ArtSnacks Plus Subscription Box Review – February 2021

ArtSnacks is a monthly art supply subscription service that curates products to help inspire you to create. ArtSnacks is the brainchild of siblings Lee and Sarah Rubenstein, founders of EatSleepDraw, a user-submitted art site.

There are two subscription tiers for ArtSnacks: $24 or $39 for the Plus box.

This is a review of the $39 Plus box. 

This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

About ArtSnacks

The Subscription Box: ArtSnacks

The Cost: $24 per month, with savings on 6- and 12-month subscriptions OR buy the Plus box for $39 per month.

The Products: 4-5 full-size premium art products in the base box OR 5-6 full-size premium supplies plus a full-size work surface in the Plus box.

Ships to: The U.S. for free and worldwide for varying fees.

ArtSnacks Plus February 2021 Review

Shall we peek inside?

A very cute ArtSnacks sticker arrived. I always love these little pretzel pencil stickers!

As well as our little snack!

Here is the menu for January. These are also the items that should arrive in the base box.

And here is the card showcasing what additional items arrived in our Plus box.

Higgins Acrylic Ink in ‘Red‘ – Listed Value $7.95

FYI: You might receive a different color. 

I enjoy Higgins products and lately I have really been into vibrant, bold reds! This liquid acrylic ink delivers and performs like some sort of supercharged watercolor. It was a joy to dilute and play around with.

What a great red.

Princeton Velvetouch Series 3950 Synthetic Brush, Round Size 4 – Retail Value $8.35

When it comes to watercolors or, well, watery paints in general, rounds are my go-to brushes. This one has a firm feel and holds a lot of water and it is great for detail work or for smaller washes on its side. The handle is finished in a soft matte velvet finish.

Kuretake-ZIG Metallic Clean Color Dot Double-Ended Marker – Retail Value $4.00

FYI: You might receive a different color. 

This double-ended metallic pen was super fun! Mostly because one end is a perfectly round and rather chubby tip you can use for dotting almost perfect circles. The other end is a smaller tip you can use for detail work.

Lots of pigment here and it is much more metallic in person. And the dot tip is a lot of fun!

Koh-I-Noor Thermoplastic Eraser – Retail Value $1.39

FYI: You might receive a different color. 

I honestly don’t use erasers all that often, but super hard ones like this are my choice if I do. They can create hard white lines of erasure and the surface collects the removed graphite or lead, allowing you to re-deposit it on blank spaces. The unique shape here makes it easy to hold and gives you a variety of angles to use.

Caran d’Ache Grafstone Pencil – Retail Value $6.12

This pencil was downright creamy. I don’t love graphite because it can feel stark, messy, and overly hard, but this is soft and smooth to use, even on toothy paper. It is also woodless which is cool, though wrapped in a clear plastic to keep your hands clean.

FYI: Items below will arrive in the PLUS box. 

Van Gogh Drawing & Sketch Spiral-Bound Paper Pad, 5.8″x8.3″ – Retail Value $19.95

This paper was perfect for the tools it arrived with this month. It has a great texture and a nice 75 lb weight that works well with a ton of different mediums, though you need to watch how wet you get it because it will buckle.

Derwent Pencils, a tin of 6 – Retail Value $11.99

Our last item this month is a set of six pencils, featuring two each of HB, 2B, and 4B leads and an eraser. These were smooth and bold, allowing for different sorts of values and markings for my sketches.

One of my goals for 2021 is to get better with faces, particularly “difficult” angles. I have a whole Pinterest board of just weird facial angles and features to study. I decided to grab one as a reference for a quick sketch this month:

And here is where I left the sketch for now:

Verdict: ArtSnacks was a great help to my practice this month. At first, I wasn’t super excited with the assortment because it felt a little, well, graphite/lead-heavy, but actually using the pencils themselves won me over. Sometimes, even I need a little push to get back to basics! I also enjoyed the pop of red from that really fun acrylic ink and gold dot pen which made me smile the entire time I had it in my hand. Month after month I love this subscription and find it a lot of fun!

FYI, if you need help or inspiration, try the ArtSnacks online community, OR leave me a message and I will try to help or spark your imagination!

To Wrap Up:

Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, you will receive the April box if you subscribe. 

Value Breakdown: This box costs $39 with free shipping, meaning each of the 7 items has an average cost of $5.57. 

Check out all of our ArtSnacks reviews and the best arts & crafts subscription boxes of 2021!

Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!

What did you create with this month’s ArtSnacks items?