U.S. Art Supply95 Piece Wood Box Easel Painting Set - Oil, Acrylic, Watercolor Paint Colors and Painting Brushes, Oil Artist Pastels, Pencils - Watercolor, Sketch Paper Pads - Canvas, Palette, Knifes

Executive summary:Kuddos to whoever put this set together: nicely done. Box seems sturdy, good size, practical, and good looking. Putting it together (the easel) took 2 minutes (coz I'm clumsy) but was a breeze.Only 4 stars on the durability because the wood is not varnished. If you don't treat the wood (MDF?) it will surely get dirty and stain quickly (use pastels on that AS IS and let me know). Then again, that might be the artistic look you are going for ;-)The content makes it really versatile and if you want to try yourself at each medium it will be perfect. Mix media peeps? Go for it!If you expect professional artist quality, at this price? hum, not sure... A 10 or 15ml of artist grade watercolor tube is in the $5 to $15 each. So, it could be a stretch to thing so. But the products are definitely suitable to someone who wants everything of good quality in a portable box to go sketch somewhere.Now, the products in this box are of (at least) a good student grade. My test is with watercolors (they will tell you right away what you are dealing with) and I was pleasantly surprised by their quality.For that price, this is a really really awesome set. Just change the brushes and bring your own water and container, the rest is all in the box go play outside!NOTE: It says non-toxic on the package so that should be suitable for (older) kids too (coz lots of choking hazards).Long story:I must admit I bought this just for the box. I have seen this sketch-box sold empty but the reviews were bad. I figured the box would have been tested (as they fill it in) and that I could use a couple of things in there and give the rest to the neighbors' kids.Well, sorry, neighbors' kids! I am going to keep most of it.The box is great, everything arrived in one piece. It will definitely to be finely sanded and prepped with some varnish, wax, or mineral oil or it will stain.The content:The common size (printer paper size) Sketch book and watercolor paper pad fit perfectly in the box.The watercolor paper is a bit rough and thin but that is for sketching in the field, so no big deal... But guess what? it hold itself quite nicely under the brush and added an interesting texture. KeeperDon't use oil so can't review that. The pastels are nice, do their job and have a pretty vibrant color palette.Have not tested acrylics, because this is really not that critical to me, acrylic usually does its job.Watercolor on the contrary is a very moody medium, and it's my thing. So, I just could not resist trying them.Usually, sets like these contain really opaque watercolors (more like gouache) and the quality is terrible. This time I was pleasantly surprised.Good size tubes : 12ml/ ( as opposed to usual 5 to 10 ml size).The colors are vibrant, they load well on the brush - you don't need to swirl the brush in the color forever to get anything on the brush.-, they also lift well from the paper even when they've dried, so you can add some effects. They are quite pigmented but not opaque (for most of them). They play really well with water.The colors in the set:Lemon yellowYellow ochre (not a fan),Vermillion (warm red)Crimson (cool red)Violet (beautiful)Prussian blue (The only blue but really pretty and quite versatile when mixed with the yellows and reds above)Deep greenSap green (quite muddy this one)Burnt umberBurnt sienna(different mixes between these last 4 will give you a good range of earth tones and greens for your landscapes)Black and white - which are not that useful in watercolor painting. Better have a Payne's grey or a neutral tint than black and replace the white with another blue or a warm yellow (this yellow ochre does not mix that well). This would definitely gives more bang to the palette!ALL the Tubes of ALL the mediums have the inscription: "Excellent lightfastness and high quality pigments" on them. I have never seen sets of non-toxic, high quality, excellent lightfastness in all pigments in all mediums before so, I would recommend you swatch your colors and let them in the sun for a while to see how they hold. Even my quite expensive sets of artists watercolors don't promise all that, so maybe they use safe synthetic pigments. I don't know.You also have 12 watercolor pencils in there. I compared them with artist grade watercolor pencils. The pencils from the set did quite ok. The pigments are more difficult to lift from the paper and move around and they leave some streaks on the paper, but if you look at the picture, they did a decent job. Just don't go hard on the paper when you color with the pencils and it will work just fine. Again, good enough for sketching.Here is the list of colors for the sake of those of you who like to know what they will be able to mix.The oil colors (12ml tubes):Lemon yellowYellow ochrevermillionscarletPhtalo blue (no shade specified)Cerulean blueburnt siennaburnt umbertitanium white and lump black.For the acrylics (12 ml tubes):Lemon yellowyellow ochreVermillionCrimsonultramarine bluecobalt blueViridian (green)Hooker's greenburnt siennaraw umberBlack and whiteHope this helps. It is a great box.Now I am going to go play with the watercolors and make a more decent swatch. I will try and post pic.

Excellent design. Works well.

This art box and easel is well made from thin wood. The box is not sealed or varnished. This fact did not bother me. I can always seal it later. I do not think I will; (maybe will seal the corners).The 2 drawers are well constructed and easy to pull out. They are deep enough for your oil or acrylic paints, and brushes. The 2 drawers are easy to pull out and kept closed by 1 toggle latch each. The brass latches are screwed in on the box.The easel is easy to connect to the box. Just look at the photographs on the Amazon site. The photos are self explanatory. You just have to connect the easel once. There are 2 wooden slider bars that hold up the painting surface. Connect the 2 slider bars with the supplied brass hardware. The top of the box supports the stretched canvas or whatever painting surface you use. The bottom wooden support is attached to the outside top of the paint box, connected by the supplied brass hardware. The only item you have to reattach is the top part of the easel. It has to be turned around so the crook is in the correct position to hold the canvas.All the problems the other reviewed posts had, I did not find to be correct. This box will last a long time as long as it is not thrown around.I have been an artist since 1973. Started at The Museum School of Fine Arts, Boston. I still use my first wooden art box.I wanted this art box because I want to paint some smaller paintings by the Pacific Ocean. Plenty of room for paints, brushes, pallette knives, linseed oil or whatever medium you want to use and more. A pallette is included.Happy painting

I love the drawers and upper storage available with this. The easel part is great, too. My only complaint is that the drawers have to drawer pulls so I'll probably end up needing to super glue some kind of nob on. I'm an older woman and can't just drill for a regular knob. Anyway, it's a nice piece. Some review said it seemed really cheap but that isn't my impression at all. I like it!

Great gift for our granddaughter

My daughter is very artistic just like me and when I was younger my mom got me something similar to this so I couldn't imagine anything different I have of course tons of stuff and bigger and lots more but I wanted her to have her own and she is in LOVE!! Came in perfect condition and couldn't have asked for any better! Thank you to the sellers! A++++ 100 starsss rating lol

Well made, packed and organized. Has enough of everything to get you started.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well made this box is, and how completely well stocked it is. With three levels for storage, it holds far more than any other storage easle I have ever used before. Having supplies at hand is so important when trying to work, so it's great having so much space available.Assembly was simple. There isn't much to put together, and loosening or tightening the wing nuts is pretty much all that's required to raise or lower the easle itself. The wood is much sturdier than I expected, and the hardware is brass, so I expect it will last a long time. I would definitely call it giftable.