#also in the background there’s my Sakura’s staff that i got for a Christmas when I was a kid and that is still treasure to this day!

[sakura-syaoran]

☀️ Kero chan amigurumi ☀️

Made by me using this wonderful pattern

[allisenoble]

So, I was having a really rough week y’all … and then I got this in the mail.

I had gotten an artsnacks subscription for Christmas, and being a virgin to subscription boxes in general, was excited to see what it was all about and hopefully discover some awesome new products for art making!

The January box came with:

A Uni-Posca PCF-350 Brush Tip Paint Marker

2 Maribu Graphix Aqua Pens

A Tombow Fudenosuke Soft Tip Brush Pen

A Sakura SumoGrip Mechanical Pencil

And a cat joke: What do you call a painting by a cat?

A green Lifesaver

I decided to do what a lot of artsnacks subscribers do after receiving their box, and join the fun of challenging myself to create a little picture using only the products in my box for the month. This is also a great way to test out the materials, especially if they are unfamiliar to you. Another fun thing about artnsnacks is the fact that the colors of the products you receive are totally random … The royal blue was lovely, but that olivey/sage green and bright orange? – maybe ok separate but kind of yikes together. So, here is my unique green penguin, swimming beneath the chilly arctic waters.

All in all I thought this was an interesting first box, especially for someone like me who is primarily a drawing based artist but also holds a lot of love for watercolor. I’ll start with my favorite products, which were hands down the mechanical pencil and Tombow pen. I own a lot of black liner pens in a huge range of line weights, but I had never owned a pen whose line weight is dependent on the pressure you apply. This is a fantastic feature for adding more depth to outlines, and it is pretty intuitive. The brush tip is firm, and it is easy to control the weight you want. I.e. – it doesn’t suddenly “blob” out a big fat black line with the slightest pressure. The mechanical pencil has a fantastic eraser which is a huge plus – The quality of your eraser sometimes matters even more than the quality of the pencils you are using! The rubber grip, besides having a cute name, practically gives your fingers a massage as you are drawing – even for someone like me who holds their pencil wrong ;)!

Next, onto the Aqua Pens … The colors are super saturated and these are obviously artist grade. These were marked as a staff favorite. I have to say though, as far as pens that can be used with watercolors I still prefer Tombow’s Dual Brush Pens. The Aqua Pens seemed to not blend as well as with water as the Tombow ones I am used to – you could still see the original sketch marks though the color did spread with water. I noticed they washed better when I worked on smaller areas at a time without letting the ink dry as much in between. When you want more of an illustrative look with super BOLD color that doesn’t fade with the water, however, these would be perfect.

Lastly, the brush tip paint marker – marked on the product list as brand new to the market … I experienced a bit of sticker shock reading the retail price of these – 10 bucks for a SINGLE marker! But, they are unlike any paint pen I have ever seen given the fact that the brush tip is an actual bristled nylon brush. It is more rigid than a traditional painting brush and maintains it’s shape even when pressure is applied, so it is a true hybrid between marker and paint brush. I can see these being fantastic for the classes I manage with Express Yourself Artshop at Creative 360. The added control of using a paintbrush in pen form like this would be great for painters who have mild to severe dexterity issues or shaky hands due to age, injury, or disability, or anyone who struggles with fine motor skills but loves to paint. If it weren’t for that darn price tag … we are a non-profit after all. Donations, anyone? 😉

My assistant at work /slash/ really cool art friend /slash/ art educator teaches an art journaling class and has been trying to get me into starting an art journal. Another surprise Christmas gift I received was lo and behold, a mixed media art journal! It’s a sign. I’m a big reader, so, in addition to my monthly artsnacks challenges, I am going to play around with journaling some of my favorite quotes from books I’ve compiled. With my first two, I kept them mainly illustrative with a lot of white space but I am going to do more with texture/mixed media backgrounds for my next one, whatever that may be.

Be sure to check back for more unboxings! ❤

P.S. The answer to the joke was a paw-trait.

P.P.S. I may be so opposed to the orange and green color combo due to new home renovation trauma. This was what our mud room looked like when we moved in.

First Art Snacks Box, First Art Journal Entry! So, I was having a really rough week y'all ... and then I got this in the mail.