Smart Art Subscription Box Review + Coupon – February 2016

Smart Art is a fine arts subscription service that sends a new project every month and all the supplies needed to complete it. My husband and I are both artists, so we were very happy to have the opportunity to try this box out!

My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).

The Subscription Box: Smart Art

The Cost: $49.99 per month with free shipping

COUPON: Use code MSA20 to save 20% off your first box

The Products: A fine arts project, complete with instructions and supplies

Ships to: US only

Check out all of our Smart Art reviews and the Craft Subscription Box Directory!

Good to know: It’s a different project in a different media every month, using different techniques!

This month’s project was creating a Venetian Mask! Spoiler Alert: Mine did not turn out like this. This is the booklet that Smart Art sends every month. It includes art history related to the project, a list of the included supplies, project pointers, and instructions.

Subscribers can upload a picture of their finished project to Smart Art’s Facebook page for a chance to win a free box! That’s really cool! On the other hand, our projects usually take forever, so we always seem to miss the boat on this contest.

This is the inside of the booklet. On the left are the art history and project pointers, and on the right there’s some info on acrylic gouache plus the supply list.

The instructions are printed on the back of the booklet. They are easy enough to follow, but not so specific that they crush one’s creativity.

Here are the supplies that were included for this month’s project.

White Paper Mask (Columbina Half Mask) (x2) – Value $2.99 each

Ebony Short Handle Paint Brushes (Round 4; Wash 1/2″) – Value $10.50 and $11.25 (on sale at Jerry’s for $3.59 and $5.99)

Turner Acrylic Gouache Set of 6 – Value $48.25 (on sale at Jerry’s for $14.39)

Creative Mark Ultimate Glitter Glue Bronze – Value $1.75 (on sale at Jerry’s for $0.99)

My husband and I decided this month to do a date night and each of us paint a mask since they included two blanks. It was loads of fun! This is my husband’s mask.

This is my mask. I think they both turned out great!

Verdict: My husband and I are both huge fans of Smart Art! Working on the project together this month was so much fun for art nerds like ourselves. I wish we were invited to some kind of party that required masks; I don’t understand why people don’t do things like that any more. We wound up not using the glitter glue, but this was our first time using the gouache. It dries super fast and then stays put! It was fun to work with. The best part of Smart Art is working with new materials and techniques every month. The retail value of the supplies was around $77, and the sale value was around $31. Although the box is $50, I am okay with even the sale value because of the intangible assets of this subscription – the project selection, the curation, the supply gathering, and the instruction. While those things can’t be objectively “priced”, they all add value to me. I think Smart Art is completely worth it!

What do you think of Smart Art?