Naroa Natural Sea Sponges Review: A Fun and Messy Painting Tool
When it comes to adding texture to paintings, sometimes the best tools aren’t brushes at all. I recently picked up the Naroa Natural Sea Sponges for Artists (8 Pack) to use on a painting I’m currently working on, and they’ve been a lot of fun to experiment with.
Affiliate Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are Amazon affiliate links. That means if you decide these art supplies need to come live at your house, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It helps fund more paint, more weird craft supplies, and probably more things I’ll inevitably get all over my hands. Thanks for supporting my creative chaos! 🎨🖤
First Impressions
The first thing I noticed was the packaging. Instead of tossing the sponges into a plain box, they come in a really cute reusable mesh bag. It’s a nice touch and makes storing them much easier after you’re done painting.
The set includes eight natural sea sponges, and because they’re natural, every sponge has its own unique shape and texture.
Before You Start
As the instructions say soak the sponges before using them. Once they absorb water, they soften up and are much easier to work with. They’re incredibly soft in your hands and comfortable to hold while dabbing paint onto the canvas.
My Experience
The biggest tip I can give is don’t overload the sponge with paint. My first dab had way too much paint and came out fairly blotchy. Once some of that excess paint was gone, though, the texture became exactly what I was hoping for. The following dabs produced awesome, natural-looking patterns that would be difficult to create with a brush alone.
If you like adding texture to your artwork, these are a lot of fun. They’re also messy which, for me, is actually a bonus. I love getting a little messy when creating art, so that was part of the fun.
Cleanup
Be sure to rinse the sponge thoroughly after each painting session. Cleaning them right away helps keep paint from drying inside the natural fibers and should help them last longer.
Pros
- Arrived in a cute bag.
- Very soft and comfortable to hold
- Creates beautiful natural textures
- Every sponge is unique
- Easy to clean when rinsed immediately
- Fun, messy painting experience
Cons
- The first print can be blotchy if you use too much paint
- Takes a little practice to learn how much paint to load
Final Thoughts
I’m really enjoying these natural sea sponges. Once I figured out to use less paint, they started creating some fantastic textures that added a lot of interest to my painting. They’re easy to use, comfortable to hold, and honestly just fun to paint with.
For this painting I used these sea sponges along with my Crayola Marker Sprayer and the dragon stencil that came with it. 🤫 Between us… I may have ignored the washable markers and used my STA paint marker instead. It worked great, so I’m calling it creative experimentation!
