Deans Art

An arty store for an arty area.
Deans Art stock pretty much anything a genius artist like you could ever want. Except for muses, you’ll have to find your own.
Something wonderful about this store is that the staff are well trained in their speciality and will be able to answer your questions about what gear they have and how to use it.
If you make ‘the art’ these guys sure stock all the basics and then some, but if you’re after something unusual then they might not, like corrugated iron. Or whatever it is that will make your vision complete. Either way the staff know where you might find it, which is also very helpful. They don’t keep art secrets to themselves and they contribute to the arty pool of arty knowledge.
All this aside, the prices are generally on the ball so if you’re nearby it’s a good place to pop in.

There’s something really unique about this store. Located on the ‘Café’ Strip, you will find so many art supplies, it’s ridiculous.
Being a Design major at Uni, I am constantly visiting Dean’s Art and have only come to seek my necessary items from here. Why? Because they literally have everything, the pens, the papers, the folios, the diaries, the paints and so much more.
They may not be the cheapest in comparison to the likes of ‘Officeworks’ but you will find high quality brands and never have i purchased something from Dean’s and had issues with it.
You will not find a more extensive range of Felt tip /​Penline Pen’s here, constantly sketching i’m always stocking up by the 10 fold and they literally have every size here!

I’m no artist, but I did go to Dean’s looking for origami paper to make a paper crane mobile to go over my niece’s cot.
It was difficult at first to locate the origami paper in a large store so well stocked with art supplies, but I managed to track down a staff member after a bit of chasing them around the shop (really, they kept walking off as I approached, very frustrating indeed), and I was then promptly directed to the origami paper.
Even with an item as specific as origami paper, there was a good selection to choose from covering a reasonable price range. Seeing as this was my first serious foray into paper crane territory, I decided to go for a mid-​range paper — extremely pretty but not hand-​printed and not made out of the the young bark of a rare Japanese tree (or whatever the reason is that origami paper can be so expensive).
It took awhile to get served at the payment counter and I found the staff to be a bit lacklustre, but I got my paper and it didn’t cost a bundle so I came away happy.

There’s little to dislike about Deans Art, a massive art supplies shop on Fitzroy’s Gertrude Street.
I first became acquainted with this Melbourne arts institution when one of my thoughtful — and citrus rich — neighbours left a bag of lemons outside their house for passers by to take in a) a Deans Art bag and with b) a caveat not to be greedy.
I like to think that this Deans Art/​charitable citrus tie-​up was some very savvy grassroots guerilla marketing but it was probably just by chance that I found myself in Deans Art the next day; looking for nothing in particular — and wanting precisely nowt — but enjoying a browse nonetheless.
And Deans is good, very good. Stocking an overwhelmingly wide range of paints, inks, papers, brushes, and suchlike alongside some pretty boutique gift wrapping paper — we’re talking up to $ 15 per sheet — and even origami materials for the discerning art supplies shopper.
Staff could be friendlier — I tried and failed to elicit a smile out of the decidedly miserable looking peeps behind the counter — but apart from that Deans Art has designs on being the best art shop in the neighbourhood.