Art Snacks is a monthly art supply subscription service that curates products to help inspire you to create. Art Snacks is the brainchild of siblings Lee and Sarah Rubenstein, founders of eatsleepdraw.com, a user-submitted art site.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About Art Snacks
The Subscription Box: Art Snacks
The Cost: $24 a month, with savings on 6- and 12-month subscriptions
Or, use code JAKEPARKER to save 10% off your first subscription or gift box!
The Products: 4-5 full-size premium art products, along with best practices and new techniques
Ships to: The US for free, everywhere else for $10 per box
Art Snacks February 2019 Review
I'm a graphic designer and studio artist, so naturally, I LOVE art supplies! Let's check out this month's box!
Each month, a "menu" of the supplies is included with the retail value of each and information about how to use them. You'll also get a cute sticker, a sweet, and a coupon.
Zebra DelGuard Mechanical Pencil, .5mm - Retail Value $6.99
I love a good mechanical pencil but often find that my heavy-handed drawing causes a mess of broken lead. This DelGuard pencil has a double spring mechanism that allows the lead to retract and absorb pressure, preventing breakage. Art Snacks has also included lots of extra lead refills which will last me a while. The grip area is textured but not squishy and thicker than most drawing pencils which took my hand a bit of time to get used to.
Rembrandt Soft Pastels, Set of 5 in Warm Yellow - Retail Value $9.95
It's been a long time since I worked with pastels so I was excited to give these a try. The texture is soft and light, almost like a chalk-pastel hybrid. I'm guessing that is because these pastels are formulated with kaolin, a fine, clear clay. They are easy to blend and layer for different coverage techniques and shade mixing. This set includes 5 shades in the warm yellow family but Rembrandt offers 218 shades in the range!
Faber-Castell White Pitt Artist Pen, 1,5mm Bullet Nib - Retail Value $3.60
I was expecting a bit more of an opaque ink from this pen instead of the whitewashed look it gives. I am impressed with how well it shows up on both the cream and navy swatches above though. The felt tip bullet nib works for lettering or filling in small areas with color. It also can be used over the pastels to create a subtle blending effect.
Faber-Castell Kneaded Eraser, Medium - Retail Value $0.75
I am a huge fan of kneaded erasers and this is the exact one I started my drawing classes with. The best way to describe the way a kneaded eraser works is to say that it picks up your medium (graphite, charcoal, chalk, etc.) instead of rubbing it away like regular erasers. This makes it great for not only fixing mistakes, but also sharpening lines, lightening shading, and reverse shading without smearing and tearing up your paper. When it's covered in product, you just knead it around to clean it off. Eraser magic.
Bonus: Stonehenge Craft Paper by Legion Paper
The bonus item this month is a sample of craft paper by Stonehenge. It has a nice weight that works perfectly with the pastels and white marker also included this month. I wish a couple more pieces were included so that I could test it out with other mediums.
Art Snacks is not a guided project box, so besides the info about how to use the supplies, there's no further instruction. However, they post YouTube unboxing videos every month with a complete sample project. You can take part in the #artsnackschallenge, which is Art Snacks' monthly challenge to create an original piece of art using all of the products in our box. This month I used some different techniques with the paints to create some little greeting cards.
Since the paper sample is the perfect size for a bookmark, I decided to make a fun one for John. The colors of the paper and pastels made me think of trees and sloths. I started by sketching a sleepy sloth in a tree with the Zebra DelGuard mechanical pencil.
I used the kneaded eraser to erase my original leaf sketches since I wasn't really able to create fine detail with the pastels. Instead, I filled in broad areas with color and then went back in and picked up leaf shaped patches with the eraser. I used the medium yellow and green to fill in the sloth and give it some texture. When I was done blending those shades with my fingertip, I added more texture with the white marker.
The back of the bookmark needed something on it, so I used the white marker to create some simple lettering.
Verdict: Art Snacks is such a fun way for me to get back into my fine arts side! I love being introduced to new supplies and constantly refreshing my stock. Plus, the Art Snacks Challange is such a great way to motivate yourself to use each item and to interact with other Art Snackers. This month's retail value comes to $21.29. It's a little strange for a box's value to be lower than the cost, but the value of this subscription comes from being served up new types of supplies each month. This wasn't my favorite assortment of supplies but I have enjoyed trying them out and challenging myself to work with them in different ways.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, you will receive the May box.
Value Breakdown: This box costs $24 with free shipping, which means that each of the 4 items in the box has an average cost of $6. The total value of materials included is $21.29, which is a few dollars less than the cost of the box.
Check out all of our Art Snacks reviews and the best arts & crafts subscription boxes of 2019!
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What did you create with the February Art Snacks items?
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