The Best Art Supply Shops in Coventry

July 7, 2026

The Best Art Supply Shops in Coventry | Discount Art Supplies

Written by Paul Worrall

Coventry is a city I have a lot of time for. It took more than its fair share of punishment during the war, rebuilt itself with a spirit that was occasionally controversal in its architectural ambition, and has spent the last couple of decades genuinly finding its feet as a cultural city rather than just an industrial one. The Cathedral is one of the most moving modern buildings in the country. The Belgrade Theatre has genuine national reputation. And UK City of Culture 2021 brought proper, sustained investment into the city’s creative scene in a way that has quietly changed what Coventry feels like to visit.

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 driven through Coventry plenty of times on the way to Birmingham conferences and client meetings, but I’ll be honest that I’ve not spent proper time in the city itself — something I genuinly mean to fix. Here’s the honest picture of what it actually offers artists looking for supplies. If you’re planning visits to nearby cities, also check out our guides to the best art supply shops in Birmingham and the best art supply shops in Leicester.

1. The Crow Recycling Scrapstore

Crow Recycling Scrapstore Coventry art craft supplies

This is the entry I’m most pleased to include, because Coventry’s Crow Recycling Scrapstore is exactly the kind of resource that most cities simply don’t have. An Aladdin’s cave of art and craft materials saved from landfill — surplus stock, leftovers, preloved items donated by businesses and manufacturers — available at minimal cost to artists, crafters, schools and community groups. It’s the same model as Cardiff’s Recreate Scrap Store, which I featured in that city’s guide, and I have as much enthusiasm for it here as I did there.

There’s a Saturday morning open day roughly once a month with drop-in craft workshops at just £5 per person — genuinly one of the more accessible creative community resources in the Midlands. Worth following their Facebook page for dates since the Saturday openings vary depending on staff and volunteer availability. For artists who understand that good materials don’t have to mean expensive materials, this is a Coventry destination that deserves far more attention than it typically gets in roundup guides.

Support them. They’re doing something genuinly valuable — keeping materials out of landfill and keeping creative practice affordable for people who might not otherwise be able to access it.

Visit the Crow Recycling Scrapstore online →

2. Chrome Yellow Arts — Leamington Spa (Worth the Drive)

Chrome Yellow Arts Leamington Spa specialist art shop

Strictly speaking Chrome Yellow Arts is in Leamington Spa rather than Coventry itself — about twelve miles down the A46 — but it’s the closest genuine specialist art supplies shop to the city and genuinly worth including for that reason. Run by two local artists, Suminder and Jonathan, who got fed up with Leamington not having a proper art shop and simply opened one themselves, Chrome Yellow stocks a focused range of high-quality materials — Winsor & Newton, Pip Seymour, Daler-Rowney, Derwent, Faber-Castell, Royal Talens — alongside weekly drawing sessions and bespoke art classes on a no-need-to-book basis.

The origin story matters here. These aren’t retailers who spotted a business opportunity — they’re working artists who identified a gap and filled it because they genuinely needed it themselves. That tends to show in how a shop is run, what it stocks and how staff talk about the products. Worth calling ahead to confirm current opening hours before making the trip, and worth the twelve miles when you do.

Visit Chrome Yellow Arts online →

3. Hobbycraft Coventry

The honest version of Hobbycraft, consistent with every city guide I write: not specialist, not deep in professional-grade range, but genuinly useful for what it is. Having two young children who approach art supplies with considerably more enthusiasm than reverence, I’ve developed a healthy appreciation for a shop where you can restock without the bill becoming a significant domestic event. Hobbycraft Coventry, at the Central Six Retail Park on Warwick Road, covers everyday consumables, canvases, basic paint sets, sketchbooks, seasonal kits and kids’ craft supplies at reliable prices.

Check our Hobbycraft discount code guide before visiting — the student discount and Blue Light Card discount are both worth knowing about.

Find Hobbycraft Coventry →

4. The Works — Coventry

The Works Coventry art supplies craft store

The Works divides opinion in art circles and I’ve never quite understood the dismissiveness. At the price points The Works operates at, it makes basic art materials genuinly accessible to people who might otherwise never start — and that matters. Canvases, sketchpads, pencils, starter acrylic sets, colouring books at prices that don’t make experimenting feel like a financial commitment. Worth knowing that The Works stopped selling online nationally back in March, so the Coventry store is now purchase in person only. For parents, teachers and genuine beginners, it earns its place.

Find The Works Coventry →

A Note on Art Supplies in Coventry

Coventry’s art supplies scene is thinner than a city of its size and cultural ambition deserves — which is something the City of Culture investment hasn’t fully resolved on the retail side, even as it’s done genuine things for the city’s creative confidence more broadly. The Crow Recycling Scrapstore is the genuinly standout entry on this list, worth any artist’s time regardless of their budget. For professional-grade specialist materials, Chrome Yellow in Leamington is the honest recommendation even at twelve miles’ distance. For everything else, the national chains cover the everyday needs.

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.