Art Snacks September 2016 Box

I might have mentioned it before, but the ladies at Art Supply Posse sure are high class enablers ;) Their goal is to get you to use your supplies (which you already have...ideally) more and think about art making in different ways. Which is wonderful and all, but due to my inquisitive nature, it also evokes the "Oh, I really must try that!" feeling like it did with the Faber Castell Polychromos.  And thus I have also joined the Art Snacks subscription boxes ("A CURATED BOX OF UNIQUE, HIGH-QUALITY ART SUPPLIES (4-5 items) DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR EVERY MONTH."), because "I must try that!" ... sigh! I wanted to try a one-off box through the Art Snacks shop, but sadly at this point they do not offer international shipping through the shop. So I had to go for a subscription to satisfy my curiosity. Well at least I do support the podcast though my subscription and they also have a coupon code for 10% off your first box. Hard to say no to that right?

So my first Art Snack box arrived in the mail, which is the September box. It was shipped on september first and arrived in 2 weeks, which was not too shabby. Though I was getting a bit impatient because I have seen people do the un-boxing and participate in the artsnacks challenge. And when the wait was finally over, I got to unpack the cute rectangular box filled with the goodies above. A description from the items taken from the art snacks site:

Alvin + ArtSnacks .5mm Draft-Matic Mechanical Pencil

The Alvin .5mm Draft-Matic Mechanical Pencil was engineered for comfort, with a stainless steel finger grip, and comes stocked with HB graphite. Hidden under the steel cap you’ll find a cute little eraser. We collaborated with Alvin to produce this limited edition version in ArtSnacks teal, a color that is exclusive to our customers, and will never be available anywhere else! 

Alumicolor Hollow Triangular Drafting Scale

The Alumicolor Hollow Triangular Drafting Scale is a precision instrument great for artists because it stays in place better than a standard flat ruler. If you don’t want to measure in inches, flip it over and try the five other units of measure! Your shiny new drafting scale is about the length of a pen, so it’s easy to pack up and carry with your other art supplies. 

Kuretake Clean Color Real Brush

The Kuretake Clean Color Real Brush pen features water-based ink, so it’s perfect for blending. Try laying down a layer of ink and then using another brush to add water, creating a wash effect. You can also blend with another marker if it’s not alcohol-based – just touch the tips together. The flexible bristle tip makes it possible to blend a variety of water-based ink colors without staining the tip. 

Kurecolor Twin S Marker

Durable, vibrant, and professional. All strong words to describe the Kurecolor Twin S Marker. For aspiring designers everywhere, these markers will bring your artwork to life, whether you are drawing on glass, acetate, metal, or photo paper.

And you also got a cute little sticker and candy snack! Super excited to have the LE Alvin mechanical pencil which was made esp. for the art snack subscribers! It's in my fave color too! While I have used an alcohol marker and a brush like product before, these other supplies were new to me and could not wait to try them out. I was esp. curious about the Clean Color Brush because I have heard so many people saying good things about them.

So I took my dot grid Nuuna notebook to sketch something in it using all the tools. Something to note with the Art Snacks box is that the colors of each item may vary from box to box. I got a Kurecolor Twin Marker in pale green (much like the tissue wrapping they used for this box!) and the Kuretaker Clean Color Real Brush in light carmine. Those two color combo screamed "flower" to me more than anything else. With the mechanical pencil and drafting scale I drew the abstract flower and colored it in. What I noticed right away, the notebook I used was not the right paper for either of these products. You can blend the Clean Color brush with a water brush which I tried with a few of the flower petals, but it just didn't blend well enough. I checked my stash for a suitable surface paper and I decided on smooth glossy sticker paper to see how that would work.

And that worked a whole lot better! I took one of my flowers stencils, drew it on the with mechanical pencil and colored them in. I knew the alcohol marker would perform well on the glossy sticker paper as I had tried that before with another brand, but what was surprising to me was how well the clean brush color stuck to the paper and blended! I took a pentel waterbrush to blend the colors between the lines and gave a nice shade of pale pink. When dried it's a nice subtle soft blend. Very pleasantly surprised! Now I need to try out if Tombows react the same way on this paper :)

A note on the drafting scale: though it doesn't fully specifies it on the scale itself, it's in inches and the comment that you can "flip it over and try the five other units of measure" means the five units of measure is a variation on inches (1/2 an inch, 1/4 inch, 3/4 inch etc) At least that is what I have figured out by comparing the measurements to the metric centimeters (which is what in the EU is commonly used). So I can't really rely on the scales to measure out centimeters for me, but then again I won't be making architectural designs in exact scale either! More information on how to read an architectural scale you can find HERE and HERE. In the end I gave the scale to my husband whom makes map designs for Fantasy RPG lands, so I am sure he will find a better use for it then I would!

While these might not have been the colors I would have chosen personally, I am glad I got to try these products out! The alcohol marker performs similarly to a copic or promarker so I know I would not have to buy these as I have similar products I am happy with. The Brush pen does feel like a REAL brush and bounces back pretty quickly! I also did a water test, dipped the tip in water to blend a few petals and after a minute or two the color comes rushing back in. It's very flexible and does feel like it's able to withstand some pressure when you're doing lettering work. It feels different than a tombow marker and I might get a couple of these to see how they blend together.

In conclusion: This was definitely a nice selection of goodies I received in the mail for 30$ including shipping overseas. (The subscription plan changed the month after I joined it is now 34$) I am stoked I got the LE mechanical pencil, since it is something I do use on a regular basis. The scale will find better use with my husband and I finally got to try out the Clean Color brush and dang it now I want more of those! Thanks again for enabling, Ana and Heather, my wallet is a little less happy though ;) 

Hope this review was useful to you if you're planning on subscribing to an international plan at Art Snacks. Remember that you can get 10% off on your first subscription box using a code you can find HERE at Artsupply Posse (while supplies last...) 

I can't wait to see what the October box will bring!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

namasté