TEO DEGAS' REVIEWS: art supplies

Showing posts with label art supplies. Show all posts

1/13/2025

Ohuhu Mixed-Media Spiral-Bound Art Sketchbook (120lb/200gsm, 210x226cm)

I had my hesitations about a 200gsm paper being good for mixed-media. However, after using it, I can confirm that it is.

I tested the paper first without gessoing the page to see what the paper would stand. It was great for almost everything, except for the fact that scratches for textural purposes show on the back and there is a limit of liquid that you can use before the sheet warps.

This paper didn't react well to my lifting masking liquid with a normal eraser (which would not lift anything), with my fingers (lifted just a bit), or with a hard rubber (which lifted the masking tape and the paper as well). I think it's a combination of both the masking tape being too thin and the paper not resisting much friction.

On the other hand, none of the materials I used bled (acrylic markers, inks and different paint viscosities; water soluble pencils, among others).

My second test was done after applying a coat of liquid gesso to the page I worked on. I was able to do a bit of more stuff on it but, again, the paper wraps if you use a lot of liquid or flow paint. It still did not bleed and stood some of my rubbing a bit better. A thick gesso coat would improve workability but it would also add weight, and that would be counter-intuitive.

The pad comes with a silicone protector to place between the sheets, something that is extremely handy and prevents transferring of any bleed onto the page underneath. On the other hand, I'd have loved this silicone sheet to be 1 cm longer on each side so that it protrudes a bit and protects the edges of the pages underneath, which were totally stained. For the rest, this silicone sheet is really good and it can be easily cleaned with a damp cloth under running water.

The pad sheets are micro-perforated, just in case you want to use any to create specific pieces of artwork, not just as a sketchbook. Unless I was drawing or using dry materials, I would not want to cut the pages out for anything.

The back cover is thick and sturdy, and this is a great support to the bulky pad. However, the front cover it's too thin to my liking and not strong enough to keep the pad well protected or hold it properly. Yet, this pad is really good priced for what you get.

Asnabyya Half-Face Reusable Respirator Mask & glasses

I got this to use with spray paint or when I use a art sealing sprays as they smell awful, are very toxic and, even if you go outdoors to spray, the wind can bring the spray back to my nose. This is a complete respirator affordable set that contain a pair of large acrylic glasses, a respirator adjustable mask, and several replacement filter pads for the breathers.

I have a small face and prescription glasses so this set is not the best for me. Firstly, as my face is small, wearing the acrylic glasses and the mask at the same time has proved impossible, because there is not enough room on my face for both to coexist. Besides, as I wear prescription glasses that I need to wear to see, even if I don't put the acrylic protective glasses on, they sit on my face awkwardly because the nose part of the respirator doesn't allow them to rest on them properly. So, this is a respirator set perfect for men or for big humans in general. For the rest, I haven't been able to properly click in the plastic pods over the filters pads, no matter how hard I tried. Assembling the other parts was simple and straightforward.

I've used this respirator several times already and I can see/notice the difference, as I cannot smell anything even when I can clearly see the 'fumes' close to me.

In short, this is great respirator if you have a big face or a re a man or don't wear prescription glasses.

Stabilo Woody 18 Assorted Colours with Sharpener and Paint Brush

I've been dying to get my hands on one these sets for years. They're quite expensive, but I got this half price on Prime Day. The set contains 18 beautiful bright colours, an XL sharpener (which is great to have as these pencils aren't standard size by any means) and a good quality brush.

Stabilo Woody pencils used to be cheap, as they were a product created for children. This was until artists noticed their quality and versatility; then, prices rose to match artists' pockets. They are non-toxic and can be used on paper, cardboard and glass.

The pencils are chunky, have velvety great-quality pigments and are water soluble. They are a hybrid between watercolour pencils, crayons and oil pastels. This set has a great selection of vibrant colours, two metallics, and three neutrals, which is more than I need. They work wonderfully as watercolours, and they dissolve and spread uniformly. Besides, the colours keep their vibrancy once dry.

As per my photo, all the pencils in my set have their lead point deformed. The points look like a volcanic outburst. It's a bit annoying as I wanted the point to be pointy obviously. The set seems to be part of a faulty batch, and this might explain the price reduction. For a second, I thought that the set might be forfeited, but after using the pencils I'm sure they're genuine due to their pigment quality and workability.

It was not crystal clear to me from the packaging whether these pencils are lightfast or not. After some online browsing, I've found that some of the colours are and others aren't. The lightfastness rating is shown as a number of stars on the pencil barrel after the colour number. This being the case, I'm inclined to use them in sketches and art journaling not as much on anything that I might consider precious. If you work on mixed media, you'll need to seal the colours with matte/gloss medium so that they don't smudge when applying a layer of any other material on top of them. UV varnishes also improve the life of any paint.

The pencils original box is great for shipping as the wallet holds the pencils tight. After an intercontinental trip, they arrived in perfect conditions, not damaged or scratched as I feared. At the same time, the wallet is bulky, not really storage-friendly, so I've binned it and put the set in a small fabric pouch.

This is such a cool idea. Initially designed to hang up children's drawings, I bought it to store and display some of my small artwork at home. It has a storage back, behind elastic bands where you can store several A4 items. It comes with 4 different types of passpartout, which are ideals to display paintings with narrower or wider margins; besides, they make great viewfinders. The magnetic 'buttons' clip on/off easily and keep everything secure. I can display the frame horizontally or vertically, or hang it from the wall, all of which makes the frame very versatile. The cover is real semi-glossy glass, which makes everything looks great and it isn't too glare-ish.

Having said that, I want to pinpoint a few let-downs. The first one is the fact that the hinges are really visible and chunky, so this rests finesse to the display, and makes the frame unfit for main areas. Yet, it's alright my studio or in a child's room The second let-down is that getting the items behind the elastic bands is something tricky, because they tightly fit the storage space but, due to the elastic bands acting as resistance, getting the paper out without damaging the edges can be tricky. Needless to say, this might not be relevant if you store not valuable stuff. Finally, the coating is not good quality paint and not thick enough, so I can already see that the edges show some tiny imperfections.

I bought this heavily discounted but I think that the average price is a bit too high for some of the flaws mentioned. Ikea's frames are way cheaper and better quality; yet, they aren't the same versatile design.

I got this to have in my office drawers. These are terrific cheap all-purpose scissors. For the price you don't get the best quality of materials, but the blades are still made of stainless. This pair is not for professional purposes but great for most office and school purposes. I find the handle size perfect for my small hands and the overall length good for most purposes. They are very light due to the handle being made of cheap plastic. They have a 2-year guarantee, which is impressive for a $4 pair.

I don't get the brand bragging about this pair being made of 60% recycled materials. Really, if you have to brag about anything, brag about having your products made of 100% recycled. That would impress me.

I've had two types of needled bottles before getting this set, the original expensive brand and a generic brand. However, this Expesumas set is my favourite by far. These little bottles are fit for both glue and paint, but I only use them with fluid/flow acrylic paint, for which they are great.

The bottles are good quality plastic with three indications of ml levels. Each bottle comes with a luer-lock cap (connector cap) where to insert the needle tips, a cap for this lock, plus the 4 different needle tips sizes (3 items for each size).

I use the connector cap as a controlling dispenser to use small quantities of fluid acrylic paint; this allows me to do this without leakage and without blocking the pout. This saves me product as many of the flow acrylics I own squirt out of the tub on their own, wasting product and even staining my hands and clothes. So these bottles are awesome to store those paints, dispense them properly and prevent spillage. Filling them with paint is also great because the only thing you have to do is unscrew the lock cap and them screw it back.

One of the main issues with other needle bottles I've used in the past is that the acrylic paint/ink tends to dry inside the needle, clog it, and eventually ruin the whole cap system, which ends either in wasting the bottle or having to pay for new caps. However, these needle bottles' locking system is great. These needles are easy to "plug"/"unplug" and easy to clean, so you only plug them when needed.

Good value for money, as well. I've already bought two sets.

Generic Artist Viewfinder

This is a generic viewfinder or view-catcher made of great quality plastic, as good as the original but at a fraction of the price. Viewfinders are great for open-air painting to frame the image you want to paint, or to select the best composition by framing the view and moving the finder around till the composition is of of your liking. The holes allow to isolate colours on the paper and on the view being captured. The viewfinder can also be used on small to medium sketches to single out areas to find the best composition. One of those tools that every artist needs.

Canson Montval 300gsm/140lb Cold-Pressed Watercolour-Paper Wired Pad (20 sheets, 5.5x8.5in)

I love Canson watercolour paper pads as they're always very decent quality, affordable and perfect to use as sketchbooks. I've been using this pad often, and the paper quality is good for mixed media, which is what I bought it for. I haven't used it with watercolours yet; mostly with acrylics paint, acrylic inks, crayons, pens, Posca ad Pitt Pen markers and it stands most things beautifully even without previous gesso priming. I love the pages micro-perforation as it allows me to use them as stand-alone sheets, or keep them as a pad.

On the flip side, this Montval series is more like a student pad, so worse paper quality than other Canson pads I own and also re the quality of the front and back covers, which is quite bad. Besides, the paper doesn't handle rubbing well, and sometimes the paper sands off if not primed. That being the case, now I gesso the pages that I intend to rub or scratch. I would not use this pad paper for professional purposes.

For the rest a good affordable study or student watercolour pad with decent quality paper.

I bought this medium-size pencil wrap just to store some stand-alone pencils and markers. The canvas quality is stupendous;, sturdy, and better than another wrap I own. The printed design is cool and vibrant and very good quality printing; I'd say that the motif is genderless. This wrap rolls well despite the canvas thickness and it can be stored vertically. I love these wraps as they protect the pencils tips, can be stored vertically, something I usually do to maximize storage space, and are perfect for travelling. Good value for money, too!

Uni- Ball Signo 1mm Gel Pen -- Silver (UM153.26)

This is my preferred silver marker among the ones I own. I don't lime most of my acrylic silver markers. However, this one won me over for many reasons. The metallic silver colour is really noticeable and the colour it should be, not too dark not too clear, just a beautiful silver tone. Also, the ink flows effortlessly and cleanly. The marker draws crisp neat lines, which makes it perfect for highlights or accents on any acrylic paint if the pieces are dry; Otherwise, it would smudge and the nib would get ruined. The marker is made of good quality material and the to cap fastens well.Well priced, too.

Ain't sure about the pigment lightfastness but the information I've found online seems to indicate that is more so than other types of markers. It is not a waterproof marker I would say but it gets fixed using a fixative once it has completely dried.

Amscan Plastic Rectangular Tablecover, Frosty White

I wanted something simple and inexpensive to protect my work table from paint splashes and stains, so this seemed befitting.The tablecloth is XL size, so I decided to use it double to add an extra layer of protection.

I was re-arranging my stuff on the table after placing the cover, and it got damaged by bare friction. I am very conscious about my plastic footprint. I don't have a problem with plastic as long as it's durable and good quality, but this is is neither. The material is paper thin and terrible quality. More like one-use cloth for parties and functions and something temporary on my table until I buy a good quality cover. It got torn and broken on the first day of use.

I guess you get what you pay for.

Montana MXA324048 Acrylic Marker 2Mm Fine, Empty Marker

This is a very good quality refillable marker. This marker is easy to fill in/refill and has a metallic ball inside to prevent ink thickening. It is lightweight and the ink is easy to pump out. I used a mini funnel to fill in the marker and it worked perfectly. If I didn't have this funnel, I would have used a syringe. The bullet point works neatly and is very similar to Posca's.

Montana ink is great but also expensive, so I'm happy being able to use other acrylic inks that are less expensive and as good. Refillable markers are a need for me as I feel self-conscious about binning good-quality plastic empty markers. So I love that I can use this over and over.

A bit pricey for an empty marker, but happy to have it.

Liquitex Freestyle Professional Large-Scale Brush, Paddle 2-inch

This range of paddle brushes is quite expensive, so I was delighted to see this 2in paddle brush heavily discounted during Prime Day. I had high expectations due to the brand and the price tag, and I was not disappointed. The paddle is quite light, easy to handle and moves naturally with the movement of my hand. The hairs are not too stiff or too soft, so the brush does not deform but it is flexible enough. This paddle works wonderfully for blending colours and for spreading paint uniformly. I use it with acrylic paint and it washes easily with water and beauty soap. A great brush, but expensive.

Derwent XL Charcoal Drawing Water-Soluble Blocks, Set Of 6

I bought this sought-after set during one of the Prime Days offers last year, quite discounted to my delight. As the box was sent from Amazon UK, it reached my place with one of the blocks halved and partially shattered, which resulted in the staining of the white block. The box was sealed, but not properly protected either with bubble wrap or protective textured paper.

The blocks are really yummy to use. They are almost creamy and the pigmented ones have rich yummy earthy colours. These are water soluble, so they can be used as watercolours. They are not permanent, so I use matt/gloss medium or fixative when I don't want the marks to smudge. Sometimes, the fun is in the smudging as the mixing of the pigment with other media creates wonderful textures, effects and depth. They're fun to play with but have a professional quality.

Paul Rubens Hot-Pressed 50%-Cotton 300gsm Watercolor Journal (Pink, 5.2’’ x 3.8’’)

This is the second small journal I buy from this brand. I reviewed a slightly different journal in the past. This version has some of the design deficiencies I criticised in the other version sorted out.

The most important thing is that this journal has a wonderful thick smooth watercolour paper that is great for both watercolour and mixed media. I always gesso my pages with either white or transparent gesso, which protects the paper, gives it some tooth and allows me to apply wet media or scratch the paper a bit without any worry.

The satin pink cover is really pretty and girly; not the best quality but befitting the price. I'm happy that this journal does not have the awkward inner pocket the other has because the journal opens/closes more naturally. The journal comes with the promised elastic band, which is necessary to keep all the sheets together once they've all been torn apart.

The main downside is that the dotted tearing indentation is not consistent throughout the journal pages, and some of them are badly punctured. That being the case, the tearing is not always clean and neat.

For the rest, a great mini journal for experimenting, doing small paintings or just as a travel sketchbook. The separated pages make great postcards too.

MYARTOOL Portable Leak-Proof Brush Cleaner with Lid and Filter Screen ( 4-3/4" Tall x 3-1/2" Dia.)

This is a great tool to have either in the studio or for plain-air painting. The tight leak-proof lid is perfect for the later or just to keep things tidy after an art session without the fear or spilling the water on my working table.

This is a stainless steel set with enough weight to hold the brushes even when most of the handles are out. Said differently, it helps keep the brush hairs under water without deteriorating the handle. The inner crevasse helps to remove excess paint from the brush and cleans it better; the perforated base has the same effect.

The main downside is that this medium-sized container is actually quite small. See my photos against one of the average metallic glasses I use for painting. I would be happy to purchase a larger version for my long bulky brushes. For the rest, this one is perfect for those brushes that I use during art journaling or sketching, or for short-handle wide mottlers.

It cleans well and easily under running water.

VGSEBA Gold Leaf Gilding Foil Sheets,100 Sheets 3.15" x3 .35" (8x8.5 cm)

These leaves are a good alternative to real gold leaf and at a fraction of the price. They look like a sunset gold or Aztec gold leaf, something I love. Each foil leaf is protected by a tissue-paper leaf. The sheets are very delicate and break easily, so they're especially good to cover something, little by little, by applying foil coats; not so good or easy to cover a specific shape (or at least I don't know how to do that). It glues easily with gloss medium and matt medium, but the first one is more befitting with a metallic product like this.

Good value for money as there are 100 sheets in the package and one sheet can be used as accent in a small painting. I wouldn't use this in art pieces for sale, but I use it in my art journaling or small art pieces I want to keep for myself or for gifting.

Uni-Ball Signo Gel Pen -- Angelic Color AC White (UM120AC.1)

The Uni-Ball Signo Angelic Color in white is a gel marker with a fine ballpoint, and a good companion to the Uni Signo broad point that I also use. It has a lovely opaque ink. I've used it on acrylic paint and acrylic ink after these have completely dried and the white colour is really noticeable and opaque when used on dark colours; not so much on light colours. The ink flows beautifully and creates polished clean delicate lines or accents. It is not archival, though, so you have to be careful not to smudge it when moving your hand around. This being the case, a fixative is needed if used on artwork. For the rest, it's a lovely marker at a great price.

MEEDEN 12-piece Artist Acrylic Paint Brushes Set

The box contains flat, fan, angler, round, liner and filbert brushes in different sizes.

I love Meeden products. All the art supplies and brushes I've purchased from them in the past have been both affordable and great quality. I bought this brush set not only because of the brand and its affordability, but also because it has a good selection of small/detail brushes and a 1-inch mottler.

Despite what the description page says, this package I got didn't come with a carrying case, just the cardboard holding packaging, which is disappointing. Unlike my other Meeden brushes, these brushes are a bit of a downgrade re handle quality. This tends to break open if kept in water for long periods of time, yet only one of them broke open. The taklon fibres are, on the contrary, excellent -- soft, flexible, easy to wash and low maintenance.

Not professional quality but good quality overall, and they do the job if you're on a budget.

Plyco (Online Store)

Online Retailer

I ordered some plywood panels (craft bundles) from this store, recommended by a fellow artist. I can confirm that they're good quality and good priced; way cheaper than similar products in specialised Art & Craft stores.

Plyco is not a craft store. They sell timber, veneer and plywood for professional purposes (building, flooring, cabinetry, table and kitchen tops among other uses). What matters to me is that they have craft bundles from different timber and thickness that are perfect for painters.

The good thing about their website is that it shows whether the different kinds of timber are in stock or not, when they will be, and the scheduled dispatches. You'll get your order sooner if you buy your product one or two days before dispatch day; otherwise, you'll have to wait a bit longer. Shipping fees and panels are excellent value for money.

Not a place you want to order from if you're in a hurry or have an upcoming project that you must do within a time-frame. For the rest, very good quality, prices and shipping prices. Timber arrived properly packaged, too. They also have several shipping options, which is great.

On the flip side of things, Plyco's customer service is not great. They have a bot on the website. I sent a message through the bot that was never replied to. I rang them on a Saturday. The guy on the phone apologized for overseeing the dispatch of my order. I mentioned that I'd be happy to upgrade. I was told to call or email customer service on a week day. I did email them. No a reply whatsoever, just an impersonal request for payment for the upgrade. As the dispatch window had passed, it took10 extra days to have my order dispatched. I found funny that, I forgot some items on the cart in one of my browser, but I purchased them through another browser; then, a more personal sales email reached my inbox. Also, they'll auto-subscribe you to their marketing newsletters, something that I really find annoying.

Overall, happy with the pricing and quality of the products, info on website and dispatch procedure, but not really impressed with CS.

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