What You Actually Get in Cheap Art Subscription Boxes: ScrawlerBox, Copic Chow, and Posca

Introduction

Art subscription boxes usually cost somewhere in the 20 to 25 dollar range, which is why heavily discounted past boxes are such an interesting corner of the market. Box makers often sell older surplus stock at steep discounts just to clear shelf space, and the savings can be dramatic. In this roundup we look at a haul of ScrawlerBox boxes bought at clearance prices: two at £5, two at £8, and one custom kit at £20. Each one packed far more value than its price suggested, and together they show what to realistically expect when you hunt for cheap art boxes online.

Inside the Past-Month Boxes: Print, Paper, and Paint Pens

The first £5 box was an older June 2022 theme, and it set the tone for the rest. Every ScrawlerBox includes an artist-designed print, and that single print already goes a long way toward justifying the price. Alongside it came a thick bristol board paper pad, four Pilot Pintor paint pens in fluorescent colors, a blue Sakura Micron pen, a sticker, and even some British candy. The candy had expired, which is worth remembering when buying older boxes: perishable extras inside past-month stock may be past their best.

The second £5 box, from December 2022, was noticeably heavier. It included a Mr Phil art print, an A5 white card pad with nice thick paper, four permanent acrylic markers from a lesser-known brand with nibs similar to Posca pens, a Stabilo upcycled wood HB pencil, a uniPen fine line chisel marker, a sticker, and a small challenge card. For £5, that is an unusually generous bundle.

The Highlight: Three Copic Chow Markers for 8 Pounds

The March 2023 box turned out to be the favorite of the haul. The artist print by Katrina Young alone, paired with a white bristol board square sketch tile with 10 sheets, felt worth the £8 on its own. But the surprise was inside: three genuine Copic Chow markers in shades V15, E31, and G2.

Copic Chow is the more affordable line in the Copic family, and many artists have never tried it. Finding three of them in an £8 box is genuinely remarkable, especially since box makers could easily pull the premium supplies from clearance stock and repurpose them. Alongside the markers came a Stabilo pigment liner 0.8, a Derwent 2H pencil, a sticker, and some candy. Of everything opened, this box offered the best supply-to-price ratio.

Fluid Acrylics and a Canvalo Mixed Media Pad

The February 2023 £8 box leaned toward paint. It contained a Canvalo multimedia pad, about 10 A5 sheets of mixed media paper, three Daler-Rowney fluid acrylic paints in cerulean blue hue, titanium white, and lemon yellow, plus an angled paint brush and a Lyra Aqua paint pen.

The fluid acrylics are pigment-based, multi-surface paints with a smooth, opaque, creamy consistency and strong coverage, and they are manufactured in the UK. One consistent strength across all these boxes is that the included paper is mixed media friendly, so you can keep using the pad with your own supplies long after the box project is done.

View more details for ScrawlerBox Art Subscription Box

The Custom Kit: A Pencil Case Project with Posca Paint Markers

The £20 box was different. Rather than a past subscription theme, this was a Scrawler Blanks customization kit: an exclusive canvas pencil case, a branded pencil, and a generous set of Posca paint markers. The pencil case pulls down to reveal the pens without dumping everything out, a clever design that makes it a fun customization project in itself.

The marker lineup covered sunshine yellow, slate grey, aqua green, raspberry, white, and black. Six Posca pens would be hard to buy as a pack for £25, and this kit was originally priced at £32 before dropping to £20. Scrawler Blanks also offers other customization kits, including a mug kit and a sketchbook kit, if decorating things sounds like your kind of weekend.

One practical caveat from actually using them: Posca nibs are thick, so fine detail is difficult on a small surface like a pencil case. Bold shapes and simple designs work best unless you bring in brushes. The project still came out charming after a few off-camera corrections.

Should You Buy a Discounted Art Box?

If you enjoy art boxes but balk at the regular price, check the websites of box makers for excess or clearance stock. Past-month boxes routinely sell at heavy discounts because they simply need to go. Three takeaways from this haul: the included art prints and paper pads carry real value on their own, the supplies inside are consistently good quality, and the candy is a coin flip depending on how old the box is. Even at the regular £20 to £25 price point, these boxes put genuine thought into the print, tutorial, and curation. At £5 or £8, they are easy to recommend.

Conclusion

Cheap past-month art boxes punch well above their price. A £5 box delivered paint pens, a Micron liner, and thick paper; an £8 box delivered three Copic Chow markers and beautiful paper; and a £20 custom kit delivered six Posca markers plus a pencil case project. If you spot clearance art boxes while browsing, they are worth a look.