Product Review: EmJxCraftamo Brushes and Etchr Lab’s Signature Series Perfect Sketchbook

So this week I’m coming to you with two things that I bought myself for my birthday!  These are two items that I really wanted to have/try, and since they were both going to be limited releases I just spent some of my own birthday money on each one!  I feel extremely fortunate to have the ability to do this and I’m super glad that I did!  

I’m going to walk through the info about each of these two things and then tell you my thoughts and feeling after using each one.  

1.  EmJxCraftamo Brush Set

Let me start by saying that if you don’t watch Emma Lefevbre on YouTube you need to stop reading this RIGHT NOW and go subscribe to her.  She is absolutely one of my favorite artists online and I’ve learned so much from her!  I went into this purchase with a good vibe, because I know that if Emma put her name on these that they are going to be a great product (she does not endorse stuff often or lightly!)  

As a watercolor hobbyist, I’ve tried a TON of round brushes.  I usually tend to prefer something that is somewhere in between super stiff and super soft.  I can work with either thing, but that’s my preference.  I was very interested in this set of bamboo brushes because they looked to have amazing points, hold a lot of water, but still to be a little bit softer than your typical synthetic brush.  I was intrigued.  I also LOVED the size choices of the set - a Round 2, Round, 6, Round 12 and ¾ Mop.  

Right away, I noticed that these brushes DO hold a ton of water for their short bristles!  This was exciting, but they also provided me with great control.  The brushes are well made and felt great in my hands.  I’ve been using them for several weeks now and the pointed tips are still as good as new.  The mop brush will work for large pages, and holds a ton of water.  The box they came in was beautiful, and the extra piece of Emma artwork was a wonderful bonus!  All in all, these are a wonderful, versatile set of brushes that I will use for a long time!  They are almost sold out, but if you want a set you can snag them here: 

https://www.craftamo.com/products/emma-lefebvre-x-craftamo

2.  Etchr Lab Signature Series Perfect Sketchbook - B5

Etchr is another company that I absolutely trust to put out high quality items.  Their mixed media cold pressed sketchbooks are absolutely wonderful and work double sided more beautifully than any other watercolor sketchbook I have tried.  When Etchr said they were doing a limited release run of their Perfect Sketchbook I knew I wanted to grab one to use for my more flushed out art pieces.  

This sketchbook is 300 gsm cold pressed Fabriano Artistico paper.  It has 52 pages and has beautifully deckled edges.  It is a portrait sketchbook with a sewn in bookmark and a vegan leather cover.  It is absolutely beautiful and feels incredible in your hands.  

Working on this sketchbook was overall really great, but it did have a few learning curves.  I enjoy doing wet on wet watercolor pieces, and I found myself wishing I had clipped down the pages instead of just having taped off the edges.  The paper really bowed up when I was working on it, but returned to size and shape once dry.  In the future I think using a clip will work wonders.  I also find it interesting that the “fabriano artistico” stamp is visible in several pages of my sketchbook.  I painted on one of these pages to see if it would be visible in the final piece, and I think it’s still kind of obvious?  Can you still see it in the piece?  

These are TINY minor things though, and overall I really REALLY love this sketchbook.  I can’t wait to take my time and put some amazing artwork in here over the next several years!!!  These are still available on the EtchrLab website, and you can snag this one here:  

https://etchrlab.com/collections/sketchbooks/products/sigseriescp21

Full disclaimer: Both of these products are pricey.  These were luxury items I picked up for myself and probably won’t buy stuff like this again for awhile.  But I think that once in awhile it’s nice to treat yourself if you can, and even nicer to see that someone else that spent money on the product enjoys it.  I bought both of these with my own money and my opinions are mine alone.  If you’ve read the blog before, you know that I don’t sugar coat it if I think something isn’t great.  

Did you buy either of these items?  What was your favorite “Treat Yo Self” purchase you made in 2021?  Let me know in the comments below!!! 

The Sketchbook Project Flipthrough - Level Up!

 Wow guys - I can't believe I did it!  

When I signed up for The Sketchbook Project, I was excited and nervous.  I loved the concept, and I wanted to be a part of it, BUT putting myself out there in that way felt terrifying.  If you've never heard about the project, you can read more about it here.  The Sketchbook Project was created by the Brooklyn Art Library. Taken from their website, here's a little info about them:  

Brooklyn Art Library is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that has been completely funded by participation since 2006. We work to ensure that we are fulfilling our mission of encouraging creative storytelling within a global community by keeping our physical library space free and open to the public, our digital library accessible worldwide, and making our collection as accessible as possible to people of all ages and skill levels through robust education programming.

I love the inclusive nature of their mission statement, and I know I had to be a part of it!  When I got my Sketchbook, it was in October of 2020, and I was deep into Linktober.  Linktober was huge for me this year, and it really has given me a lot more confident in my skills, even as a hobbyist.  But Linktober gave the shape to the sketchbook, because I knew I wanted to draw video game characters.  

I named the project "Level Up."  The idea was that through the drawing of specific characters and ideas I would be leveling up my own art, so I leaned into the video game pun.  I had a lot of fun drawing each individual piece, and I tried to challenge myself in different ways.  I used alcohol markers, watercolors, gouache and posca pens, metallic watercolors, graphite and water soluble graphite during the course of this book.  I also tried many different types of characters and even a few landscapes and full screen scenes.  

I've highlighted a few of my favorite pieces here, but click below for a full, explained flip through!  I also will have a faster flipthrough on my instagram highlights/story as well.  

Once the sketchbook is digitized, I'll have a link here and as a tab on my page!  

What are your thoughts on The Sketchbook Project?  Would you ever fill one out?  What would your sketchbook be about? Let me know in the comments below!  

Etchr Sketchbook Review - The Paper of my Dreams!

I have wanted to try these sketchbooks from Etchr for awhile, and I was so excited to get them for Christmas from my lovely husband!  These are the Etchr Cold Press Mixed Media Sketchbooks in A4, A5 and A6. 

2 of the 3 Sketchbooks

These sketchbooks are thinner than traditional watercolor paper at 230gsm, BUT they are 100% cotton watercolor paper and claim to be double-sided!  This all seemed too good to be true, 100% thin cotton paper that lays flat and was ALSO double sided?  Could it be true?  

So, my first test was to see how flat the book lays.  I must say, for a hard-bound sketchbook that the paper does lay *very* flat.  It's not as flat as a wire-bound sketchbook, but with binder clips or washi tape I don't have any problem working in these sketchbooks.

My second test was to see how well the 100% cotton paper performed with wet on wet techniques and blending.  Succulents are my comfort zone when it comes to watercolor painting, and so I used this succulent picture as my test.  I was IMMEDIATELY in LOVE. This paper stays wet a long time for beautiful blending, and doesn't unexpectedly lift or pill under multiple layers.  I had two more tests to check the paper's abilities, but so far I was SUPER impressed!  

My third test was to see how well this paper did with a full background wash.  I did not hold back to wet the background.  I also had the edges taped like I would for any wet technique in a sketchbook, but the warping was minimal considering the thinness of the paper.   The washes went on beautifully and create beautiful gradients.  The second picture took 5 layers, all washes and there was no pilling or unexpected lifting.  The more I use this paper, the more I LOVE it!!!  

My final test of the paper was to use both sides.  I specifically wanted to use two pages with serious washes on both of them to see what would happen. As you can see in this video below, there was absolutely NO ghosting, bleeding, anything!!!  IT IS MAGIC. I mean, HOW they managed to make this paper has to be sorcery!  Also - this video shows a small sneak peak of a few other pieces I haven't shared yet!  

So the question becomes, is it worth the price?  In my opinion, they are ABSOLUTELY worth the price!  Per book, they aren't much more than the Bee Creative books that I buy, AND they are hard bound and the paper is double-sided!  Also, Etchr now sells individual books on Amazon so you don't have to buy 3 at a time!  For a long time, having to buy 3 books deterred me from buying them for myself, but now being able to buy 1 to try I wouldn't hesitate AND I feel they are definitely worth the money!  

Needless to say, this paper has 10/10 stars from me.  It will most likely be my primary watercolor sketchbook going forward.  I love working on paper that works like Arches or Bee in a beautiful, bound, easy to carry sketchbook.  I *have* seen that Etchr has paper blocks, but to my knowledge those blocks are only 50% cotton. I'm really hoping they will make 100% cotton cold press blocks in the future - I would DEFINITELY trust this company to make quality 100% cotton blocks!!!  

I hope this review was helpful to anyone that is thinking about trying this product!  Have you tried any Etchr products?  Let me know your thoughts in the comments!