January Deboxing: Art Snacks, Box 9

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It seems like any time an Art Snack is due to be delivered, I'm out of state at a convention or visiting family.  Unfortunately for me, this means I sorta miss out on taking advantage of Art Snacks promotion of deboxings, since I'm late to the party.  Fortunately, knowing I have an Art Snack waiting at home for me (and avoiding other deboxings) is a pick me up, and I usually tear into it as soon as I get home.

My January Art Snack was waiting for me when I returned from Ohayocon, full of the promise of new art toys.  I quickly ripped into it, taking photos as I went, but unfortunately I got bogged down with make-up work before I could write the post.  So now it's February, and I'm writing my January deboxing.


January Art Snacks Deboxing




January's box came with Sweethearts, since the February box wont ship til after Valentines.  They were devoured quickly.  C U L8R, QTs.

The Menu Card: 



The Haul: 
  • Copic Ciao Marker
  • Zig Cocoiro Lettering Pen and Body
  • Prismacolor Kneaded Eraser
  • Palomino Graphite Drawing Pencil


Art Snacks typical MO seems to be to send me one marker, one pencil, one pen, and then a random art supply.  I like this, since there are SO MANY of these products available, you get an opportunity compare products from this month to prior months to help decide on future purchases.

I was really excited to see a Cocoiro pen in the bunch, since I've been eying them on Jetpens for awhile.  This one is a "lettering pen", which means it has a tip like a fude or sign pen.  In the west, a 'lettering pen' would be more like a broad tipped Micron, a Rapidograph, or even a calligraphy pen.




The body of the pen comes seperately from the pen itself, and can be used with a variety of inserts.


The insert could function as a pen itself!  And it has spahhhhkles.



 A close up of the tip.  It handles like a very stiff fude pen.


Capped offers a neat option, because you can just see the sparkly end of the pen insert.



I'm really not a gum eraser person, I prefer plastic erasers like Mono.


And here's the end of the Palomino wood pencil.


A little test of the Cocoiro- lettering and a sketch.

The Review

In general, I'm pleased with the quality of all included supplies for this review.  Although I don't use Ciaos a lot (except for undersketching!) I think they are a FANTASTIC marker option that offers a lot of the things available in Copic Sketches (which I do use) for a much lower price point.  I'm really excited that Art Snacks included one, since Ciaos don't seem to get a lot of love from Copic enthusiasts.  I was also excited to see a Cocoiro, although I didn't care for the lettering insert, I know you can buy lots of other insert options easily.  This was a great way to break the ice and I'll probably be ordering other inserts soon.  You guys know I'm neither a big fan of wooden pencils or gum erasers, so while they weren't for me, they're very solid sketching supplies.  I didn't test the Cocoiro for Copic-safeness, but if they ARE Copic-safe, then this month's Art Snacks are a perfect little sketching journey- you pencil your sketch, ink it with the Cocoiro, erase the pencil with the gum eraser, then tone with your Copic sketch.

The Breakdown:

  • Copic Ciao Marker- $5.49, open stock (Copic)  
  • Zig Cocoiro Lettering Pen and Body-  Body $2.50 (Jetpens), Insert- $3.30 (Jetpens)
  • Prismacolor Kneaded Eraser-  $.63 (DickBlick)
  • Palomino Graphite Drawing Pencil- $11.95 for 12 (Pencils.com)

Grand Total:

$12.92

The Verdict:

Having subscribed to Art Snacks for awhile, I've seen their prices fluctuate.  Some months weren't really worth my $20, so months were worth more than what I paid. I'm still excited about this subscription service, and plan on staying with it for awhile, and I want Art Snacks to continue to surprise me.  I don't expect every product to be something I've never tried before each month, but it's nice to receive one or two toys I wouldn't've necessarily have purchased on my own.  Does one or two new sparklies make it worth the $20?
I can't answer that for other artists.  There are a lot of artists who don't write art supply reviews, and wont buy every product in a particular category that they can get their hands on.  Art Snacks would probably have more surprises for them.

Past Art Snacks Reviews

 

June
July
August
September
November

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