- Ellie Taylor
ArtSnacks Boxes for June and July 2019
Since I am falling behind on my reviews, I am combining two months worth of boxes in this post. For June the ArtSnacks box featured high quality pens such as Marabu Graphix Aqua Ink pens. In July, high quality watercolors from Daniel Smith were featured. For those who want to try these out for themselves, I have included my Amazon Affiliate links down below.
When I opened the June box, this is what I saw. Lots of pens!
Cutie Boots asked if there was any fish in the box.
The first supplies were two Marabu Graphix Aqua pens. These pens are double ended and have a brush nib and a fine tip nib. They came in two shades of grey: light and dark. These pens are watersoluble and can be used for an ink wash. You can find these pens in a set of 24 on Amazon for around $25.
The second supply was an ArtSnacks exclusive Plumchester mechanical pencil. This mechanical pencil had a metal body and took 0.5 mm lead. It had a nice grip for the fingers on the barrel and a nice weight to it. This pencil is available in the ArtSnacks store for $17.99.
The third item was a Pentel Arts Hybrid Technica gel pen. This pen had a nice rubber grip and black ink. This pen is available in a 5 pack for $10.71 on Amazon.
Next there was a Pentel Arts Micro Brush Sign pen. This was a brush pen with a very fine brush nib. The color I received was a bright pink ink and was water based. These pens are available on dickblick.com for around $3.40 a piece.
Also there was a supplies list and a Sour Patch Kids candy.
Doodlin ' Time !
The Pentel Arts Hybrid gel pen wrote smoothly and made nice thin lines. The Pentel Arts Micro Brush pen could make thin or thick lines sort of like a liner brush. The Marabu Graphix Aqua Ink pens worked great for shading. The metal Plumchester mechanical pencil was very nice to hold and great for sketching.
'Art Nouveau Pattern'
by Ellie Taylor
I used a pattern from my '300 Art Nouveau Designs and Motifs' book. I drew some cupid faces surrounded by wings. I used the mechanical pencil to sketch the cupid designs. Then I used the light grey Marabu Graphix pen to color the wings and outlined them with the dark grey Marabu Graphix pen. I used the Pentel Arts Micro Brush pen to color the cupids faces and outlined them with the Pentel Arts gel pen. The bright pink color gave these cupids a sort of Valentine's Day vibe.
The July box featured Daniel Smith watercolors.
When I opened the July box, I was so excited! Daniel Smith watercolors! These are high quality professional paints!
Cutie Boots, however, was not very excited and said he was too sleepy to play with anything. Cats are so funny!
The first items were two 5 ml tubes of Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolors. I received the colors of French Ultramarine and New Gamboge . You can get these tubes in a set of 6 on Amazon for around $35. These tubes are also available individually on dickblick.com and danielsmith.com for around $6 to $8.
Next to go with the watercolors, there was a Princeton Elite Aqua synthetic sable paintbrush. The size was a #8 round and it retails for around $11.07.
Third there was a General's Sketch and Wash water soluble graphite pencil. I'd been wanting to try one of these. On Amazon, these pencils come in a two pack for $5.34.
Finally there was a Sakura Pigma Graphic pen with a 1 mm nib and black ink. This ink is waterproof and lightfast. A pack of 3 of these pens costs around $9.90 on Amazon.
There was a supplies list, an ArtSnacks sticker, and a sour bubblegum ball. I used to chew those gumballs when I was a kid and this brought back memories.
Doodlin ' Time!
The Sakura Pigma pens are some of my favorite ink pens and this one worked great for detail work. The Daniel Smith watercolors are very pigmented and bright. They also have a good lightfast rating. The Princeton Aqua paintbrush made nice soft brush stokes. The graphite in the General's Sketch and Wash pencil dissolved very well and made a nice grey wash.
'Art Nouveau Butterfly'
1st attempt
by Ellie Taylor
I wanted to draw a butterfly design from the 'Treasury of Art Nouveau Design and Ornament'. I sketched the butterfly with the General's Sketch and Wash pencil and attempted to add the watercolor paint. However, the watersoluble graphite mixed with the yellow watercolor paint and made a muddy color. If you want a clean color, using the watersoluble graphite doesn't work. However, it did make a neat sketchy look.
'Art Nouveau Butterfly'
2nd Attempt
by Ellie Taylor
I wanted to get cleaner color on my butterfly design so I used a regular pencil to draw the sketch. Then I used the Daniel Smith watercolors for the butterfly colors. These watercolors are so pigmented and intense that when I combined them, I didn't get a bright green like I thought I would. Instead these colors created a greyish green color. I used the Sakura Pigma pen to outline the final design.
'Watersoluble Graphite Sketches'
by Ellie Taylor
I decided to see what the General's Sketch and Wash pencil would do by itself. First I sketched an egg and I was very heavy on the graphite. When I added water the graphite dissolved, but it made a lot of grey wash and I lost my highlights. So I decided that a little of this graphite goes a long way. Taking that into consideration, I sketched two flowers with a regular pencil and then added small amounts of watersoluble graphite on the petals for shading. This worked much better and I was able to keep the highlights. I think you can do some really neat sketches with this pencil, you just have to use the graphite sparingly.
Both of these boxes had some really neat supplies for sketching and I had been wanting to try Daniel Smith watercolors. I was not disappointed with the watercolors. They are very pigmented and very professional. Even though they are expensive, if you are a professional painter Daniel Smith watercolors are definitely worth the investment. A little of their pigment goes a long way too. I also want to further explore the grey washes that you can get from the Marabu Graphix Aqua Ink pens and the General's Sketch and Wash pencil.
If you want to try out this subscription box company, their website is http://www.artsnacks.co/ The boxes start at $24 a month with free shipping to the United States. International shipping is available for $34 with free shipping. ArtSnacks now has a referral program and if you go through my link, first time customers can get 10% off of their very first order. My referral link is http://artsnacks.refr.cc/eleanort