The July 2019 ScrawlrBox

In July the Scrawlrbox featured something I have never tried before, water mixable oils. So I gathered up my courage and took the plunge! For those who want to try these supplies for themselves, I have included my Amazon Affiliate links down below. 

When I opened my box this is what I saw: water mixable oils. So I have been curious to try these, but I am not fond of oil paint. 1. They take too long to dry, 2. They are hard to clean up because you have to use paint thinners, and 3. The smell of the paint plus the thinners bothers me. (Gives me a headache.)  However, I like the idea that these oils are easier to clean up.

Cutie Boots started fishing out the tubes, but I was afraid he would get paint on his feet so I had to take them away from him.

Cutie Boots said, 'Why can't I play with them? I gave him the pencil to play with instead, but he decided to take a nap. 

The main items were three tubes of Cobra Artists Water Mixable oils. These tubes were 20 ml.

I received Primary Magenta, Ultramarine Blue, and Titanium White colors. You can find a nice starter set of 6 Cobra oils for $16.17 on Amazon. They are also available open stock on dickblick.com. 

 To go along with the paint there was a #10 Zahn Custom Flat paintbrush

 There was also a 2B Derwent Graphic pencil. On Amazon you can get a set of 6 Derwent Graphic pencils for $10.69. 

 Finally there was a 4.75 inch square canvas board. You can get a pack of 12 of these mini canvases for $7.96 on Amazon. 

Finally, there was an art supplies list, a ScrawlrBox sticker, a print by Katie Jobling, a paint smearing card, a palette paper, and a sour and sweet lollipop. (It was sour!)

Doodlin' Time ! 

The Derwent Graphic 2B pencil works fine for sketches. The Zahn flat synthetic brush made nice strokes. The Cobra Water Mixable oils really do mix with water and they clean up with water! Amazing!

 'Burgundy Rose'

by Ellie Taylor 

So I used the small canvas and the Scrawlrbox Zahn flat brush to paint a burgundy rose alla prima. Alla prima means I didn't let the paint dry. I just used wet paint. I made the background sort of purplish blue and I used the magenta, white, and blue colors to paint the rose and leaves. The rose is impressionistic because when one paints with the wet in wet technique, it's hard to get small details.  

Okay, so here's what I think of water mixable oils: They clean up easily with water (I like that!), I can use water for a thinning medium and they don't smell very strong ( Excellent!), but these oils still take a long time to dry just like regular oils (Not a fan of that!). I like this oil paint better than regular oils, but the drying time is a deal breaker for me. If acrylics vanished from the face of the earth and I had to paint with oils, then water mixable oils are what I would use. However, I just can't stand the drying time. It took a week for the painting to dry and I am used to my acrylics drying in a matter of minutes. I think there are some brands of water mixable oils that dry somewhat faster. 

If you wanted to try painting with oils, I would definitely recommend these because they are easy to clean up and thin with water. You get the feel of traditional oils without the stinky smell of thinners.

Check out the ScrawlrBox at http://scrawlrbox.uk/ They start at £15 a month with free shipping in the UK. Everyone else pays shipping costs. For the US, the total cost is roughly $25 to $30 including the shipping cost.

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