Hi, I’m Ana, the artist behind Hoongan

I use this I own it and use it before it gets this label.

Research-based Guides built from maker specs and published information. From trying and using art supplies myself, I know what those terms and specs actually mean in practice, and I use that hands-on experience to review the researched picks. Because I haven't tested each of those picks individually, research-based guides never carry lab scores, "I tested" claims, timed results or photos of products in hand. Whenever a guide includes a product I do own, it's labelled "I use this" with my own photos and videos.

Research-based does not mean copied. For each guide:

1. Start from what people need. Topics come from public demand signals: what people search for and what sells in each category. Popular is not the same as good, so popularity only decides what is covered, never what is recommended.
2. Read the makers' own specifications. Tip sizes, paper weights, pigment notes, screen specs and safety labels come from the maker's listing. On product cards they are labelled as the maker's figures.
3. Check the exact listing by hand. Every product's Amazon page is opened to confirm the title, that it is still sold, and the exact variant (size, color count, bundle). Each card shows the date of that check. When a listing dies or changes, the product is replaced.
4. Explain the trade-offs. What each spec means in practice, using long-established art-materials knowledge: why alcohol markers bleed, why watercolor wants heavy paper, why soft pencil cores break.
5. Name who should skip it. Every researched pick has a "Good fit if" and a "Skip it if" list. A product that suits everyone does not exist.

What decides a pick

• Fit for the job. The right tip, paper, format or size for the project the guide is about.
• Clear, consistent maker information. Stated specs, contents and care instructions that can be explained. Vague listings lose out.
• Safety labeling. For paints, markers and pencils, the maker's stated conformance with ASTM D-4236 or an ACMI seal is noted. These labels describe hazard review, not quality.
• A sensible upgrade path. Refills, replacement nibs, open-stock colors or a bigger set in the same family count in a product's favor.
• Value relative to the alternatives. Sets of the same kind are compared. Prices change constantly, so a guide shows one only when it is fresh from Amazon's data feed. See about prices.

What never decides a pick or its order: how much a product pays.

What I test, what I don't

• Hands-on: the 21 products in my kit, which I own and use.
• Not tested: every other pick (42). No lab equipment, no bleed, lightfastness or durability tests, and no measurements unless a card says how I measured.
• Product photos on researched cards are Amazon's; prices and ratings are Amazon's live data. Other pictures are my own photos or original illustrations, and illustrations are labelled as such.

What I will not do

• Claim testing that was not done, or invent measurements, scores or experiences.
• Write star ratings, review counts or "bought in past month" figures into the pages. See about prices and ratings.
• Publish near-identical pages for every surface, age or color. One useful guide beats ten thin ones.
• Hide that I earn from links. See the affiliate disclosure.

Sources the guides work from

• Makers' product listings on Amazon.com, checked on the date shown on each product card.
• Google Search Central: Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content,Write high quality reviews andSpam policies, which set the standard I write to.
• US Federal Trade Commission: FTC's Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking, for how I disclose.
• The Amazon Associates Program Operating Agreement and Program Policies, for how I link and what I may show.
• US Consumer Product Safety Commission: Art Materials(the Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials Act).
• Art & Creative Materials Institute: LHAMA: how does it affect you?and its AP and CL certification seals.
• ASTM D-4236, the standard practice for labeling art materials for chronic health hazards.

Corrections and updates

Each guide shows the date it was last updated, and each product card shows when its listing was last checked. If a product is discontinued or a listing changes to a different variant, it is replaced or removed rather than left as a stale recommendation.