Sarnoff Art Materials

I went in to get a birthday present for my daughter. I was at a total loss of what to buy since I am a fiber artist and my daughter does painting. Mr. Sarnoff help me pick the perfectly amazing birthday gift. His amazing daughter wrapped the gift so it was "so pretty and fancy". This is the perfect store to get the adult child in your life a gift. Also next door there are fabulous earrings, jewelry, and other gifts. This is why I love to support locally owned businesses.

I love these types of art stores because they have what the large chain, hobby stores don't have. There's more variety in brands and sometimes foreign supplies. I'm always looking for unique sketchbooks with leather binding or thick watercolor paper, or even teeny tiny sketchbooks. Not many of those here. The typical brands are here. They have a large area in the back where I think they do custom framing and paper cutting which is definitely a plus! There's a lot of brush choices but it can get a little pricey. And when you don't see price tags, you never know how high it'll be. There's price tags for some things, but the majority of stock didn't have visible price tags.

Sarnoff Artist Materials is a decent-ish art store if you're in a pinch and need something right away. It's pricey otherwise, and they might not have what you're looking for in stock. When school is in session, their stock is really good. When school isn't in session, however, it can be hit or miss. Be prepared for that. But when they're stocked up, they have a decent variety of stuff, but not great. You can get the basics, and for some stuff, a little bit more. I thought their brush section was pitiful, and the brushes were marked up about 35%. They have a decent selection of paint, but again, the prices are high. I liked that they have pastel pencils, and I bought a couple, but the stock was low. And while those were overpriced as well, they're only like $2 each so a few cents didn't make a difference when I only bought a small amount of them. I wish they had basic colors like white and a light yellow in stock, though.The staff was cold and not really interested in helping, which I found odd. But no matter, I didn't need help. The item I went in looking for they didn't have, which is a bit odd because it's a basic brush for acrylics and oils, and they didn't have one for either. It would have been way more than I was willing to pay for it anyway I'm guessing.I will say though, they carry good quality items. You won't find much cheap junk here. They mostly carry Golden for acrylic and Winsor & Newton for oils. They also have some Silver brushes, which make me drool because they're wonderful acrylic brushes. They're the only art store in town that stocks Silver (at a huge mark up, though).I probably won't return to this store, but if someone I know was interested in a local art store, I might send them there to try their luck (with a warning about the pricing).

Ordered a mat for a charcoal drawing, I was promised a mat with mat board for $25 and left the frame. Picked up few days later, finger prints on the mat, took apart frame and found no mat board. Very disappointed.

This is a mixed review. As a brick and mortar store I'm sure they're fine, but go ahead and avoid any online sales. They aren't set up for it and don't know what they're doing. I used PayPal to pay about $40 for a local artist's how-to DVD. I got an email right away saying, basically, "you gave us money for something." That's it. A few days went by, no shipping notice, no item, and I sent an email asking about a time frame. No response. I called the store. "Call back on Monday; the guy that does that isn't here." I will update this review as things develop...but honestly guys, if you can't handle online sales, don't do it. If I acted this way I'd lose my business.

Pros - great service and large selectionCons - bit pricey on most supplies (especially paper), inventory was quite low (on my visit)First it's good to know there are three main art supply stores in Tucson - Sarnoff Artist Materials, Arizona Art Supply, and Posner's Art Store. Sarnoff and Posner's are very similar in layout, selection, price, and both have a distinctive... dirty/arty vibe. That is they both look well worn in a cozy well-lived-in way. Arizona Art Supply has been, in my opinion, slightly better on price and the store is kept a bit cleaner.Since art stores cater to all kinds of artists, I'll mention that I'm mostly interested in graphite/charcoal drawing - no paints, pastels, crayons, etc. In other words, my review is really only covering about 20% of the store. For the supplies I needed, Sarnoff was sadly a bit understocked on my visit. Many of the graphite and charcoal slots were empty. As my skills increases, I often like to go "back to basics" and try out other products. My recent trip was aimed at getting a variety of charcoal pencils - different colors, brands, hardnesses. I did purchase 8 but I would have gotten at least 8 others had they been in stock.Overall - good experience and the owner was there to offer some helpful tips on mechanical pencils that they carry. I'll probably stop in again in a month or so to check on the inventory - or I might swing by one of the other art stores. That is, I'd be hard pressed to recommend one over the others.

The layout of this store is......crowded. They have a TON of supplies and a large variety of paper, but the spacing and layout of everything makes you feel like you're in a labrynth. If you're clausterphobic, good luck.I came to Sarnoff in need of some fine-tip pens and the employee was able to help me right away, but they didn't have a huge selection. Luckily they did have what I needed, but I would have appreciated more options. The owner of the store rang me up and was really nice, it just looks like he doesn't really care about the appearance of the store or the product.They did have a set of those scented Magic Markers, though. That was pretty awesome.

ok selection. miserable attitude. the guy at the front desk looks like he could care less if you live or die. well guess what Mr. Sarnoff, there are other art stores in town and they don't treat their customers with such disdain. won't be returning. why spend my money at a place that treats customers as if they weren't there. dig up a smile, rude, i mean dude.

I had a wonderful experience today at Sarnoff. I needed to replace a mat that had been damaged. I expected to have to place an order and come back. I walked out in 10 minutes with exactly what I needed for much less than I had expected to spend. Both gentlemen were so helpful. Highly recommend!

This art store is excellent and customer service oriented. If they don't have something you need, they will order it for you. They are very helpful with advice and options with respect to products and services.