Blick Art Materials

The lady that helped us was awesome at giving us tips and helping us find everything we needed! I would definitely get one of their cards because of their online price is cheaper they’ll give you that price! I got a ton of acrylic art supplies! They have literally anything that has to do with painting or drawing!

Much more expensive than Utrecht was. And not as personal.

Was there today. Didn’t feel welcomed at all. Came in with a bag like everyone else. Was looking around for acrylic, decided to pull my phone out and do a brand comparison. It took me a minute to shop in all. I was looking at canvas when I was approached by an employee who didn’t look to friendly. They asked me if I needed help in a very monotone voice. There was another employee eyeing me behind the one currently speaking to me. She did not look friendly either. I got a strange vibe from them, it felt like suspicion. Maybe they thought I was pulling one. I come in frequently, me being an art student at the Institute. They should improve their attitudes and customer service, or else business will flow somewhere else.

This was a pretty nice art store, with what seemed like endless materials. I don’t really have a lot to compare it to for price, it was pretty spendy though. I walked in and needed to get a pretty big list of items and asked one of the employees to help me find them and at first said she couldn’t because she needed to work the register but there were 3 other people working the register and no one in line and continued to talk to her coworkers. Eventually she helped me for a little bit and then told me she had to get back to the register and passed me off to another associate. He didn’t know what some of the things were on my list. So that was a little frustrating and I eventually found them myself. When I eventually made it to the check out, that woman wasn’t even there and the woman that was checking me out was ringing me up for prices that weren’t even the prices listed when I was picking things out. It was a little bizarre and when I told her about it, she just told me that the prices had changed and she was just going to charge me more and she would fix the shelf prices later.
Probably not a place I would return unless I needed to get art supplies for a class. I’d rather go somewhere a little more friendly and focused on customer service.

I’ll try going to store in future. Their online shipping is ridiculously slow. I should always check Amazon Prime for my needs. Amazon had all the stuff I wanted to order and it would have been here a week ago. Errrr.

Blick is the store I want to go to after I die and go to heaven. They have everything this amateur artist wannabe dreams of. They have pens galore, and you can try then before you buy them. You can try a lot of other mediums too. I was there specifically for colored pencils. The staff who helped me spectacular! He looked in the overhead boxes and then his computer for them. They were sold out but my goodness, that was some service I do not encounter very much anymore. This store was one of my favorites and it continues to prove so.
If I have any mad money, it goes here. It’s my favorite store.

Grabbed some acrylic paint supplies for my niece. Staff was very helpful and helped me create a little starter-​kit. Had some great deals (buy-​1-​get-​1-​free) and when I checked out I was informed everything was 20% off that weekend. Had a $ 100 budget, and cost me about $ 65.
Looked like they had a pretty thorough selection of other stuff, but not really my area of expertise so I can’t weigh in too much.

Like too many shops where you might spend $ 20 or less at in this crap area of town you have to also pony up a stupid amount just to park. Why any business would be in the Pearl is beyond me. It’s the worst area in the entire city.

Updating my review to three stars because of subsequent Blick experiences (it remains the only convenient art supply store for me to get to). While it remains difficult for me to actually find what I need in stock, customer service of late has been on point in noticing my fruitless quests and attempting to devise alternate solutions.

I highly recommend this shop! Not only are the people very nice, they’re super knowledgeable. They’ve been very helpful with me learning new skills, giving advice on techniques, etc. And they are always on it with the coupons to save you $$!

I am basing my review on the marker selection here, primarily. I went in for a specific and apparently hard to find Prismacolor marker. The selection was incredible. Not only for Prismacolor markers, but other markers as well (so many Copics). I want to complain that they were pricier than I expected, but the reality is that I was saved the shipping costs associated with ordering the marker online (seemingly my only other option), so it really worked out price-wise.The counter service was slow for no apparent reason and the staff was generally not too friendly. Didn’t bother me much; I was in and out relatively quickly.

Nice and organized store, staff is hit or miss, but generally OK.
Keep in mind that prices at this store are way more expensive than their on-​line store, almost double on the items I needed, I guess someone have to pay for the premium location… and I guess is the costumer :-)
If you are in the area and you don’t mind spending more is a great store, otherwise you can find better deals in any of the other local art supply store, or on-​line

While I had to single out a particular store, this review really applies to Blick’s as a whole.
I have been a customer of Blick’s for a few years now and it has been my preferred store to get my art supplies. Because they are the cheapest? Not really. Because they have the most knowledgeable and helpful staff? HELL NO! It was because with the Preferred Customer card, you got 10% all your purchase. This brings it down to a reasonable price. That combined with a nice stroll through Portland for some exercise and viola! My art store!
Today I took the 26 block round-​trip jaunt to Blick’s to refill on some of my paints I am getting low on. Once there and checked out, I noticed that my 10% discount didn’t come up on the register. When I asked the half-​baked salesman behind the counter about it, his eyes glazed over and said that Blick’s had changed their preferred card program so now it goes out and checks against their own website and if a price is lower on the website, they will give you the discount in store? HUH? WTF?! Why don’t you just give me the dang discount at the store to start with?
Needless to say, I emailed Blick’s and told them to cancel my membership with them and that I would shop elsewhere. What a way to disrespect your customers. Nice job Blick!

I’ve had five prints framed at Blick. (two separate orders) Absolutely flawless execution. I will not go anywhere else. Jackson did the work. I appreciate how he had all the hanging cables exactly the same distance from the top of the frame on a four picture set. It would have been a nightmare hanging the set in a group if this was not considered. This truly exceeded my expectations. Thoughtful folks doing exceptional work.

I went to Blick with a 40% off coupon for a framing order. My boyfriend and I had a bunch of prints that we wanted frames for, one of which would be custom. We knew framing would be pricey, but wanted to see just how much we were willing to spend. Jaxun helped us out at the Framing desk and was super cool about pricing out different options, and finding something that would suit the art as well as our budget. He really went out of his way and was super patient, which was really kind of him! Great experience!

A cool and ORGANIZED art store. Yes, a contradiction. Artists, like my self and art stores tend to be a bit haphazard and disorganized. I, as an artist, am actually organized, it’s odd, but I know where everything is and it all has a place.
Blick is basically just like that. I had never been to an actual Blick store. I have only seen the catalogs and their online site. So this was a first for me. I guess with all the galleries in the Pearl, it seems fitting that the store is over there. Makes perfect sense. I will say prices can be a bit high, depending on what you are getting but currently there is a big canvas sale going on and it’s going on for awhile. That’s good. I need to purchase some.
Every medium you need is there and it’s a store to wander about. They had a rather large section for ceramics, or at least larger that what I’ve seen prior. Then again, with this town being as creative as it is… it’s not a big surprise.
Simply put, if you need your art supplies, make it over to Blick.
That is all.

Blick’s succeeds in having most everything I ever need when I need it, but I do find it a bit annoying that they are not a local business. They are predatory in that they bought and subsequently closed down conveniently located art supply stores around Portland. I take a star away for that.
I generally try to go to Columbia Art Supply first as it is closest to me and locally owned, but they often don’t have what I am looking for and I refuse to go to Michael’s.
You can easily find 40% off coupons online for one item at Blick’s. Their items are generally sold at full retail though, so you are really saving closer to 10−15%, but at least it is something right?
The staff is mediocre. You pretty much get the sense they are working for minimum wage while going to art school or waiting for their band to get their big break opening for the Decemberists or something.

The staff here is straight awful by every standard. I used to shop at Utrecht nearby which had some of the most helpful people there who always went above and beyond to help me find just the right item for whatever I was working on.
Sadly Utrecht is no more thanks to Blick. The selection of items is good, but the staff just make every trip here a miserable experience and I dread going in now. It can be very difficult to find an employee on the floor who can help you, and if they can help you they really can’t. Every single time I ask a question (they always seem annoyed I interrupted them from stocking the shelves), a seemingly simple question, the response is always «uhhhmm… uh I dunno. hmmm… yeah, sorry, I don’t know». Thanks art store employee! I’m so relieved to know you were hired at an art store because of your vast knowledge pertaining to art store supplies. Whew!
I’d say the employees exhibit minimal effort, but minimal implies at least SOME effort and I sense no semblance of effort or knowledge with the employees I’ve interacted with at Blick.
Then there’s the joy of standing in line to wait for one of the three chatting employees behind the counter to grace you with eye contact and, if you’re lucky, doing you a big favor by asking in a dead monotone voice «are you ready?»
My guess is working in an art store in Portland gives one a real sense of superiority to the lowly customers. and I’d half respect that if that sense of superiority was backed up with actual knowledge of the products they were selling, but instead I’m just met with apathy and what I can only describe as laziness. Color me unimpressed, 1 star in hopes management sees and corrects the problem.

This is a really fun store and I always enjoy going in. I’ve been painting for a little 2 years now and discovered this gem just over a year ago, now it’s the only store I use to get all my supplies. There is a great selection of paints, brushes, canvas, so I’m always able to find exactly what I need. The store is well organized, very neat, and has good lighting, all of which make the shopping experience more enjoyable.
Often times they have sales on different supplies which is great for experimenting with new art mediums and if you’re able to stop an employee they’re all very knowledgeable and can tell you a lot about different supplies. That being said, it can sometimes be difficult to find an employee who isn’t already helping someone so you may have to wait awhile even for a simple question.
My review in a nutshell is that they have a great selection, reasonable prices, and an informed, but busy, staff. Definitely check it out and see if there’s something you might like.

Although shown as Utrecht Art supplies on the Unilocal page, this store is now Blick Art Materials… see exterior store photo… as Blick acquired Utrecht in April. Based on my first visit yesterday, Blick seems like a fabulous resource of supplies for artists at all levels from scaredtobe (like me) to wannabe to newbie to serious student to accomplished professional and across mediums.
Lots of windows on Glisan side, brightly lit, well stocked, friendly staff, cool floors (seriously,…look down… reclaimed from a high school gym), great music (lovely classical yesterday but the staff says they get to choose something new each day), plus lots of friendly and helpful staff to direct we who are completely intimidated in an art supply store to find our way.
My intimidation at the idea of art creation was started by my third grade teacher in a NE Portland public school classroom who held up my attempt to create a lamb picture out of cotton balls and craft paper to the rest of the class and said the following: «I hope all of you are doing a better job than this.»
No. I did not make that up.
Perhaps it is because I am so artistically challenged myself that I so love art of all kinds as created by others. (I also still love crayons and to color, in and outside the lines, but that’s my little secret so please don’t tell.) Maybe it is why I was so grateful to the welcoming and unpretentious staff here for not making me feel like a failure when I asked questions about a couple of things in the store that I was going to buy for an artistic friend.
I can’t imagine an art supply they don’t have at Blick. I was mesmerized by the beautiful art papers, hand made lovely things, that were art in themselves. And if you’re trying to find something unique as a gift for little children, you might find it here, as we did, in things like budding artists sets of paints and chalk and craft papers and stickers. It might help move them away from watching images on a screen created by others and into their imaginations to allow them to express themselves in art.
Then maybe the greatest gift of all is no matter what it is they hold up to show you is to say something like the following, «That is such a interesting piece you’ve created! I can’t wait to see what you’ll show me next.»
THIS N THAT:
1) PARKING: Although this part of the Pearl District is as parking scarce as all others, it is not as hard to find a spot on street as you might expect it to be during business hours.
2) ACCESSIBILITY: Level in to door and ramp right alongside interior stairs leads to fully level store inside with lots of room in aisles.
3) FRAME STOCK: Looks like a great assortment of picture framing stock; one of my favorite things to peruse.