Smart Art is a fine arts subscription service that sends a new project every month and all the supplies needed to complete it. My husband and I are both artists, and we have been having a blast with our Smart Art subscription!
This box was sent to us at no cost to review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).
The Subscription Box: Smart Art
The Cost: $49.99 per month with free shipping. Save with 3, 6, and 12-month subscriptions.
ACTIVE DEAL: $5 off your first subscription
CODE: ENJOYART5
The Products: A fine arts project, complete with instructions and supplies
Ships to: U.S. only
Good to know: It's a different project in a different media every month, using different techniques!
Check out all of our Smart Art reviews and the Craft Subscription Box Directory!
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This month's project was paper marbling! This is the booklet that Smart Art sends every month. It includes art history related to the project, a list of the included supplies, project pointers, and instructions.
Subscribers can upload a picture of their finished project to Smart Art's Facebook page for a chance to win a free box! That's really cool! On the other hand, our projects usually take forever, so we always seem to miss the boat on this contest.
This is the inside of the booklet. On the left are the art history and project pointers, and on the right, there's some info on marbling dyes plus the supply list.
The instructions are printed on the back of the booklet. They are pretty clear and easy to follow, but they still allow for as much creativity as you like.
Here are the supplies that were included for this month's project.
Jacquard Marbling Dyes, 0.5 oz (x3) - Value $19.99 for a set of 6
Methocel Marbling Medium, 4 oz. - Value $19.99 for 8 oz
Alum 4 oz (Mordant) - Value $12
Synthetic Gall, 0.5 fl oz - Value $11.29
Evolon AP 168GSM 8x10 Sheets (x2) - Value $15 for a pack of 10
Speedball Elegant Writer 4 Pen Set - Value $9.03
Pentel Succi Metallic Silver, 0.8mm - Value $1.99
Please note that most of the values listed here are list prices. Almost all of them can be found for less at most online discount art supply stores.
I don't have the patience for dyes, but this month's project was exactly my husband's cup of tea. He loves it! His first step was to make the alum solution, soak the paper, and let the pieces dry.
He then mixed up the methocel and started layering in the dyes. They sort of float on the top so you can dip in the papers and pick them up.
Like so...
Then he just pulled the papers out and hung them or laid them out to dry!
This is one of his completed masterpieces! He went back over some of the colors with his new pens, which he really likes. He thought the pens were all especially nice quality.
Verdict: My husband and I are both huge fans of Smart Art! My husband loves working with dyes on both fabric and paper, so he had a great time with this project. The materials were all top-notch, too! The value of this month's contents was about $57, which is a nice margin above the $50 cost of the box. That's really good for a fine arts subscription box, so I'm happy! We love Smart Art!
What do you think of Smart Art?
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