The following is my Sketchbox review for the January 2019 (Premium) box.
What is Sketchbox?
Sketchbox is a subscription service that sends you a selection of art supplies right to your door each month. You don’t know what you are going to get until you open the box. They offer two different box types. The basic box is $25 and the premium box is $35.
Inside the box you also get a description card for the products included for the month. There is a card featuring the artist of the month and a Sketchbox sticker. And, if you go to their website, there are videos posted each month showing how to use the supplies. I found the video helpful to spark some ideas and get me started.
The Excitement, or NOT
Towards the end of December of 2018 I received my first shipment from SketchBox. I couldn’t wait for it to arrive, but at the same time was a bit nervous about how I was going to use the supplies included for the month. This shipment was the January 2019 premium box, loaded with technical drawing supplies.
With the contents of the box being technical drawing supplies, I wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about getting started. I’ve never gotten into doing technical drawings and I usually prefer to use a wider tip pen than what these have. However, the reason I decided to subscribe to Sketchbox in the first place was to force myself to try new things and different approaches to my art. I guess I got what I wanted with this shipment.
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The Contents of the Box:
Custom Alumicolor 6” Hollow Scale (ruler)
Derwent Graphik Line Marker Set – Graphite
Pentel Orenz – .2mm (mechanical pencil)
Akashiya Sai ThinLine Brush Pen – Bluish black
Tombow Mono Zero Eraser – Round 2.3mm
Pilot Razor Point – Green and Blue
Pentel Arts Hybrid Technical Pen .3mm
My Review
The following review is based off of my own personal experience with the products. I’m not a paid sponsor for Sketchbox, nor am I a professional artist. I’m simply sharing with you my initial experience with the products and the subscription service in general.
The Box
I think the box itself deserves to be mentioned in this review. Each month, Sketchbox picks an artist to feature on the box. They run a contest that is open to anyone to enter. The winner of the contest gets to have their artwork displayed on the box. The bad thing is I don’t know if I’ll be able to throw the boxes away. I guess I better find a good use for them!
Custom Alumicolor 6” Hollow Scale (ruler)
There isn’t a whole lot I can say about a ruler. It looks cool and feels like it is high quality, as it has a bit of weight to it. With it being 6 inches instead of 12, it makes it easier to handle for smaller drawings. There are four different scales on the ruler, which I’m sure is important to somebody.
The ruler definitely comes in handy for Artist Trading Cards. I would have gotten more use out of it if I could get my son to quit stealing it from me. A word of caution, don’t drop it on your drawings. The corners will leave a dent.
Derwent Graphik Line Marker Set – Graphite
This marker set is really cool. It comes with .1mm, .3mm, and .5mm nibs. The barrels are clear so you can see how much ink is left. These markers have a wider barrel than some of my markers have, which I love. I find thinner barrels difficult to grip. The markers also have a little bit of weight to them, making them easier for me to hold. These pens make a really smooth line that didn’t smudge. I’ll be using these more in the future for sure.
Pentel Orenz – .2mm (mechanical pencil)
The pencil is designed with a 1-click system. According to the information card enclosed in the box, the pen is unrivaled for its accuracy. The lead is very small at .2mm, but the 1-click system prevents the lead from breaking.
I can’t speak to the accuracy since I don’t work on technical drawings, but the lead is extremely thin so I can believe it would be. I didn’t have any trouble with the lead breaking, until I dropped it on the floor. Yes, I tend to drop things a lot because of some issues with my hands.
After dropping it on the floor I couldn’t get it to work again. Once I had a chance to take it all apart and clean out the shattered lead, I didn’t have any further problems with it. And the pencil is equipped with everything you need to get that broken lead cleaned out.
This type of pencil isn’t the best fit for me, but I do think it would be a great tool for someone doing extremely fine, detailed drawings. It’s too light and the barrel is too thin, making it difficult for me to hold.
Akashiya Sai ThinLine Brush Pen – Bluish black
It’s been awhile since I’ve worked with brush pens. Definitely need to get some practice in with them again. Love the color that was included in this box. The ink lays down really smoothly and it’s easy to get a broad range from the pen. Without much practice, I was able to get a very thin stroke, as well as a fairly wide stroke. I will definitely be spending some time with this pen in the very near future.
Tombow Mono Zero Eraser – Round 2.3mm
At first I didn’t like this eraser because of how thin and lightweight it is. In case you haven’t guessed why, I kept dropping it. However, after getting used to the way it felt, I fell in love with it. With the eraser only being 2.3mm, it makes it really easy to erase in tight areas without interrupting the lines you want to keep. This has been my go-to eraser since receiving it.
Pilot Razor Point – Green and Blue
These pens are very smooth to work with when laying down lines. I liked the pens, but wasn’t exactly sure what to do with them. I like that the box came with two colors. Sketchbox sent blue and green, which were easy colors to use in a drawing.
Pentel Arts Hybrid Technica Pen .3mm
It’s easy to get a consistent line from this pen. Again, not a fan of the thin tip though. I do love how the pen writes and I think I would really like it with a wider tip. As much as I attempted to modify my style and work in thinner lines, I just couldn’t do it. I ended up going over my lines multiple times until I got the thickness I was used to seeing in my artwork.
Summary
Even though this month’s shipment contained supplies I wouldn’t normally use, I’m glad I had the opportunity to give them a try. I would like to get more familiar with the pens and learn how to use them more successfully in my work. It’s not easy to work outside of the way you’re used to when creating works of art.
Getting a shipment of supplies I wouldn’t normally use did open my eyes to a few things. I’ve never really thought about all of the supplies I currently own and don’t use. I have several big boxes of markers and liner pens. I use the markers all the time. Occasionally, I use the colored liner pens, but not too often. Mostly I have them just in case I need one to accent my work. But since I use them from time to time, it never felt like they were just sitting around collecting dust.
I’m not sure if getting random supplies every month is fun or stressful. It kind of feels more like stress. I guess it’s a good kind of stress though, if there is such a thing.
Future Plans
I committed to 3 months, so I’ll be getting my second shipment soon. I’m looking forward to seeing what’s in the box this month. I also got my youngest son (Tony) a 3 month subscription to the basic box, for a few of reasons. He just had his 16th birthday, so it was part of his gifts. The biggest reason is because he just started getting into drawing again and he won’t stop trying to steal all my supplies. I also wanted to compare the basic with the premium box to see what the difference is with the two.
Thank you for stopping by. I hope you found this review helpful and I hope to see you soon. Subscribe to Sketchbox to start receiving your own boxes in the mail.
You can also check out 7 Day Sketchbox Drawing Challenge January 2019, to see how I used the supplies that were sent out in the January shipment.
Have you tried a subscription service? If so, which one(s), and what was your opinion of the products?
