Everlasting Star Paint Brushes

This set of brushes from Everlasting Star comes with 15 brushes of various sizes plus a carrying case with a pop up stand to help with drying. These brushes have long handles. I tested them with Acrylics and Watercolors. The coating on the bristles was easily removed after soaking in water, but the case absolutely reeked. I washed it twice with soap and water and let it dry thoroughly and I can still smell it from across the room.

The brush types include:

- Filbert Brush - Sizes 9, 4

- Angle Brush - Sizes 12, 10, 5, 2

- Round Brush - Sizes 8, 7, 3, 1, 1/0

- Flat Brush - Sizes 11, 6

- Fan Brush - Size 0

- Rigger Brush - Size 3/0

The handles were very comfortable to hold. The brushes held paint well, and laid the paint down nicely. I enjoying using them. I usually use much smaller brushes, but I kept reaching for these. The didn't lose any fibers and didn't tear up my paper. They were also easy to clean. 

I would recommend these brushes for artists, students, crafters, and kids. I would give these brushes 4 out of 5 stars. I love them and they work nicely, but the case still smells awful.

Grab a set here.

I received this product at a discount. This review is 100% honest, unbiased, and my own. 

~Crystal Vicious

Watercolor Pencils are Neat!

US Art Supply has great products at great prices. I love experimenting with new mediums and I have never used watercolor pencils before. I could not wait to try these out.



This set came with 36 watercolor pencils and a roll up canvas wrap. I love keeping my supplies organized, so this was a great idea. 

I was able to keep all the pencils organized by color and could easily roll them up for storage when I was done using them. The range of colors was great. Black, white, neutrals, skin tones, and a few values for each color.

The pencils came sharpened, and the leads were soft. The colors went down onto paper smoothly. The amount of pressure I used correlated perfectly with the amount of pigment that went down. 

Adding water to a watercolor pencil drawing.

I love that you can use these dry for drawing, or paint over them with some water for more vibrant colors. And after adding water, you can even go over again with the dry pencils to add more details or bolder lines. I love versatile things. These were so fun to use. I already have a bunch of ideas for what I will do with them next. 

I give these colored pencils 5 out of 5 stars. I love the colors. I love how they feel. I love how they go down on paper, and I love how they react with water. The storage roll is a great added bonus for those who want to be organized. I would recommend these to artists, crafters, students or children who wanted to draw, paint, color, anything really! These have so many uses and are really neat!


Grab some on Amazon.

I received this product at a discount. This review is 100% honest, unbiased, and my own. 

~Crystal Vicious

Acrylics For Days!

I have been arting like crazy this past month. Even though Acrylics are one of my least favorite mediums, I have been using a ton of them. I've been trying out a bunch of awesome supplies from U.S. Art Supply. I honestly haven't stopped painting! Today I am going to talk about a spiral pad of 9" x 12" Extra Heavy-Weight 246 Pound Acrylic Painting Paper. These 12 pages come on a spiral notebook.

I loved that I could flip the cover over, and sketch right inside the book. The paper has a nice smooth texture and I enjoyed drawing on it. The pages are an off white color. It held up to an eraser better than other papers.

I was unable to tear the page out because the paper is so thick. I had to use scissors to cut the page out after I was done sketching. I usually prefer paper that has perforated edges so I can tear my paper off easily. The spiral is a pro and a con at the same time. I love the thickness of this paper. It is stiff and strong and held a lot of paint. I give it 4 out of 5 stars. I would recommend it for students, artists, and crafters. It is a great value.

Time Lapse of Painting with Acrylic.

Grab this on Amazon.

I received this product at a discount. This review is 100% honest, unbiased, and my own. 

~Crystal Vicious

A Week of Watercolor!

Watercolors are one of my favorite mediums, but I haven't worked with actual Watercolor paper for a long time. U.S. Art Supply has all types of paper, this one being a 9" x 12" Heavy-Weight (140 lb) Watercolor Paper Pad. Let's get painting!

I started small and painted a birthday card for my friend. I tend to be heavy handed and will take up a lot of fibers because I ALWAYS manage to use too much water and too much force in ONE spot. This paper was pretty tough and held up well. 

It absorbed colors nicely and I liked the thickness and tooth of the paper. Two of the four edges were a bit ragged. This must be from how the pages are cut. It's not a deal breaker for me, since the stuff I paint will be matted and framed, so the edges will not be seen.

For quite some time I have been wanting to use masking fluid. I was excited to try it out on a paper that would be able to hold up through the process. The masking fluid went down smoothly. I took a video when I removed it. I was surprised at how well it worked out being my first time and all. I couple parts of the paper came up, but I was being rough...and didn't have all the correct tools.

Time lapse of removing masking fluid from watercolor paper. 

I was able to touch up all the spots that came up with the masking fluid. I am very pleased with how well this worked out, so I will definitely experiment more with this technique. I give this paper 4 out of 5 stars. It's good quality paper and a good value as well. I would recommend it to anyone that wants to try new paper.

Grab some on Amazon.

I received this item at a discount. This review is 100% honest, unbiased, and my own. 

~Crystal Vicious 

US Art Supply Canvas Panels

This evening I tried out these neat US Art Supply 4" X 5" Canvas Panels. They come in a 12 pack on Amazon.com. They are 100% Pure Cotton Artist Canvas mounted onto Acid Free Heavy Boar. They are Triple Acrylic Gesso Primed for Oil or Acrylic Painting. 

As an artist, I do like to work small. Rarely do I paint anything over 8" x 10"...I also prefer canvas panels to stretched canvas, so I was excited to try these out. I'm not really big on Oil and Acrylic paints...but for the sake of this review I used Acrylics. I sketched out what I wanted, which went down like pencil does on a toothy canvas surface with no problems. 

I only had enough time to throw down one layer of paint tonight, but I was satisfied with how the paint spread and how it was absorbed. I prefer panels because they are firmer than stretched canvas, and I find them easier to paint. This product would be great for students and professional artists alike as well as craft projects at a great value. I give them 5 out of 5 stars.


Grab these over on Amazon.

I was given this product for free in exchange for my honest, unbiased opinion.

~Crystal Vicious