Test Driving Some New Art Materials! -

One of my favorite hobbies is discovering and finding new art supplies. Watch as I test out some fun, new (to me) art materials. I’m not sure how new they are, but they were all exciting finds for me.

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I do like to have different types of art materials available (such as these color switching markers). I just keep a box or two of different types up at the front of the room and kids can try them out when they have free time. So you don’t need to buy a class set of everything, but you can have different samples for kids to try and share.

A variety of colorful art materials, including markers, crayons, and pens, arranged on a table, showcasing new art products.

Crayola Pearlescent Cream Sticks

Introducing our new art materials: a set of 12 colorful dual-tip markers in a sleek metal tin, perfect for test driving your creativity.

These Crayola Pearlescent Cream Sticks are smooth and creamy, kind of like oil pastels, but not as oily. They remind me of the texture of Kwik Stix. The tips are medium width, so they would not be good for coloring in fine details on coloring books. They have a very beautiful pearlescent sheen to them and look lovely on white paper. They are meant for older artists, so I probably wouldn’t use them with my very youngest students. Little kids might use them too roughly and smash the cream sticks. They are beautiful, but for the price, I wish they came with more colors.

The colors also show up nicely on black paper (except for the gray).

A set of ten pastel-colored chalk swatches on a dark surface, arranged in two rows, offers the perfect palette for your new art adventures.

You can dip a paintbrush in water and blend the colors like you can with watercolor crayons.

A rough gradient of light to dark blue crayon strokes on white paper showcases the vibrant potential of new art materials.

Watch the video and see the shiny colors!

Crayola Metallic Outline Markers

I found this concept really intriguing. The markers write with the color, but the inside of the line is metallic. They work pretty nicely, but not as perfectly as the box shows.

Box of new Crayola Signature Metallic Outline Markers featuring designs with text "Create to Inspire" and "Perfect for Hand Lettering Crafts." Test driving these unique art materials will elevate your creativity. Contains six markers.

You can watch the video below to see how they work.

Text on a paper with color names written in corresponding colors: green, purple, gray, red, blue, and pink. This vibrant display is perfect for test driving new art materials and experimenting with how colors harmonize on the page.

One thing I did not like about these markers was that the green one was very drippy. And the colors are hard to get off of clothing. I got a little blue on my sweater and had to scrub a lot to get it off. I would not buy these for my elementary students to use because of that reason. But, like I said earlier, I think this is an interesting concept and kind of fun to play with.

Crayola Watercolor Crayons

The Crayola Signature Watercolor Crayons set, a perfect choice for test driving new art materials, includes 12 vibrant crayons, a paintbrush, and a mixing sheet, all elegantly displayed on your creative table.

These are really nice! They feel more like oil pastels than crayons to me. I got these in a box of materials sent from Crayola after I did a very long survey at the NAEA convention. I will probably buy more for my students to use. They go on smooth and feel nice drawing with them.

I used a paint brush dipped in water to blend them and the color blended beautifully. I was delighted to see how vibrant the colors looked when the paper dried! No filters here. I used watercolor paper, because regular copy paper is too thin to use with the water and paintbrush.

Two watercolor swatches on paper: left swatch in red and yellow, right swatch in purple, blue, and magenta. Perfect for test driving new art materials and exploring vibrant color blends.

Grabie Glitter Markers

I kept seeing this ad in my Instagram feed and they reeled me in. I thought they looked so beautiful in that video. They do look really nice in person as well. I read the reviews on the page after I bought it and I did not have the problems with getting them to start. You do need to start them like any other paint pen, by shaking the marker and then pressing the tip up and down on a surface. Out of 24 markers, only 1 did not flow perfectly. The color comes out a little thinner than the others, but it still writes. These are all the colors it comes with.

A handwritten list showcases the vivid test driving of new art materials, featuring color names in their corresponding ink colors, including blue, dark blue, pink, gold, orange, green, and more on white paper.

A sheet of paper showcases a vibrant test driving of art materials, featuring handwritten color names with corresponding colored markers. The palette includes light red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, and various shades of blue.

Zebra Mildliner Markers

These are my new favorite markers! I love the soft, mild range of colors these have. I bought my set with some gift cards from Michaels, but you can find different sets on Amazon as well. They are double-ended, with a thinner tip and a medium tip.

A box of 25 Mildliner creative markers in assorted colors, perfect for test driving new art materials. The set comes packaged with a clear plastic cover, showcasing the neatly arranged pens inside.

A collection of Mildliner pens in various colors are arranged on a table, inviting you to test drive these new art materials with their capped ends and labeled bodies.

A vibrant array of color swatches and lines, including pink, blue, green, yellow, and red, dance across white paper with a wavy flourish and spiral at the top—perfect for test driving your new art materials.

WonderStix Chalk Crayons

Explore the Box of Wonder Stix, a delightful new art addition with 24 vibrant colors perfect for test driving on whiteboards, poster board, paper, glass, windows, wood, and cardboard. Easily washable from non-porous surfaces.

These are my go-to pastels when having kids decorate a black or dark colored piece of paper. They are dustless chalk crayons and show up beautifully on black paper. It says they write on almost everything, but I honestly haven’t used them on anything but paper.

Colorful chalk shapes and symbols, including a spiral, stars, and triangles, grace the black surface as if test driving new art materials.

Colorful chalk shapes and symbols, including triangles, spirals, and asterisks, transform a black surface into an innovative canvas of new art. The vibrant display serves as a test drive for various art materials.

What do you think of these supplies? Have you used any of these before? Do you have any art materials you love and think I should try out? Share in the comments!