My October ScrawlrBox still isn't here, so let's do another No-Box Art Box.
Hello and welcome back to Jenna Gets Creative. If you're unfamiliar with the No-Box Art Box
challenge, it's a simple art challenge I introduced to YouTube back in 2018.
Step 1: Pick any art or craft subscription box service, pick a month that has already
mailed out, and look up the contents. Step 2: Match the contents as close as possible
using items you already own. Exact matches are fine as long as you aren't recreating
a box you actually received and that's the only reason you own the exact match. If that's
the case, move on to the next closest match in your collection.
Step 3: Make art! Use only the items you've matched, and if the original box had a challenge
prompt or theme try to stick to it. Only add missing essentials such as a pencil or a piece
of paper. If you share the result of your challenge
anywhere on YouTube or social media use the hashtag #NoBoxArtBox, all one word, so we
can all find it! I do curate a master playlist of the challenge here on YouTube and I'd love
to add your videos to it, so feel free to leave me links in the comments on any of my
own No-Box Art Box videos. Today I'm replicating the November 2020 ArtSnacks
Plus experience, but I'll be sure to specify which items everyone received and which items
were exclusive to the Plus tier boxes. As per usual with any subscription box video,
I'll be running through what was in the box and what I'm using, then I'll talk about my
piece and my overall impressions and thoughts about the combination of supplies. I'll specify
the MSRP in USD as that's what ArtSnacks would use, but I'll have that converted to CAD and
GBP in the description box. Also in the description will be prices in the wild if you were to
buy the items from common retailers, MSRP and real world totals, and savings calculations
for both totals based on subscription and shipping costs.
The first item everyone received was a Marabu Graphix Sketch Marker in a random colour.
This is a new line of alcohol ink markers from Marabu, which we've already known and
loved here on this channel for their water based markers and their watercolour inks.
These markers feature a combination of fine and chisel nibs similar to Copic Originals
and all the cheaper alcohol marker brands. As always I'm going to remind everyone that
the word "bullet" is a censored word in YouTube comments and if you refer to the fine nib
as a bullet nib your comment will disappear. Don't test it, it's been tested by many cheeky
commentors who didn't believe me. Just say fine nib or replace a letter so bullet isn't
spelled correctly. Open stock the Marabu Graphix Sketch Markers
are listed for $2.99 USD, and we'll assume that the assorted colours were restricted
to the 10 shades available to purchase open stock on the ArtSnacks shop: permanent pink,
vermillion, brilliant orange, primary yellow, light green, phthalo green, ultramarine deep,
cerulean blue, brilliant violet, and carbon black.
The sample box sent the light green, so I matched with a light green. I decided to stay
true to the non-brush nibbed style, so I'll be using a TouchNew brand marker in the shade
172 Spectrum Green. The second item that everyone received was
a Tombow Pastel MONO Graph Mechanical Pencil. This is a 0.5mm lead mechanical pencil available
in assorted barrel colours, and the MSRP is $6.99 USD. I'm using a 0.5mm mechanical pencil
by Plumchester, which I received in a previous ArtSnacks box.
The third item that everyone received was a Tombow Fudenosuke Neon Brush Pen, which
has an MSRP of $3.49. Brush pen is a misnomer, as these are semi-rigid plastic tapered nibs
similar to the Micron PN fineliners. I only own black and grey pens from this line and
I wanted to embrace the vibrance neon implies, so I went with a Spica glitter pen in pink.
The final item that everyone received was a pair of Caran d'Ache Luminance 6901 Colored
Pencils. These are wax based coloured pencils of the highest quality from Caran d'Ache,
and I do happen to have exactly two of these pencils, but mine are white and titanium buff,
so I'll pick colours from another brand. These pencils have an open stock MSRP of $5.40 USD
each for a total of $10.80. I've selected Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils in the colours
Permanent Green and Violet. Plus customers received the Marabu Graphix
Sketch Markers, Alpha Robot Set of 6 additional alcohol markers, again in the fine and chisel
nib combination. This set is 3 warm and 3 cool greys and has an MSRP of $17.99 USD.
I've used a combination of TouchNew and TouchFive markers in the shades warm grey 2, warm grey
5, warm grey 8, cool grey 3, blue grey 5, and cool grey 8.
Plus customers also received a 3 pack of Crescent #300 Drawings Boards, 9"x12" which has an
MSRP of $13.49 USD. These have a cold press medium tooth mix media surface pre-mounted
on board. I don't have this brand, but the one and only time I ordered an actual Plus
box they sent an 8-sheet 8x10 pad of Canson Heritage mix media art boards, so I'll be
using that. I'll note that I cheated slightly. I decided
to do a mandala design and after sketching out my design in pencil I realized I didn't
have any supplies to go over it that would allow erasing without smudging, so I broke
out a basic 0.1mm Micron pen in black to finalize the design before I erased the pencil.
I do enjoy mixing coloured pencil with alcohol marker, so I think this is a great combination,
but when I combine the two mediums I prefer to have more pencils than markers. I usually
use the marker as a base and refine it with the pencils, but this selection either gives
you the same number of pencils and markers if you got the basic box, or a quarter the
number of pencils as markers if you got the Plus box. I also think a mix media surface
is an odd choice when the star of the box is clearly the alcohol ink markers. It takes
the ink just fine and doesn't allow it to feather unexpectedly, but it's far easier
to blend colours and get smooth patches of colour on a paper with a smoother surface
like Bristol or cardstock. What do you think of this supply combination?
I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments down below.
If you're looking for more to watch I've got some suggestions up on the left side of the
screen now. Don't forget to like, comment, maybe even subscribe, because if you like
living life creatively, whatever that means to you, I'd love to have you along for the
ride. Bye guys!