December 2020 Sketchbox - WOW!

 Guys - I was excited about this Sketchbox because I knew it was water-soluble products and it DID NOT DISAPPOINT!  

Here is my swatch card and my thoughts on each product in the box:  

1. Sketchbox Signature Watercolor Pencils

These were beautiful!!!  I really loved the color palette this month - the earthy and muted tones were beautiful and screaming for a landscape. These pencils colored beautifully and dissolved into a fabulous lighter version of their scribbled color.  I really enjoyed using them - they are as good or better than my mid-range watercolor pencils. I loved using them!  

2.  Marabu Art Crayons - Terracotta and Caramel

These were a huge surprise - and I LOVED them!  I didn't expect to like them, they didn't seem like something I would enjoy but they were lovely!  They added a great texture to both of my pieces, especially for woodgrain and terrain.  They dissolved really nicely but with pressure the texture was awesome too.  I might pick up a set of these in the future I liked them so much!  

3. TCW Watercolor Sparx Powder

I have worked with Ken Oliver's watercolor powders before and I love them - but this powder was super quality and vibrant.  I loved that it had several colors in the bottle - that added so much dimension!  I can't wait to have more fun with this powder in future projects.  This was easily the star of the box for me!

4.  Holbein Artist Gouache - White

This is a fabulous white gouache. I love all of the Holbein gouaches and this was a perfect highlight on the toned paper. I have complained for two boxes about not having a perfect white highlight medium - so I was so glad to see this in the box.  Great addition to the box!  

5. Custom Hahnemuhle Toned Watercolor Pad

I thought at first that this paper was going to be too thin to hold up - but it was surprisingly great!  I have never bought toned watercolor paper and was super excited to try it - and I totally understand why people like it.  After my first landscape picture I knew I wanted to do a dancer because I wanted to try a person with the toned paper and I really loved how that turned out too!  

6.  Marabu Fluid Arts Brush - 3pc Set

These are water brushes - and they were decent brushes!  I'm not a huge fan of water brushes.  I'd always rather have a regular brush than a water brush, especially because we always seem to get water brushes in these boxes.  I'd argue that most people have water and a container available, so I'd always rather have a regular brush. 

7.  Derwent Line Maker - 0.8 Black

This is a great fineliner but THIS IS NOT A WATERPROOF PEN!  It was the one thing in the box that was a disappointment because I wish the box had clearly indicated that this pen was not waterproof.  The card simply says - "try layering it over your watercolors!"  which to me did not indicate that it wasn't waterproof.  I just about ruined my dancer picture because of this - though I pivoted and I think my idea was a good one!  This is a great marker but I would have really liked a waterproof addition to the box for line work.  

So these projects turned out really nice!  I had a lot of fun trying different techniques on both pictures.  

Tree Landscape

Ballet in the time of Covid

Did any of you get this sketchbox?  What did you think about the products! Leave me a comment with your thoughts!