Written by Paul Worrall
Reading is a harder city to write about than most from an art supplies perspective, and I’d rather be upfront about that than pad this guide with shops that don’t genuinly exist or don’t genuinly serve artists properly. It’s a large, prosperous town with a university, good transport links and a reasonable independent shopping scene — and yet the dedicated specialist fine art supplies provision is thinner here than in cities half its size. The one well-known name that claims to serve Reading online is based in Oxford and has been making that claim in every city it doesn’t actually have a store in for years. I exclude them from every guide I write and this one is no exception.
I’m Paul Worrall. I spent nearly a decade running digital marketing for ARTdiscount, one of the UK’s largest online art retailers, and I now run Discount Art Supplies — a price comparison platform used by over 36,000 UK artists every week. I’ve not been to Reading myself, but I know the city’s art supplies landscape well enough from research to give you an accurate picture. Here’s what’s genuinly worth your time. If you’re planning visits to nearby cities, also check out our guides to the best art supply shops in Oxford and the best art supply shops in Cambridge.
1. Hobbycraft Reading — Forbury Retail Park
Hobbycraft Reading is, genuinly, the most comprehensive art and craft retail option in the city, which says something about Reading’s specialist scene rather than being an unqualified endorsement of Hobbycraft’s depth of range. The Reading store is a larger two-floor operation compared to many Hobbycraft branches — well-stocked on the everyday consumables that keep artists and crafters going (canvases, paints, paper, sketchbooks, brushes, seasonal kits) alongside the wider craft range of yarns, haberdashery and baking supplies. Reviews describe knowledgeable and helpful staff — Hobbycraft Reading specifically has individual staff members singled out by name in positive reviews, which is a good sign for anyone wanting actual advice rather than just a shelf to browse. It’s also dog-friendly, which is either a strong plus or entirely irrelevant depending on your cirumstances.
Check our Hobbycraft discount code guide before visiting — the student discount and Blue Light Card discount are worth knowing about.
2. Reading Museum — Sir John Madejski Gallery
Not a supplies shop, but genuinly one of the most interesting cultural destinations in the South East for any artist with an interest in textile, embroidery or the history of visual storytelling. Reading Museum houses the world’s only full-size replica of the Bayeux Tapestry — a faithful Victorian copy created by 35 skilled embroiderers in 1885 that stretches nearly 70 metres and depicts the Norman Conquest in extraordinary textile detail. For any artist interested in the history of narrative art, composition, colour relationships in textile work, or simply in seeing one of the most significant pieces of mediaeval visual storytelling rendered at full scale, this is genuinly worth making time for.
The Sir John Madejski Art Gallery hosts a changing programme of temporary exhibitions alongside the permanent collections. Entry to the museum is free. In the Victorian Town Hall building on Blagrave Street, a short walk from Reading station.
3. Castle Fine Art — Oracle Shopping Centre
Castle Fine Art in the Oracle Shopping Centre is less of an art supplies destination and more of a gallery selling limited edition prints, original artworks and sculptures — but it’s worth including because it’s the kind of place where a collector, a gift buyer or an artist wanting to see how their kind of work gets presented and priced in a commercial gallery context will find something genuinly useful. The Reading gallery is part of a national chain that started in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1995 with a stated mission of making art accessable, and they also offer a bespoke framing service handled in-house.
4. The Works — Reading
The honest version of The Works, consistent with every guide I write: not specialist, not deep in range, but genuinly useful at the price points it operates at. Canvases, sketchpads, pencils, starter acrylic sets, colouring books and craft kits at prices that make experimenting genuinly affordable. Worth knowing that The Works stopped selling online nationally back in March, so the Reading store is now in-person purchase only. For parents, teachers and beginners who want to try a new medium without significant financial commitment, it serves a real purpose.
A Note on Art Supplies in Reading
Reading’s art supply offering is thinner than a town of its size deserves — a large, prosperous university town with no dedicated independent fine art specialist is a gap that somebody will eventually fill, and when they do it will be worth updating this guide. For now, Hobbycraft covers the everyday needs, the Museum is genuinly worth a visit for any artist interested in textile art and visual history, and for professional-grade materials the honest recommendation is to shop online and compare prices first. Our live price comparison covers all major UK art retailers in real time so you always find the best deal before buying anywhere.
