Choosing travel sketch supplies for a trip is not always easy. Even I, as a person who has sketched more than once while traveling, decide for a long time what to take with me: watercolor or pastel? Or maybe I’ll just get by with a liner and brush pen? Or maybe I should take markers?
So I have compiled a list of travel sketch supplies that I usually take with me on trips and short walks, I hope it will help you to choose.
Must have kit:
Liner
Without a liner it will be quite difficult to make quick sketches, unless you want to draw abstractions and specifically decide not to take the liner on a trip. My Faber-Castell liner is positioned as waterproof, however, when it started to rain while I was sketching outside, I discovered that it isn’t. Size that I choose is S, presumably 0.5-0.4 mm. Sakura liner is also in my kit, and it is definitely waterproof. So why it so important that your liner will be waterproof? When you work with watercolor, trust me you want it to be waterproof.
Brush pen
The brushpen is a great addition to the liner, you can add thickness in the right place, paint over and write (lettering). Another basic tool that I always take with me. My brush pen by Tombow has 2 tips: a bullet and a brush, and it can also be water soluble if you need to.
Sketchbook
Without a sketchbook, as well as without a liner, you can’t get anywhere. In my opinion, small A6 sketchbook formats, or square 12 * 12 cm from Royal Talents, are suitable for quick sketches. They are light, fit in a small bag, and mix media paper can withstand even watercolor (in a reasonable amount). I take them on trips and for a walk.
Optional travel sketch supplies:
Markers
Markers are a great choice for traveling. However, here you need to decide on the colors and quantity. In my experience, 6 markers are enough, but I always take 12-15 just in case. There is also a nuance with paper, it is desirable that the paper be 2-sided to avoid leaking inside out or another page. You can of course get by with single-sided paper, if so recommend you to use a blotter or maybe piece of paper to avoid leaking ink to another page .My Finecolour markers have 2 tips: a dial and a brush. Also I have Copic Ciao markers, soon I’ll write a post and compare between Finecolor and Copic Ciao.
Pastel
Year ago, I was presented with a water soluble pastel made by Carand’ache. At first, I didn’t quite understand what to do with it, but after experimenting, I realized that this is a cool material for sketching. Pastel dries quickly and it turns out that you have, as it were, 2 materials in one : watercolor and pastel. In my set of 10 primary colors, the small box does not take up much space. So if you want the material to be multifunctional, this is what you need. Recently, I often taking it with me on my trips.
Watercolor
I use the White Nights watercolor, it has 12 basic colors. The box is thicker than the pastel box, so I modified it. I took out 8 basic colors and put them into Altoids mints tin. I find it very convenient and slicky solution.
Note that, watercolors need more time to dry, so if you need to sketch quickly, it’s worth calculating the amount of water on the brush. If you have time , then you can just wait. I still regard watercolor as a material not for quick sketching. I usually apply watercolor afterwards. In perfect conditions, sitting in cozy café. Anyway, it could be nice challenge for you to sketch with watercolors on the go.
Watercolor Brush
We talked about the watercolor sketch. So you definitely would like to have a brush with a water tank. It is very convenient to work with water tank brush. Basically it means that you don’t need to keep a water with you. It is advisable to take a napkin to blot the brush.
That’s all the tools that I use on trips. Of course, I don’t take them all together. The sketchbook, liner, and brush pen are a must have for me. I decide among markers, pastels, and watercolors. Recently my best choice is pastel as I mentioned below.
Hope this post was useful and will help you to decide ,what art materials you should take to traveling. If you still have questions just write and I will be happy to answer them.
Coming soon: Tips and Tricks for outdoors sketching.
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