I recently went on vacation, and of course I took a few sketching tools with me.
I always try to keep my tools very lightweight and minimal, and I thought it might be interesting to share what I took with me on the trip. A few years ago I shared a similar sketching kit (My mini sketching kit for everyday painting), and my current selection of tools differs only slightly. When I go field sketching in the neighborhood, I try to keep my kit very simple so that it can fit into a fanny pack. For longer daytrips, I usually bring a backpack with a few more things (umbrella, camera, food, sitting mat).
Here’s a video version of this blog post:
What’s in my sketching bag, travel edition:
- my sketchbook
- my small watercolor palette (current setup)
- a small water container (I stabilize it in the small case I carry everything in)
- a mechanical pencil (Faber Castell Grip 1345) with HB lead
- a Kaweco Sport fountain pen filled with dark blue Rohrer & Klingner SketchInk
- three brushes: a size 3 flat, size 2 round, and size 0 round (Raphael Precision Mini)
- a white gel pen
- a small painting rag
Thoughts about this travel sketching kit:
- My sketchbook has a hard cover, this serves as a support board. I ended up having a table available, but on the go a stable surface is good to have. (I sometimes bring a thin plastic or wooden board for this when I bring a backpack)
- I could probably have saved more weight by bringing a smaller watercolor palette, but didn’t have one ready.
- The brushes aren’t the best (they could have better tips), but they have short handles and they’re very light. I actually prefer to bring brushes that I don’t have to worry about losing outside. An alternative could be water brushes without water, or cutting longer brushes to fit into the small case.
- The only thing I missed at one point was a black pen with a very fine line, so maybe next time I’ll bring a black or brown fountain pen instead of the blue one?!
All in all, this was really all that I needed for sketching on the go during my travels. I’m soon embarking on another small journey and I will bring this small travel kit again.
I hope this gives you some ideas for your own travel sketching kit!
Julia, thank you for showing us your travel kit. I confess that this is something I’ve struggled with for years and I still haven’t found the perfect combination for me. I often carry too much along, and then when I eliminate things, with the next trip I discover that I need something I had brought along before or I need something I never thought of; so I always seem to end up carrying too much or too little and very seldom get it just right. But I haven’t given up, and the information you provide here at least gives me some ideas. I love to see other artists’s travel kits and keep hoping that one of these days it will all come “magically” together for me. This seems to be an issue for all the travel or field sketching artists I know.
I definitely know this feeling. I think it is always an ongoing process – I change my kit all the time. Some decisions feel like they’re being made for me, I can’t carry that much, so I only bring a few things. But yeah, it always feels like there should be a magical solution somewhere. 🙂
I have this exact same problem! Last time I travelled, I brought way too much with me, so I haven’t found the balance yet. I’ll be going on an extended trip in July so I’ll be using this list as a starting place. Thanks Julia!
You’re welcome Daisy. 🙂 These are the tools I’m most likely to grab first – pencil, palette, fountain pen. I hope you’ll find a good balance!
I am in love with the Daniel Smith watercolor sticks. No issues flying with them, you can draw or paint with them, and they have many of my favorite colors. I’m in wilderness a lot and am disabled so I carry my kit in a backpack, complete with stool, tripod for pochade box, and a little table so tools don’t get lost on the ground. I have a mini kit for working in the car too. Your blog is great, Julia!
That sounds like a really good solution and a great kit, glad to hear the watercolor sticks work so well for you. And thank you! 🙂
I use that same white gelpen.
Nice drawings. The birds are very cute.
Thank you! I’m really on the fence about that gel pen, it works reasonably well, but then gel pens are always a bit hit or miss.