Warmer days are here, spring allergy time is over, so field sketching is becoming an option for me again. I realize I haven’t really shared my regular sketching bag setup before.
Here’s a video version of this post:
What’s in my sketching bag (video)
When I first started outdoor sketching, I used to put my sketching tools simply into whatever backpack I had with me. I usually prefer small daypacks because they’re nicer to my back, but last year, I found a nice lightweight shoulder bag that’s large enough to carry all my sketching gear and still doesn’t get too heavy. This has the advantage that everything is in one place now, and I can simply grab the bag when I’m going sketching. Although I have to say, if I had had an existing bag in that size, I would have preferred using that one to buying a new product. I hope this bag will last many years!
The bag I have now is a Jack Wolfskin Valparaiso bag. It’s a nice spacious (8L) bag that’s very comfortable to carry around. It has lots of compartments inside that are great for organizing sketching supplies. It also features, very important for me, zippers in all the relevant places so that I don’t lose anything. It weighs 280 grams empty, and has a nice broad belt that’s easy on the shoulders.
Here’s what’s inside:
Pencils and pens:
- Mechanical pencil and/or Faber-Castell capped pencil with integrated sharpener (Perfect Pencil II)
- a colored pencil for rough sketches in a light color
- Lamy Safari EF nib with waterproof sepia ink (Rohrer Klingner Sketch Ink Lilly)
- Staedtler Pigment Liner 0.3 black
- Faber Castell Pitt Artist pen with waterproof light grey ink (great for quick value sketches and shadows)
- Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen (for white highlights)
- Pentel brush pen with black waterproof ink (I mainly use this for black and white ink sketches)
Painting tools:
- Raphael Precision synthetic round brush size 1 + 3
- no name flat brush size 8
- small metal watercolor palette with ca. 20 colors (read more about my current palette)
- my sketchbook – usually a selfmade A5 sketchbook with some kind of watercolor paper. (Read more about choosing a sketchbook and about choosing paper)
Additional tools:
- corrugated plastic board for holding palette and sketchbook
- small water container with magnet/hook-and-loop fastener
- painting rag
- first aid kit
- pocket knife
- water sprayer and water bottle
- small camera/phone
What’s in your sketching bag? What kind of bag do you use? Do you take your sketching kit outside? Let’s share!
Thanks. Very helpful. Mine is similar except I use my purse (a le sportsac hobo bag). I use a loose-leaf portfolio of 16th sheets of Arches 90lb hotpress plus 5.5 x 8.5 sketch paper. I prefer a Pentel Aquash waterbrush. My palette is an Altoids tin with quarter pans and a taped on thumb ring.