Unboxing SketchBoxes for January 2020, April 2020, and July 2020.

In my eternal quest to catch up with my unboxings, I have 3 Sketchboxes to show you in this post. For those who want to try these supplies for themselves I have included my Amazon and Blick Art Materials affiliate links down below.

"Hey Cutie Boots, Want to unbox some stuff with me?" "No", he said, "I want to lay here on your art storage boxes and watch the birds outside the window." (Cats! They are so funny!)

January 2020 Basic Box

For January the box featured art from Rebecca Malkin.

This box was watercolor based.

The first item was a SketchBox limited edition metallic watercolor from Fine Tec company. The color was Dark Teal and retailed for $7.99.

There were 3 Grumbacher Academy watercolor 7.5 ml paint tubes. I use Grumbacher Academy Acrylics all the time and I have been wanting to try the watercolors in this brand. The colors were Gamboge, Chinese White, and Cobalt Blue. These retail on Blick Art Materials for $3.31 per tube.

To go with the paint there was a Silver Brush Crystal 3/8 inch paintbrush. This was an angular shader. It retails for around $8 on Amazon.

For highlights there was an Uchida Reminisce gel pen. You can get this in a set of 4 for $7.60 on Amazon.

There was a Clairefontaine 4X6 inch PaintON pad of black paper. I think I have received this in a ScrawlrBox before and really liked it! Blick Art Materials has this in a 6X8 inch size pad for around $8.

There was a print from the artist of the month, the art supplies list, and a SketchBox sticker.

Doodlin' Time!

I used the Reminisce gel pen to write on the Clairefontaine black paper. It showed up very well on the dark background, although the ink would stop flowing sometimes and cause broken lines. The Grumbacher Academy watercolors also worked well on the black paper. The SketchBox Fine Tec metallic watercolor really glittered on this paper. The Silver Brush Angular shader worked great for painting edges.

'Bee and Flower'

by Ellie Taylor

I tried to paint a bee and flowers in cartoon style on the black paper. I used the Grumbacher Academy watercolors and Fine Tec watercolor to paint the color on the bee's body, wings, and on the flowers. I scraped off the paint for the black lines on the bee and outlined everything with the white gel pen. The watercolors were not chalky at all and could be used for thick or thin applications of paint. The Grumbacher Academy watercolors kind of reminded me of M. Graham watercolors. Most of the colors in the Grumbacher Academy line have good lightfastness ratings and can probably be used for professional work.

'Monument Valley Sketch'

by Ellie Taylor

I liked the look of the white gel pen on the black paper so I did a quick sketch of Monument Valley in Arizona. It almost looks silver on the black paper. I think you can really make some neat effects with this paper!

April 2020 Basic Box

The April SketchBox featured art by Maria Varga on the box.

This box was all about calligraphy and featured several types of pens.

The first item was an 8 pack of Stabilo 0.4 mm fineliners. This pack featured pastel colors. It retails for around $8 on Amazon.

Then there was five Art Alternatives Dual Tip Markers. These markers have a fine tip and a brush nib. There were no color names on the markers. These are water based markers. They retail in a set of 12 for around $15, but I can only find them on the Joann website.

There was another brushmarker by Karin called the Brushmarker Pro. This one had grey ink and was called Neutral Grey 3. It retails on Blick Art Materials for $3 a piece.

Next there was another Karin product called a Decobrush and it had Red Gold metallic ink. It retails on Blick Art Materials for around $3.82.

Last there was a Tombow ABT dual brush pen. It has a brush nib and bullet nib. This was mauve color and was water based. This pen retails for around $3 on Blick Art Materials.

There was a print from the artist of the month, an art supplies list, and a SketchBox sticker.

Doodlin Time!

The Art Alternatives Dual Tip Markers seemed to have a durable nib (unlike previous versions) and they blended a little bit even though they were water based. The Stabilo pastel pens were really pretty. The Tombow and Karin brush pens had a good brush nib for lettering.

Calligraphy Practice

I am not trained in calligraphy, but I tried doing a few styles. My pitiful attempt at calligraphy writing is probably not the best showcase for these pens, but they seem to work okay for lettering. I like the metallic sheen on the Karin Decobrush Pen. I think I could get the hang of calligraphy if I really practiced it. Maybe I will try it some more in the future.

August 2020 SketchBox

The artist featured on the box was Stacey Rosen.

This month the SketchBox featured chalk pastels.

The main item was a 5 pack of Rembrandt soft pastels half sticks. I have been getting quite a few of these little sets in all my subscription boxes. Fortunately they have all been different and I am getting a good collection of Rembrandt pastels! This set was the Earth Reds colors. This pack retails for around $6 on Blick Art Materials.

The next two items were some Van Gogh soft pastel sticks. The colors I received were Light Yellow and Turquoise Blue. These pastels are made by Royal Talens and are mainly available in the UK. They sell for around $15 for a set of 12 on Jackson's Art website.

For blending the pastels a pack of 3 Royal Langnickel blending stumps. These cost around $10 on Amazon.

Then there was a grey Holbein Artist's soft pastel stick in a plastic container. The color was Cool Grey II. These pastels are very high quality and retail for $3.52 a piece.

The next items were Bruynzeel pastel pencils. I received black and white pencils. A box of 12 pastel pencils runs about $30 on Amazon.

Finally there was some UArt Sanded Pastel Paper. This paper has 400 grit and is really thick. I have never tried pastel sanded paper because it is so expensive, but I've wanted to see how it was before I bought it. This gave me a chance to check it out! A pack of ten 9X12 inch paper costs about $22 on Amazon.

There was also the art supplies list, a print by the artist of the month, and a SketchBox sticker.

Doodlin' Time!

I swatched the supplies on a regular sketchbook because I didn't want to waste the sanded paper. The sketchbook paper worked fine for that purpose. All the soft pastels in each brand smoothed out nicely. The softest pastel stick was the Holbein stick. It was as soft as my set of Grumbacher pastels. The blending stumps blended everything nicely.

'Monument Valley Scene'

by Ellie Taylor

I used the long thin sanded paper to make a quick pastel sketch of Monument Valley in Arizona. (Yes, it is one of my favorite subjects to paint.) I used the Van Gogh turquoise pastel for the sky, mixed in the grey Holbein pastel, and blended them together. I used the Rembrandt pastels for the formations in Monument Valley. I also used the Rembrandt pastels for the ground and mixed in the light yellow Van Gogh pastel stick and the Holbein pastel stick. I added highlights with the Bruynzeel white pastel pencil and refined the shapes of the formations with the black Bruynzeel pastel pencil.

So what do I think of the sanded paper? Well, it really takes lots of layers very nicely and the pigment blends smoothly on it. I like that it gives a nice soft look. I was worried that I couldn't add details on it, but the pastel pencils seemed to work okay for the final details. I don't know if I would switch from my preferred cold press watercolor paper though. I think I need to do a little more research on the sanded paper.

The Basic Box is $25 plus $5 shipping and the Premium Box retails for $35 plus $5 shipping in the US. Shipping is $10 to Canada and $15 to all other countries. SketchBox has a list in their FAQ of the countries that they ship to. Check them out through my referral link. https://getsketchbox.com/refer/Elean-IFGGOHVY