My order for the compete set of Watercolor Sticks from Cheap Joe's has been on backorder for about 6 months! They finally arrived today along with an order from Daniel Smith for these plastic cases to store them in. They get sticky and messy when wet. These cases are a great solution and solve the problem nicely. I have about 8 colors from Daniel Smith's watercolor sticks. I was excited to try them out today and compare the two lines. Daniel Smith's sticks are very pricey....$12 each! Cheap Joe's were about $4 each, at least when you bought them as a set. This particular painting had my gesso transfer over an old painting. This is a very rough surface to paint on but produces great texture. DON'T USE GOOD BRUSHES as they will wear away quickly. I drew with ink using a new stick I found at Michael's. I bought an entire package (should last awhile!) and they look sort of like fat, flat, large toothpicks. After the ink dried, I wet the watercolor stick by dipping it into water and started using it like a crayon, then took a wet brush and blended out the color. I need to try the Cheap Joe's sticks on a more traditional watercolor surface before coming to any permanent conclusion, but the new sticks seem to have a serious wax coating on them and do not have the richness of color I find in the Daniel Smith brand. This may be a case of "you get what you pay for"
