Artful Unboxing | Box 1

Being creative is one of my most favourite things to do and I love making new art, crafts and DIYs whenever I can. I could not tell you how unbelievably excited I was when I found out that Ohh Deer were releasing a creative subscription box for the artsy people out there like me. I don't know if this is the first subscription box of it's kind but I haven't come across any before. Well, you know I had to get it and here it is in all its glory: the first issue of the quarterly Artful Box.

What is the Artful Box?

The Artful Box is a quarterly subscription box that provides you with goodies that inspire you to get creative. The brand works with featured artists to curate the box's contents based on their style and techniques. The things you get inside will help you create artwork inspired by the artists and explore new ways to create art and try out new media! I've always been one to explore and try out new ways of being creative, so I knew I'd really enjoy this box no matter what. The box includes the products you need to be creative, a sketchbook (not sure if this will be included every time) and a magazine with interviews, ideas and various artists to discover.

The Magazine - Issue 1

I actually cannot wait to read the magazine. With the current climate and having to practise self-isolation right now, it's a great time to catch up on my reading and discover new artists. I'm really interested in reading about Ira Sluyterman van Langewyde who is a watercolour artist and Mike Lowery, whose art I've already been inspired by for a recent piece I posted on Instagram recently. It's full of fantastic content just from a quick skim through and the quality of the magazine is beautiful. There are even a couple of pages I want to carefully pull out and frame because the artwork is so beautiful! They've taken a lot of time to create a fantastic magazine, perfect for the curious artists.

A5 Artful Sketch Pad

In this issue of the Artful box, we were given the loveliest sketch pad. I love a good quality piece of paper to work on and having worked with it already, I feel like I can vouch for how great it is. I used the Posca pens on it, which are quite heavy-duty paint pens and the paint didn't bleed through at all, the paper held its shape and because it's just held on the top with a little glue, you can peel your artwork right out without ruining the work.

Tombow Mono Eraser & Tombow MONO100 3H Graphite Pencil

A good pencil and eraser are essentials in any artists collection and my goodness, are these good! I used them both to create an illustration of my house and I don't think I've ever had an eraser that works so well. I love a good quality pencil and if you don't know about pencil grades, look them up because they make such a difference to your art depending on what you want from them.

TOMBOW N15 & N75 Dual Brush Pens in Grey & Black

When I was at uni, I used to use these a lot. I can't remember what I used them for but I remember owning quite a few Tombow dual brush pens. I've always been a fan of these and are great for illustrations and calligraphy!

Tombow MONO Twin Marker & Tombow Fudenosuke Hard Brush Pen

I've used the Fudenosuke pens ever since I started bullet journalling. I bought them after being recommended them for easy calligraphy and I can tell you that they are really great for just that. I also really like the MONO twin marker. I used it to outline my illustrations for clear and clean lines.

Posca Pens Medium Bullet Tip

I'm not going to lie, I was most excited about receiving Posca pens! I LOVED these at uni and used them to as part of some large and very strange collage art. Here we have the Apricot, Light Pink, Light Green and Aqua Green Posca pens. Now, inspired by the artists in the magazine, I've got ideas to use them to create some home crafts like painting mugs, pots and glass containers and bold illustrations. I think these are my new favourite pens, not gonna lie...

 My thoughts...

The Artful Box is filled with the loveliest art goodies with endless possibilities. If you're familiar with art supplies, you'll know how expensive some of these things can be and the quality of the products included in the box are fantastic. The box is £35 per quarter, and though it is per quarter, I personally feel like the price of the box is a little high - but that's just me. That said, you are paying to support these artists (which I like) as well as receiving some fantastic products and a high-quality magazine so I kind of don't mind paying that. I'll be interested to see what the second box holds and whether this is something I'd like to carry on. I'm a huge fan of the Papergang boxes and if they're anything like that, I'm sure every box will be completely worth it and as brilliant as the next.

What are your thoughts on the first ever Artful box? Will you be signing up?