Paletteful Packs is a carefully thematic selection of art supplies for artists of every skill level and all ages. Every box will include a variety of media. Products include paint, pens, pencils, brushes, markers, and more! There 3 different pack options including:
- Petite Pack: 4+ artist quality supplies per box for $24.95/month
- Premier Pack: 5+ artist quality supplies per box for $35.95/month
- Young Artist: for ages 8 and up, 4+ items per box for $30.95/month
This review is for the Premier Pack.
This box was sent to us at no cost to review. (Check out the review processes post to learn more about how we review boxes).
About Paletteful Packs
The Subscription Box: Paletteful Packs
The Cost: $35.95 per month + free shipping (save with longer commitments)
ACTIVE DEAL: Save 10% off your first box!
CODE: FIRSTMONTH10
The Products: Carefully selected art supplies are provided to create a unique project
Ships: Worldwide
Paletteful Packs April 2019 Review
This month was all about POSCA Paint markers! Paletteful Packs included supplies to create a wood panel, a black canvas painting, and bonus stickers!
I love this content list! It lists the included supplies, has a user guide for the paint makers, and shows retail pricing.
POSCA Paint Markers PC-5M 1.8-2.5 mm, set of 5 - Total Retail Value $17.00 ($3.40 each)
The main item in this month’s box are these AWESOME paint markers! I am far from being considered an artist, but I am quite familiar with an assortment of art/craft supplies, and I must say these are my new favorite thing! We received 5 of these non-toxic, water-based markers in red, green, light blue, dark blue, yellow, and green. They can be used on almost any surface, dry fast, are blendable, and can be overlaid when dry!
To use, you shake the marker with the cap on to get the ball mixing the paint. After vigorous mixing, you press the tip down several times on a piece of scrap paper until the tip fills with paint. If it starts getting dry, put the cap back on and shake. The user guide also states you can clean the tip as often as you want, and you can leave it to soak in water overnight if it gets too dry. These markers paint so smoothly - I could’ve painted all day!
POSCA Paint Marker PC-1M 0.7 mm - Retail Value $3.50
This next marker is a lot finer than the colored markers. It is an extra fine tip paint marker that works perfectly for fine detailed work. This marker was probably the easiest to use and felt almost like a pen. It made very precise lines and flowed amazingly!
POSCA Paint Marker PCF-350 free size - Retail Value $5.99
Here is another black marker, but with a much different tip! This paint marker has a brush tip which is much more like a paintbrush. This is ideal for calligraphy and coloring. I definitely need practice with this tip. I can see how it would create beautiful calligraphy, but I need to work on that! It did blend well, and I did use it a lot for coloring.
Art Alternatives 8 X 10 Wood Panel - Buy a pack of 5 for $21.18
Because the POSCA markers work on a variety of surfaces, we had a little surprise: a wood panel! This panel has a 4 mm birch surface with a solid pine cradle. It is smoothed for detailed work, and the clean sanded edges may be hung without a frame. I have never painted on a wood panel before, but couldn't wait to try!
Black Canvas 5X7 Panel
Another surprise was this 5 X 7 black canvas panel. I have painted on white canvas before, but never on black. I can’t wait to see how these markers work on the black background! The panel is unbleached 3 oz. cotton and primed with acid-free black acrylic gesso to a finished weight of 7 oz. and is wrapped around an acid-free recycled paperboard core.
I couldn’t wait to test these paint markers out and WOW do these babies glide smoothly! The colored markers worked the best for me right out of the gate. The black tips took a little more getting used to, but after time, I was able to do what I wanted with them.
Project #1 - Wood Panel
For my first project, I was inspired by my kitchen decor and decided to create a rooster painting to place above my cupboards:
I started by sketching a rooster with a pencil on my wood panel.
After getting the outline drawn, I nervously decided to go for it and start painting. I have to admit, I was a little freaked out when I noticed the paint marker start to bleed out of the lines. Thankfully, this was easily cleaned up when the entire panel was covered in paint.
Here I created the tail feathers using blue, light blue, and green. The markers blended so well together and dried fast. After the paint dried I was able to go over it and change or add color if I wanted.
I needed some darker color, so I used the free size black marker for some of the rooster’s breast. This covered space fast and blended well.
And here is the rooster close to complete. I blended colors to get the look I desired. While I am an amateur, I was happy with my results.
The background was tricky for me. I should have maybe done the background first and then drawn on my rooster, but I was kind of flying by the seat of my pants so I didn’t. I first just blended colors and used a little water and a paintbrush to spread out the paint for the background.
I left my project to dry for a little while and decided I wasn’t happy with my background, so I went in and added some texture to make it look a little more interesting. I like the added depth and feel pretty good about my first project! It was a lot of fun added a lot of color to my kitchen!
Project #2 - Black Canvas
My next project was the black canvas panel. I wasn’t sure what to paint so I decided on some bright flowers to contrast the black background.
I love the way these paints are so bright on such a dark background. It really made painting this fun! The colors blended so beautifully and created exactly what I wanted.
Here is the finished canvas. It’s perfect for my small shelf in the living room- and really is different from anything I have in my house.
Project #3 - Bonus Stickers
As a bonus this month, we received 3 slap stickers. These stickers are said to adhere to almost any surface, and contour to surfaces of any shape. Place these wisely- the bond becomes permanent over time! My boys were SOOOO jealous that I got to play with these fun materials all day, so I told them if they behaved I would share the stickers with them. They had a blast trying out the POSCA markers and creating their own little masterpieces.
Hank wanted to make a garden scene on his sticker. He thought these markers were awesome and was very jealous that he didn’t get to use the wood panel.
Charlie wanted to try out some design work on his sticker. He also felt he should have gotten a bigger canvas to work on.
And here are the finished slap stickers. Of course, I had to fill my name tag out as “MOM” and I must say, it was the most fun I’ve ever had filling out a name tag! I think I may stick it to my new marker box!
These are the 3 pieces of art I created using this month’s Paletteful Packs box. Like I said above, I am no artist, but I would like to be one day!
The Verdict: This was my first Paletteful Packs box and I’m a huge fan! I love creating my own art, and this was a really fun way to try new products I never would have found on my own. I really appreciate that this box is created for artists of every level, because I love including my kids in projects, and these were a definite hit with them! I can’t wait to see what comes next month!
This subscription costs $35.95 a month. The content card shows a retail value of $51.06 in this box. I found everything except the black canvas online for around $30.00. This means the supplies almost breaks even with the subscription price. I do want to note: if you purchase these items separately you would have to pay shipping which would increase the price. I still think this is a fair value for a well-curated box that opens your eyes to new products and ideas.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No. There is a cutoff date of the 15th of every month to order the box for the coming month. If your order is placed after the 15th, you’ll receive the following month’s box.
ACTIVE DEAL: Save 10% off your first box!
CODE: FIRSTMONTH10
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What did you think of Paletteful Packs April box? What would you create?
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