Product review: Sunyou Marco Raffine Fine Art Colored Pencils

If you are used to buying pencils you probably want to know the value of pencils from Graphite Grading Scale. Unfortunately, this information is not available. The pencils are made in China and they do not have the numeric scale or HB scale marked on the pencil.

How do they compare to a well known brand like Prismacolors? They are not as soft as Prismacolors, but the difference is not significant, and they work well with color build up. Ability to build up colors is what I look for in a colored pencil, and these do fine. Each pencil generates a light color and I can make a deep color depending on how hard I press when I use it.

The pencils come already sharpened. They come without the case, but they can be kept in the box as the box has cardboard separator inside so it is easy to slide out just one pencil from the top or the bottom row.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★☆☆

Product review: LUXULO Watercolor Brush Pens Set

I liked the rich colors and brush tip applicators of the pens in this set.  The pens are easy to control, and tip is precise in small areas. At the same time it is easy to cover large areas quickly.

I also liked the case the pens came with. The case has two snap closures, and inside the case there is a tray with indentations for each pen.  The pens are easy to take out and well organized for storage.

Very nice set overall!

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Book review : Fluid Art Mastery: 8 Steps To Being A Paint Pouring Artist byRick Cheadle

This book is written by a self-taught mixed-media artist.  The book includes examples of his artworks which I liked and found them very useful in the context of the technique explanation. 

The book starts with a brief history of fluid art. The history starts with Savid Siqueiros, but  unfortunately does not show any of his artwork. I was able to locate his work on internet as I wanted to see what his art looked like to  influence so many other artists.  

Then the book describes how to set up your own studio, including the safety equipment such as fire extinguisher. I liked that the author included photos of his own studio as well as the price of the equipment. 

Finally, the author moves to explaining the technique he uses.  The explanations  were clear and useful, and the artwork itself is beautiful.

One thing I found a little distracting is that the text of every line in this book is centered, rather than using the traditional type setting technique of filling each line start to end. However,  I was enjoying the content and the formatting annoyance was minor.

You can find this book on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★