusiasts, have been asking Arts Help to directly connect them with artists. But oftentimes new artists can be confused about how the world of business works, he said.

This led the Arts Help team to want to find more ethical ways for artists to monetize themselves, and it is looking at how it can become a liaison between the art world and entrepreneurship. It plans to create a new platform to help artists both showcase and sell their work. The platform will remain free for the artists, though Arts Help will take a fee from transactions. 

It is currently working with a tech developer to build an NFT marketplace, though the deal still remains under wraps. 

"My goal would be to inspire, not just young creators, but also everybody that is in the arts," Ghoneim said.

"Oftentimes people forget that they're creatives," he continued. "If we can create inspiration to say 'yes, I can make a sustainable living, there are platforms out there that support us into our careers — creating that awareness on a business level will be really exciting."

SEE ALSO: A 24-year-old who got laid off from Disney turned his art side hustle into a 6-figure income and is doing business almost entirely on Instagram

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Name: Alex Masmej

Age: 24

Location: San Francisco, California 

Business: It's an NFT world and we're all just living in it. The NFT market topped $2 billion in sales this year and its art sector grew over 800% to be worth almost half a billion dollars, as reported by Markets Insider. 

It's no wonder, then, why Alex Masmej and cofounder Alex Kilkka decided in March to launch Showtime, an NFT art gallery seeking to be the "Instagram for NFTs." It's a platform where users discover and browse digital art collections, giving NFTs the "social aspect it was missing before," Masmej told Insider. 

As the NFT art world expands, artists need fair and equal opportunities to showcase their work. "We put a spotlight on them by saying it's no longer about the platforms," he said. "It's about you and your art." 

Growth: Showtime raised $7.6 million in funds backed by crypto-investment firm Paradigm and DJ 3LAU one month after its launch in March. Already, the gallery counts DJ 3LAU and designer Lirona as fans and has amassed 30,000 followers on Twitter. 

Even before it was officially released, when Masmej announced the project in January, it raised $500,000 in a pre-seed round backed by crypto venture fund Dragonfly. Since March, the company's user base has grown over 20% week-over-week, Masmej said.

Before Showtime: Masmej was born in Paris and went viral last year raising $20,000 tokenizing himself on crypto-platform Ethereum under $ALEX. He allowed investors to vote on his life choices, such as what he ate for the day or how he exercised, raising enough money to relocate to San Francisco. "It was so crazy how, almost like 'Black Mirror,' people could control my life choices," he said. "I think that was pretty funny." 

Since then, he's been involved in numerous endeavors, launching firm Marketing DAO, the think-tank Undercollaterized DeFi Alliance, and lending pool Rocket which gives loans against NFTs. 

Challenges: Being a first-time CEO comes with its own set of difficulties." I think I'm a visionary, but I need to learn how to run a company like a world-class CEO," he said. "This is why I moved to San Francisco — meeting people and learning from them has been invaluable."

Business advice:"The world is a lot more malleable than we think," he said. "Poke the world, and see how it reacts to what you do." 

Business mentor: Masmej says he doesn't have a formal mentor; instead, he's been connecting with people on Twitter and finding sources of inspiration. Maran Nelson, founder of leadership club Interact, has also been of big help to him, connecting him with fellow entrepreneurs and investors from Silicon Valley. 

Is now the best time to start a business? Yes, he said. "Starting a crypto startup has never been easier. Crypto is the new internet for money and finance, and there's an enormous opportunity for anyone to build on it."  

On hiring: The company has seven employees and is looking to hire four more engineers. Hiring the right people is always hard, Masmej said, especially as a "European whose never had a job."

"I created my own path and need to learn on the spot when it comes to hiring great engineers," he continued. 

Managing burnout: "I don't think I'm going to burn out anytime soon," he said. He meditates and takes some walks but is adamant to not let this rising opportunity pass him. "I'm not sure everyone can have the opportunity I'm having right now," he said. "So I'm definitely not burning out."

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One of the most anticipated art sales of the fall season won't take place in Manhattan's Upper East Side — instead, MGM Resorts will auction off 11 Picasso works valued up to $104 million in a Las Vegas casino. 

The 11 Picasso paintings, sculptures, and drawings were originally collected by Steve Wynn, former casino mogul and ex-head of Wynn Resorts. Wynn sold his Mirage Resorts business to MGM in 2000, and later exited the casino industry in 2018 following allegations of sexual assault and harassment — which he denies — and has kept a low profile ever since. 

Sotheby's, one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, will travel to Las Vegas for the event. The Wall Street Journal reported that this will be the first time Sotheby's has hosted an auction outside of major art hubs such as London and New York. 

MGM told the Journal that the auction is part of the resort's shift toward contemporary art and works "by women and artists of color."

The Picassos originally purchased by Wynn are on display in the Bellagio Hotel & Casino's Picasso-themed restaurant, where the average meal costs around $132 and a premium wine pairing is priced at $133. 

The auction's most expensive works include a 1938 portrait of Picasso's mistress, called "Woman in a Red-Orange Beret," which is expected to bring in at least $20 million. A 6-foot portrait titled "Man and Child" is projected to sell for a similarly high price. 

MGM told the Journal that the auction may demonstrate whether or not collectors are willing to associate themselves with Wynn's collection. However, the resort said it is not intentionally severing itself from Wynn, adding that the former exec "played a pivotal role" in curating the resort's artwork. 

MGM Resorts and Wynn Fine Art did not respond immediately to Insider's request for comment. 

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If you're going off to art school or you just love to create, you need quality art supplies. While artists who've made it past the "starving artist" stage may use incredibly expensive supplies to create their masterpieces, you don't have to spend an arm and a leg on top-tier materials.

Often, more affordable options can serve you just as well, provided you have the know-how to make them work to your advantage. We rounded up many of the basic art supplies you need in your studio in one handy guide. 

As someone who's been drawing since I could hold a crayon, I've been through my fair share of graphite pencils, charcoal, sketchbooks, erasers, and paint sets. I've tried dozens of different brands over the years, and some are still my favorites.

Here are the best art supplies you can buy:

• Best sketchbooks: Strathmore sketchbooks
• Best graphite pencils: Staedtler Pencil Mars Lumograph 12-Piece Set 
• Best charcoal: General 33-piece charcoal set
• Best colored pencils: Prismacolor Quality Art 48 Pencil Set
• Best erasers: Prismacolor Premier Kneaded, ArtGum, and Plastic Erasers
• Best pastels: Sennelier, Van Gogh, Koh-i-noor, and Prismacolor
• Best watercolors: Winsor & Newton watercolor paint and Derwent watercolor pencils
• Best acrylic paints: Liquitex BASICS Set and Winsor & Newton Galeria Set
• Best oil paints: Winsor & Newton, Gamblin, and Williamsburg
• Best paintbrushes: Da Vinci brushes
• Best canvas: Fredrix canvas

The best sketchbook

Strathmore makes excellent sketchbooks with all kinds of paper, including drawing, watercolor, pastel, charcoal, and more.

Pros: Sturdy sketchbooks, great paper quality, paper types for different media, affordable

Cons: Larger sizes cost more, specialty papers have fewer pages

I've used Strathmore sketchbooks for years. I typically buy the ones with recycled paper, but I've also used the pastel, charcoal, and watercolor pads for when I need a different texture. No matter which media you choose, these sketchbooks can handle it. 

The standard paper will warp if you use watercolors on it, but for any kind of pen, pencil, marker, or another drawing implement, it will do the job — it's a good thickness and weight. 

When it comes to Strathmore's watercolor paper, it's sturdy and strong enough to stand up to lots of water. The charcoal and pastel paper notebooks both have a wonderful texture to them that really works for the softer media and good blending. Strathmore's prices are fairly reasonable, too, so you can sketch away.

Besides the product shown at the top, here are other Strathmore products we recommend:

The best graphite pencils

The Staedtler Pencil Mars Lumograph 12-Piece Set comes with all the graphite pencils you need to draw like a pro.

Pros: Bold graphite pencils, 8B to 6H range, affordable, long-lasting

Cons: None

If you draw with graphite pencils, you know that not all graphite is the same. This Staedtler set comes with 12 pencils in different hardnesses from 8B to 6H. For the uninitiated, the higher the number in front of the B, the softer the lead. Conversely, the higher the number in front of the H, the harder the lead.

Most people will use 2B, HB, and B the most, but if you need deep dark blacks that blend well, you'll need 4B and up. For hard, light lines, H pencils are perfect. 

The pencils come in a tin for safekeeping, and they're easy to sharpen and comfortable to hold — even when you draw for hours on end. I've used dozens of graphite pencils, but Staedtler's are the best for the price.

The best charcoal drawing set

General 33-Piece Classic Charcoal Drawing Set has every kind of charcoal you need to create beautiful work.

Pros: Big set with many pieces, includes white and black charcoal; comes with an eraser, charcoal sticks, and pencils; affordable

Cons: None

If you're just getting started with charcoal or you want to try a new medium, this General charcoal set has everything you need, including 18 pencils, 12 sticks, a sharpener, an eraser, and a drawing pad.

Each pencil is labeled with its hardness level, and the set has white charcoal pencils for highlights, too. The kneaded eraser is a great blending tool, but it can also erase any mistakes fairly well. The charcoal sticks come in various thicknesses, so you can work big or small.

The only charcoal types that are missing are powder and vine charcoal, but those are specific tools that most people won't need right away. I've used General charcoal pencils for years, and they can produce some great sketches, even though they're relatively affordable.

The best colored pencils

The Prismacolor Quality Art Set includes 48 colored pencils that are rich in color.

Pros: Bold colors, lots of variety, long-lasting, eraser and sharpener included, affordable

Cons: None

The Prismacolor Quality Art Set comes with 48 colored pencils in beautiful, bright shades. You'll also get a sharpener and a Latex-Free Scholar Eraser in the set. 

These colored pencils aren't like the basic Crayola ones you used in elementary school. — they're high-quality, soft lead pencils with rich colors. You can create extraordinary drawings with these Prismacolor pencils or color in an adult coloring book to make a black and white design come to life.

The best erasers

The Prismacolor Premier Kneaded, ArtGum, and Plastic Erasers will erase any mistake you make.

Pros: Three types of erasers, affordable

Cons: None

To err is human, and here to fix your mistakes are Prismacolor's erasers. This three-pack gives you a kneaded rubber eraser, an artist gum eraser, and a latex-free plastic eraser.

I personally only use kneaded erasers, because they work with all media and don't shed eraser bits everywhere, but the ArtGum eraser is great for stubborn graphite and the plastic eraser doesn't shed, either.

Since this set gives you all three, you can pick and choose which one you need based on the medium you're working with.

The best pastels

Sennelier makes the absolute best oil and soft pastels, but Van Gogh, Koh-i-noor, and Prismacolor are fine alternatives.

Pros: Beautiful oil and soft pastels, good variety of colors, strong pigments

Cons: Sennelier's pastels are expensive

One of my favorite mediums is pastel. The rich, bold colors and easy blending make for the perfect drawing experience. Of all the pastels I've used, Sennelier's are the best. Its oil pastels, in particular, are stunning. The richness of the colors is unparalleled and you can feel the oiliness of the pastel. I lust over them every time I got to the art store. 

However, Sennelier pastels are very expensive, because they are among the highest quality ones you can buy. Since not everyone can spend hundreds on them — myself included, alas — Van Gogh makes great oil pastels for much less, Koh-i-noor sells wonderful soft pastel pencils, and Prismacolor makes great soft pastels for an affordable price.

I mostly use soft pastel pencils, because the fine tip gives you more control over your drawing and fine detail. However, when you're working big and you need to blend, Prismacolor's pastels are perfect. Van Gogh's oil pastels are nearly as pigmented and rich as Sennelier's and they blend very well. You can even thin them with linseed oil, just like you would for oil paint if you want a painterly look.

Here are the best pastels we recommend:

The best watercolors

Winsor & Newton makes wonderful watercolor paints and sets, while Derwent makes excellent watercolor pencils.

Pros: Bright colors, good variety in the sets, sturdy pencils

Cons: High-end tubes are pricey

While you may think about those plastic sets from elementary school, the best watercolors come in tubes like acrylic and oil paint. You can get good sets in plastic, of course, and there are wonderful watercolor pencils, too. We've got picks for all three.

The Winsor & Newton Cotman Water Color 12-Tube Set is best for the serious watercolor artist who wants a nice set of colors, while the Sketcher's Pocket Box is great for anyone on the go who want a travel-friendly plastic set. Both provide rich, lovely color.

My favorite watercolor pencils are Derwent's because you can get a nice variety of colors without paying too much. The watercolor pencils give you more control over fine details in your paintings, so they may be a fun addition to your supplies.

Here are the best watercolor art supplies we recommend:

The best acrylic paint

Liquitex BASICS Acrylic Paint Tube 12-Piece Set and the Winsor & Newton 2190517 Galeria Acrylic Paint 10 Tube Set are great starter kits for painting.

Pros: Strong colors, affordable options, high-quality options, sets offer good value

Cons: Small tubes, can get expensive

My first set of acrylic paints was the BASICS set by Liquitex. The set comes with 12 colors that you can mix to your heart's content to create more shades. You really only need these basic colors to create every shade of the rainbow.

Of course, this budget set isn't that high-end, so if you're looking for something a bit better, the Winsor & Newton 10-tube set is a great option. You'll pay more for higher-quality paint and strong pigments. You can't go wrong with either one, really.

Here are the best acrylic paint sets we recommend:

The best oil paint

Winsor & Newton, Gamblin, and Williamsburg Handmade oil paints represent very different price points to satisfy any budget.

Pros: Strong colors, affordable options, high-quality options, sets offer good value

Cons: Small tubes, can get expensive if you go with the high-end paint

The most expensive art form you can get into is oil painting, but it's also one of the most flexible. Oil paint is richer than acrylic and it stays wet longer for better mixing, blending, and use over the course of long-term projects.

Winsor & Newton make a good oil paint that's suitable for beginners or artists on a budget. Gamblin falls in the middle, while Williamsburg's handmade oils are considered among the best. They're sold by tubes and not by sets, so you can pick the colors you need.

The differences are in the richness of the pigments, the oils used to make the paints, and the process by which the paint is made. You can spend hundreds on small tubes of the best oils, but these three options will serve you well until you become as famous as Picasso.

Here are the best oil paints we recommend:

The best brushes

Da Vinci makes great brushes for watercolor, acrylic, and oil painting.

Pros: Brushes for all media, relatively affordable, no shedding, sets offer good value

Cons: Real hair and bristle cost more

The main advice we have on brushes is don't get cheap terrible ones that shed all over your canvas.

No matter what medium you paint in, da Vinci Brushes has the brush you need. There are more brushes out there than can be put in a simple guide like this, but da Vinci's wares are relatively affordable and long-lasting, so we've included them here.

Some of the brushes are synthetic, but others are made from real animal hair and bristle. There's a lot of argument over what materials are best, but we've included a mix at different price points.

Here are the best da Vinci brushes we recommend:

The best canvas

Fredrix makes good canvas, and it's almost always cheaper to stretch your own canvas than to buy pre-made ones.

Pros: Canvas is cheaper when you make your own; good quality canvas material, available in primed or unprimed

Cons: Canvas is expensive and time-consuming to make

If you're working in oil or acrylic, it's tempting to buy pre-stretched canvases and have it done. However, you can save loads of money — especially if you paint on huge canvases — if you make your own canvases. 

To do it yourself, you'll need wood for the frame, canvas, a staple gun, and canvas pliers to stretch it properly. I've made canvases before, and it may be hard work, but it's worth it. 

Fredrix sells canvas in many forms and sizes. You can get it primed or unprimed if you prefer to do it yourself with a giant bucket of gesso or if you just want a raw canvas.

Here are the canvases and accessories we recommend:

Check out our guide to the best college supplies and dorm essentials

The best college supplies and dorm room essentials

Sending your kid off to college is nerve-wracking. The best you can do is impart a few life lessons and outfit your kid's dorm room with all the essentials. We rounded up everything your kid needs for their dorm room from bedding and decor to tech and school supplies.

Every year, kids get a school supply list filled with all the gear they need to make it through the year. While your kids may take this as an excuse to get new clothes, shoes, and gadgets, you need to get all the basic school supplies for them, too. 

Since the back-to-school season can be pricey, we've worked hard to create the very best school supply list, while still saving you some money. We included general supplies that often appear on kids' lists, whether they're starting kindergarten or heading into their last year of high school. 

Read on to find our top picks for backpacks, lunch boxes, pens, pencils, highlighters, notebooks, planners, paper, folders, binders, art supplies, calculators, and so much more.

Here is the ultimate school supply list for grades K–12:

SEE ALSO: The best college supplies and dorm room essentials

The best backpack for elementary school

The L.L.Bean Junior Original Book Pack comes in fun patterns, including dinosaurs, outer space, and daisies.

L.L.Beans makes high-quality backpacks that are both fun and practical. The Junior Original Book Pack backpack is sturdy, just the right size, and includes a pocket for a water bottle and reflective strips for safety. You can read our guide to the best student backpacks here.

The best middle school backpack

The JanSport Superbreak backpack comes in tons of fun colors and patterns.

JanSport is still the go-to backpack brand for tons of school kids. The Superbreak backpack is sturdy, simple, and it comes in tons of colors and patterns. The list of options on Amazon is epic. You can read our guide to the best student backpacks here.

The best high school backpacks

The North Face Recon and the Fjallraven Kanken Big Backpack are the best backpacks you can bring to high school.

In high school, a backpack serves two purposes. It's a practical place to toss your books, pens, laptop, phone, and lunch; but it's also a fashion statement. If you just want a practical sporty look, the North Face Recon is the best backpack for you. Those of you who are more interested in style than pure function will like the Fjallraven Kanken Big Backpack.

The best preschool lunch box

The Bentgo Kids Bento Box is divided into small compartments to match your child's appetite.

The Bentgo Kids Bento Box is made from sturdy plastic with rubber edges, so it won't crack if dropped, and the two clasps are easy for little hands to open and close. The inner tray is portioned into five compartments just the right size for the appetites of the pre-school crowd. Best of all? The foods won't touch. You can read our full guide to the best kids lunchboxes here.

The best elementary school lunch box

The Wildkin Lunch Box is insulated and comes in over 30 patterns. 

The Wildkin Lunch Box is insulated, so you can pack hot or cold lunches. It zips shut all the way around and has a convenient carry handle. It comes in tons of fun colors to make every kid happy, and the square size fits most bento boxes.

The best middle school lunch box

The Pottery Barn Kids Mackenzie Dual Lunch Box is divided into two compartments, allowing for greater lunch food diversity. 

The Pottery Barn Kids Mackenzie Dual Lunch Box comes in a ton of patterns so your middle-schooler can have their choice. It has two main compartments so you can separate hot and cold foods. It also comes with a shoulder strap, carrying handle, and interior mesh pocket. 

The best high school lunch box

The Rubbermaid LunchBlox is perfect for high-schoolers to pack everything they need for a sandwich or to separate food for snacking throughout the day.

The Rubbermaid LunchBlox is well-designed with four different containers that snap together so your high schooler student can pack sandwiches, chips, or other goodies that might otherwise be easily smashed. The containers snap onto an ice pack, helping to keep food at a safe temperature. These containers can be carried in a simple lunch bag or you can purchase the LunchBlox bag separately.

The best ballpoint pens

The uni-ball Jetstream RT Ballpoint Pens write smoothly without smearing, and they come in a three-pack.

If you love ballpoint pens and hate the way gel pens smear, you'll love the Uni-Ball Jetstream RT Pens. The ink is a school-approved black, and it dries almost instantly to avoid any smudges as you frantically take notes in science class. The anti-smudge property makes them ideal for lefties. These pens come in a three-pack on Amazon for a reasonable price, so parents will love them, too, though you'll probably need more than three to get through the school year.

The best gel pens

The Pilot G2 Retractable Premium Gel Ink Roller Ball Pens write smoothly and help color code all your notes.

If you prefer gel pens and you don't mind the occasional smudge, the Pilot G2 gel pens are the best ones you can buy. Although your teacher will skin you if you turn in homework in colorful ink instead of blue or black, having multiple colors for note-taking can be very helpful. Take it from a serial color coder — it helps. I've been using these pens for the past few years to keep my editorial assignments in order (and color coded!), and I'll never go back to normal pens.

The best pencils

The Dixon Ticonderoga Wood-Cased 2HB Pencils write well, sharpen easily, and pass every test.

Dixon's Ticonderoga wood pencils might as well represent the word "pencil" in the dictionary. These pencils are iconic for a reason: They write well, last long, and satisfy that "number two" pencil requirement for scantron tests (do they still have those?).

The best mechanical pencils

The uni-ball KuruToga Mechanical Pencil lasts long and writes well.

If you hate sharpening your pencils, you'll love the Uni-Ball KuruToga mechanical pencil. It's not your average mechanical pencil, either. It has stronger lead for less breakage and it's very comfortable to hold. You will need to buy more lead and possibly some erasers after a while, but that's the case with all mechanical pencils.

For kids who are learning to write, Papermate's Handwriting Mechanical Pencils are ideal. These pencils are shaped to be flatter and easier to grip for young kids.

The best highlighters

The Sharpie Clear View Highlighters come in both wide and narrow sizes, and you get four different colors.

When it comes to highlighters, Sharpie is probably among the best-known brands. These Clear View highlighters come in narrow and wide sizes so you can choose which kind you need. The highlighters will last you a long time even if you're a highlighting fiend, and you get four different colors in a pack for color-coding.

The best composition book

The Amazon Basics Composition Books are inexpensive and sturdy.

Elementary school supply lists always include a composition notebook, but if you like to have one for high school or college, you can get the college-ruled version instead of the traditional wide-ruled option. Amazon makes great composition notebooks with sturdy covers, sewn bindings, and good quality paper, so you can't go wrong here — especially if you get the four-pack.

The best wide-ruled notebook

The Five Star Spiral Notebooks are the ones every kid wants.

If you were a cool kid in school, you probably had Five Star notebooks. These are great notebooks, even though they're pricier than some. They're durable enough to last through a school year, and come with holes ready to snap into a three-ring binder. Check out our guide to the best notebooks here.

The best college-ruled notebook

The Five Star Spiral Notebooks will get you through all your subjects in style.

Once you hit high school, you need a notebook for each subject. Five Star notebooks are a great deal at less than $3 each. The notebooks are sturdy, the paper is crisp, and the covers come in different colors to help you color code your subjects if that's your jam.

The best planner for high school

TheMead Student Academic Planner will help you remember all your homework assignments.

The Mead Student Academic Planner is designed specifically for students. In addition to weekly and monthly planners, it also gives you space to write your schedule.

The best notebook paper

The Mead Filler Paper is strong and doesn't let ink bleed through.

You'll go through a lot of paper, so grab a few packs of the Mead Filler Paper in either wide-or-college-rule. It's sturdy and doesn't let ink bleed through.

The best folders

The STEMSFX Heavy Duty Plastic 2 Pocket Folders come in a six pack and they're durable.

No matter how much mom harps on about taking good care of your school supplies, some of you won't pay her any mind. To make your folders last longer, get these heavy duty plastic ones from STEMSFX. You even get six different colored ones in a pack, so you can color code your subjects.

The best binders

The Staples Better Binder is durable, sturdy, and long-lasting.

You can buy the Staples Better Binder in a variety of sizes to suit your teacher's preferences. These binders are known to be fairly durable and the rings are well made unlike the dollar store versions that always fall apart. Check out our guide to the best binders here.

The best dividers

The Avery Insertable Dividers keep your subjects apart in your binder.

If you have a ton of subjects or you just like being organized, the Avery Insertable Dividers will do a great job of corralling your subjects into sections in your binder. These tabs are sturdy, so they shouldn't rip like flimsier versions.

The best art set

The Crayola Core Pack for Back to School — Grades 3-5 comes with almost every art supply you need.

If you need markers, crayons, and colored pencils for your kid, look no further than the Crayola Core Back to School — Grades 3-5 kit. It comes with pretty much everything your kid needs for art time in elementary school, and its $12.99 price tag is decent.

The best colored pencils

The Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils are excellent for budding artists.

If you want some colored pencils that are more high-end and suitable for real art, the Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils are wonderful. You get 12 colors for less than $7 — you can't beat that.

The best glue sticks

The Elmer's Washable All-Purpose School Glue Sticks work well and they're way less messy than glue bottles.

Who wants sticky glue bottles when you can have glue sticks? Elmer's Glue Sticks are better quality than the cheapo ones you'll find elsewhere. The glue is stickier and longer lasting than other brands' glue sticks. You can get them for a good price, too.

The best scissors

The Fiskars 5-inch Blunt Kids Scissors cut well, last long, and they won't poke you.

Scissors are one of those things that you shouldn't skimp on. Dollar-store scissors don't last long, they break, and they're dull. Fiskars' scissors may be pricey at $10.50, but they are great. These scissors are sturdy, strong, sharp, and safe for kids with their blunt tips. You can also get them with the pointy ends if you're not worried your kid will poke themselves (or a classmate) with them.

The best sketchbooks

The Strathmore Sketch Spiral Sketchbook is perfect for inspiring creativity.

If your budding artist needs a real sketchbook, you can't go wrong with Strathmore's wares. The paper quality is excellent, and these sketchbooks are even made with recycled paper. I've used these sketchbooks exclusively for more than a decade, and they are top notch.

The best printer

The Canon Pixma TR4520 has a built-in scanner and easy-to-use interface, but best of all, it costs less than $100.

The Canon Pixma TR4520 is an inkjet printer that has all the features you need for an incredible price. It has a built-in scanner and copier, so you won't need to buy those separately. It's also compatible with Amazon Alexa voice assistant and wireless, so you can print from anywhere nearby, as long as you're connected to the same Wi-Fi network as the printer. 

The best USB drive

The PNY Turbo is an affordable USB drive for students who need to transport files between home and school.

Students may need to bring documents back and forth with them for sharing or printing, so they'll want to have a flash drive on hand. The PNY Turbo has good read and write speeds (180MB/s and up to 80MB/s) for basic everyday use, and that's why we named it the best budget option in our guide to the best USB drives.

The best calculator

The Texas Instruments TI-36X Pro Engineering/Scientific Calculator will do the math for you and help you pass algebra.

If you hate math as much as I did, you'll love the Texas Instruments TI-36X Pro Engineering/Scientific Calculator. It'll do the math for you and help you pass those math classes with flying colors.

The best index cards

The Oxford Ruled Index Cards make great flashcards for study time.

If you're a flashcard person and a color coder, you'll love these colorful Oxford Ruled Index Cards. You can easily make flashcards for studying or take notes on them, and the different colors in each pack help you color code by subject or topic.

The best ruler

The Westcott Stainless Steel Office Ruler won't break or slide when you need to measure or draw a straight line.

Some school supply lists include a good ruler, and the Westcott Stainless Steel Office Ruler is a good bet with its sturdy metal design and non-slip cork base. It's also 15-inches long, so you get a few extra inches.

The best sticky notes

Post-it Notes are amazing for note-takers, color coders, and organization freaks who cannot live without lists.

Take it from a sticky note addict: Post-it Notes are great. They come in fun colors for color coding, they're stickier than imitators, and they'll help you be more organized.

The best pencil case

The Zipit Pencil Case is the perfect place to store pencils, glue, and other school supplies. 

The  Zipit Pencil Case comes in three fun patterns. It has a hard outer shell to protect all the supplies inside. The case also zips shut, so you won't find your supplies scattered all over the floor if it gets knocked off your desk. 

Include medium product card. Copy can be:  The Zipit Pencil Case has a hard outer shell to protect all the supplies inside.

The best hand sanitizer

Purell Advanced Hand Sanitizer contains moisturizing ingredients and is 99.9% effective in killing germs. 

Hand sanitizer will be a must this school year, so be sure to stock up. Purell Advanced Hand Sanitizer has a high concentration of ethyl alcohol (70%), making it very effective at killing germs.

The best face masks

Cubcoats makes adorable cloth masks that kids might actually want to wear. 

While not all schools are requiring masks this year, some families are choosing to continue to wear them as a precaution. Cubcoats' reusable masks are made of two layers of fabric. Older kids might gravitate toward the simple design of Vida masks.