The Crafty Princess Diaries

Disney Art Studio is published by Thunder Bay Press and retails for $26.99 in the US. Basically, it is an art kit that includes a 128 page project book and loads of art supplies: 3 watercolor paints, 2 brushes, a palette, a set of 8 colored pencils, one drawing pencil, a fine-line marker, kneading eraser, and sharpener. While the booklet in the kit does have blank pages for sketching, I would recommend acquiring an additional sketch pad to go with the kit for anyone who wants to seriously learn to complete the drawing lessons provided in the book.

The book in the kit starts with the classic characters. First, of course, is Mickey Mouse, but there are 44 different character instructions in the book. Each drawing lesson in the book takes you step by step through the process, starting with contour lines and then adding to these until you have a finished drawing. Then you have the option of using colored pencils or paint to your piece of artwork.

The entire kit comes nicely packaged in a reusable box, so though not a requirement of any kit, it’s nice to have. This way, you can store all the supplies in the box, and this makes it portable as well.

I was not able to locate a recommended age for this kit. However, I think anyone from maybe ten years old and up through adults would enjoy it. Clearly, while the theme of the draws are child-friendly, you would not want you children playing with paint on their own. Plus, the projects in the kit will take some practice for any novice artists who have limited or no drawing background.