Written by Paul Worrall
Belfast has been through a genuine creative renaissance over the last couple of decades — the Cathedral Quarter’s gallery and studio scene, a properly established arts trade guild presence, and an independent retail culture that’s held its ground against the chains better than a lot of comparably sized UK cities manage. I’ve never made it across to Belfast myself, which is a gap in my own travels I’d genuinly like to fix, but researching this guide properly turned up a more substantial art supplies scene than most generic city guides give it credit for.
Sixteen years in the UK art supplies industry, nearly a decade running digital marketing for ARTdiscount, and now running Discount Art Supplies — a price comparison platform reaching over 36,000 UK artists every week — gives me a decent sense of what actually matters when judging a city’s art supplies offering, even from across the water. Here’s the honest picture for Belfast. If you’re planning visits to nearby cities, also check out our guides to the best art supplies shops in Glasgow and the best art shops in Edinburgh.
1. bradburyART
bradburyART is the genuine star of Belfast’s art supplies scene — an independent stocking a genuinly comprehensive brand range including Winsor & Newton, Faber-Castell, Daler-Rowney, Michael Harding, Sennelier, Unison Colour, Liquitex, Golden, Arches and POSCA, shipping across both the UK and Ireland rather than serving Belfast alone. They run genuine, regularly rotating sales across paints, markers, paper and pens, and the range depth — proper artist-grade oils and watercolours alongside more accessible student lines — suggests a shop run by people who genuinly understand what working artists actually need rather than a general stationer with an art aisle bolted on.
For Belfast and Northern Ireland artists wanting a dedicated specialist with serious brand depth, this is the first stop worth making.
2. Art & Home — Holywood
Just outside Belfast in Holywood, County Down, Art & Home is a genuine second-generation family business stocking top branded art supplies — Michael Harding, Daniel Smith, PanPastel, Winsor & Newton, Gamblin, Liquitex, Golden, Sennelier, Bob Ross and Daler-Rowney among others — alongside an adjacent informal gallery space showing work by local Irish and international artists. The in-house picture framing service is genuinly the standout feature here: they’re founder members of the British Institute of Frame Makers and one of the youngest businesses in Ireland to gain Fine Art Trade Guild accreditation, with framer John bringing genuine decades of expertise to the work.
For artists in or around Belfast who want materials and proper, accredited framing handled by the same trusted shop, Art & Home is worth the short trip out to Holywood.
3. Outlines Art Supplies — Smithfield Market
Tucked into Smithfield Market in the heart of Belfast, Outlines Art Supplies is the kind of small independent that genuinly punches above its size — a solid five-star reputation, a wide range of materials at prices that don’t sting, and staff repeatedly described as feeling like genuine creative peers rather than just shop assistants. It’s exactly the sort of shop that makes a city feel like it looks after its artists properly, tucked away in a historic market setting that adds real character to the visit.
4. Proctors (NI)
Proctors, based on Castlereagh Road in Belfast, stocks a genuinly comprehensive general art supplies range — acrylic, watercolour and oil paint, oil pastels, paint pens, pencils, charcoal, erasers, brushes, paper, canvases, sketchbooks, mount boards, portfolios, easels, palettes and printmaking accessories. It’s a broader stationery and office supplies business with a properly stocked art section rather than a dedicated fine art specialist, which makes it a genuinly useful one-stop option if you need art materials alongside general supplies in the same visit.
5. The Works
The honest version of The Works, as I’ve said in other city guides: not specialist, not deep in range, but genuinly useful for what it is. Canvases, starter paint sets, sketchbooks, pencils, colouring books and craft kits at prices that make experimenting affordable. For parents, teachers and anyone wanting to try a new medium without significant financial commitment, The Works in Belfast serves a real purpose.
A Note on Art Supplies in Belfast
Belfast’s art supplies scene is genuinly more substantial than its size might suggest from outside. A proper independent specialist with serious brand depth shipping across the UK and Ireland, an accredited framing specialist with genuine Fine Art Trade Guild credentials, a well-loved indie tucked into a historic market, and a comprehensive general supplier alongside the inevitable Works — that’s a solid spread for a city of Belfast’s size. The Cathedral Quarter’s wider creative and gallery scene clearly feeds genuine demand for quality materials, and the independent retail response has been a properly considered one rather than ceding ground entirely to chains.
For professional-grade materials and the best current UK prices across all major art retailers, Discount Art Supplies compares prices in real time so you always find the best deal before buying anywhere.
