This is the primary stop for artists. Their prices are competitive and they have everything. In the early fall and spring, expect to see crowds of art students from all over the city as they stumble up and down the aisles with syllabuses in their hands. The crowds can be annoying, but this is when Pearl is best stocked.

If you step out the back door, you will find a series of other Pearl Paint stores on Lispenard Street (1 block south of Canal), including a frame shop and excellent craft shop.

Pearl Paint is a virtual department store of art supplies. You can get just about anything you need here - canvas, paints, brushes, 100s of pens and pencils, a huge variety of specialty papers, portfolios, etc... The prices are pretty good for New York, although the service isn't so great. The giant store is staffed mainly by art students who seem more interested in the employee discount than helping customers. But it's not that big a deal - if you know what you want, they've got it in there somewhere. It's a great place to just browse through and let something pique your interest. They also have a pretty good website - http://www.pearlnyc.com/pearl/index.html - so you can order supplies once you get home (if there isn't a Pearl store near you.)