• Art supplies Reviews

    Paletteful Packs – November 2022

    Contents Cretacolor Metallic Pencils (x4) These highly pigmented, brilliant color, artist quality pencils offer a soft, rich, creamy and slightly waxy stroke. The extra-thick 6.4mm core offers ample useable color and the 11mm hexagonal wood casing gives comfort to grip. All colors blend and layer easily. They are opaque and provide great coverage, allowing for both fine and broad lines. The lead has also been glued to the casing to prevent breakage. The pencils feature a transparent lacquer except for the 3/4″ tip that conveniently indicates the true color of the pencil. LW’s note: I used to have similar pencils when I was a kid and they weren’t anything special, I think they were mostly cool-looking gimmicks. For that reason, I wasn’t particularly excited about the Cretacolor pencils but I was curious about what they can actually do when given a fair try. MSRP: $12.32. I didn’t find the separate…

  • Art supplies Reviews

    Paletteful Packs – October 2022

    Contents Daler-Rowney FW Acrylic Ink (Lemon Yellow, Process Magenta, Process Cyan, Sepia, and Emerald Green) Daler-Rowney FW Ink is an acrylic pigment-based, water-resistant ink with a high degree of lightfastness and intermixability. FW Acrylic Inks can be used straight out of the dropper, or diluted to achieve the most subtle of tones, very similar in character to watercolor. Such washes will dry to a water-resistant film on virtually all surfaces (please prepare your surface and test on a small area in advance) and successive layers of color can be laid over. FW inks can be applied using traditional brushes, but also work well through airbrushes, technical pens, and paint markers making them ideal for producing technical illustrations and finely worked drawings. The expressive fluidity of acrylic inks is suitable for use by fine artists,  illustrators, graphic designers, calligraphers, decorative artists and hobbyists. LW’s note: The ink bottles are surprisingly big,…

  • Art supplies Reviews

    Paletteful Packs – August 2022 | Part 2

    This is part 2 of my August 2022 Paletteful Packs blog post (it was getting too long, so I had to split it into two parts). Below you can read about my thoughts on the supplies from the August 2022 pack and you can also check what I drew with them! My thoughts The initial tests Below you can see my first August supplies tests. What I needed to know was not only what the charcoals (and the pastel!) look like when put on paper but also if they are erasable and how easily they blend. According to my tests, all the supplies (of course except the liquid one) blended the best with a paper blender which I happened to have from years ago and never really used it. The chamois which was a part of this Pack’s contents wasn’t my favourite blending tool – it left too much texture…

  • Art supplies Reviews

    Paletteful Packs – August 2022 | Part 1

    This month I managed to not check beforehand what was inside the package, so opening it was a real surprise for me! Unfortunately, not checking the contents in advance also made me forget to copy all the descriptions from Paletteful’s website. So for this month’s supplies, I copied the descriptions from various art stores and official websites. But what was inside the August 2022 pack? Let’s find out! Contents Nitram Liquid Charcoal Nitram Liquid Charcoal is water soluble, so you can adjust the values from very light to a deep, rich black. Straight out of the tube, it is as thick as oil paint – you could even use a palette knife. It dries very fast. WARNING: This product contains a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer. LW’s note: It’s an interesting art supply that I haven’t tried yet but that note stating it may cause…

  • Art supplies Reviews

    Paletteful Packs – July 2022

    Fore some reason I exactly knew what would be the main art supply in this pack. I not only guessed the type of the supply but also the brand AND I somehow knew it would be the kind of package that we actually got. Did I sense it? I’m not sure, but I was certainly very proud of myself! 🙂 So, what were the contents of Paletteful Packs in July 2022? Let’s check! Contents Royal Talens Ecoline Brush Pen – 10 Set Talens Ecoline Brush Pen Set of 10 is based on dyes and Gum Arabic. The colors of the Talens Ecoline are astonishingly bright and brilliant. If you wish, you can easily decrease the color intensity through thinning  with water. The Talens Ecoline Brush Pen is very user-friendly and handy when traveling and ideal when working at a place that needs be kept clean. The Brush Pen is ready…

  • Art supplies Reviews

    Paletteful Packs – June 2022 | Part 2

    This blog post is brought to you by my Ko-fi supporters! Thank you so much! This is part 2 of my June 2022 Paletteful Packs blog post (it was getting too long, so I had to split it into two parts). Below you can read about my thoughts on the supplies from the June 2022 pack and you can also see what I drew with them! (Some of the pictures were available for my Ko-fi supporters in Early Access release) To learn more about Paletteful Packs click HERE. To see what was inside this Pack click HERE. My thoughts The initial tests When you’re facing a blank sheet of a new paper and a bunch of new art supplies with an intention to “draw something” it can be quite an overwhelming feeling. You can overcome it by “taming” the supplies and the paper – familiarize yourself with them, if you…

  • Art supplies Reviews

    Paletteful Packs – June 2022 | Part 1

    When I saw the list of the June supplies I wasn’t happy at first, “just graphite pencils and many of them, boring”. But then, when I started thinking about it, I actually got excited. I realized I haven’t drawn with pencils for a long time now and no matter if the pencils I’ll receive are to my liking, it’s still pencils, which I used to love and draw almost exclusively with. And now, because I’m getting so many various ones, it will be fun to test them all. So, let’s see what was inside the box this month! (Some of the pictures were available for my Ko-fi supporters in Early Access release) To learn more about Paletteful Packs click HERE. For my final thoughts and artworks click HERE. CONTENTS Woodless Graphite Pencil Set Art Alternatives Woodless Graphite Pencils are made from pure graphite and fine clays with a lacquered exterior…

  • Art supplies Reviews

    Paletteful Packs – May 2022 

    After the long waiting, the May Paletteful Pack is finally here! I was considering not checking what to expect from the pack in advance this time, but I guess I lost the thought battle 🙂 Maybe next month I’ll be strong enough to not check the contents before the package arrives! When I saw the contents on the Paletteful website, I was underwhelmed, to be honest. 3 small tubes of watercolours, 2 brushes, a watercolour pad and a palette? It didn’t seem like much but when I opened the pack and saw the supplies in real life there was a lot of surprises! So let’s see what exactly I was sent this month! (To learn more about Paletteful Packs click HERE. For my final thoughts and artworks scroll down to the last section of the post.) CONTENTS Holbein Artists Watercolor (Peacock Blue, Opera, and Permanent Yellow) Much of the world-wide reputation…

  • Art supplies Reviews

    Paletteful Packs – April 2022 

    This is the first Paletteful post after I changed the format of those posts a bit, so I hope it’s going to be easier for both the readers and me to go through it! 🙂 I spoiled myself the surprise before the box arrived because I was super curious about the contents this month! When I saw online what was inside I was excited about the challenge but also worried about how to tackle the media because they’re definitely not something I’m very familiar with. But, I was determined to do my best! CONTENTS Marabu YONO Paint Marker 6-Set  YONO stands for You Only Need One. This new opaque acrylic marker from Marabu works on almost any surface. Canvas or concrete. Glass or ceramic. Wood or plastic. Leather or fabric. The search for the right marker is finally over. Just go ahead and draw. Be creative. No matter what material.…

  • Art stuff

    What is Paletteful Packs?

    Paletteful Packs are subscription boxes of art supplies shipped to you every month and containing various kinds of art supplies, including markers, brushes, paints, paper, canvas etc. Basically everything you’d need to create an artwork. They are also surprise boxes so you don’t know what you’ll get until it’s shipped (you receive an email with a link listing the contents with their brief descriptions – you can choose to click the link and spoil the surprise or not). You have 3 options of the Packs to choose from: Premier Paletteful Pack, Paletteful Petite Pack, Monthly Young Artist Paletteful Pack. Of course the Premier one is the full pack, the Petite one has less content than the Premier one and the Young Artist one has content curated specifically for children. Every Paletteful pack comes with several prompts for an artwork you can create with the supplies from the box if you…