My Travel Art Kit

I am often asked what art supplies I carry when I travel. I have a few favorite things, but honestly it depends on where I am going, what I will be doing, and what techniques I am exploring. A travel art kit for plein air looks much different than one for a café.

For the most part, I pack pretty light. I don’t like carrying lots of baggage so I pack what fits neatly in my purse or tote, and I include items that allow me to work in a few different ways, depending on mood or convenience. 

My favorite travel palettes are from Art Toolkit. They are slim and come with interchangeable pans so you can easily swap colors. I have several sizes of these palettes, because I could not settle on just one. 

This is what I usually bring with me: a mechanical pencil with HB or 2B lead for sketching and under-drawings, a small kneaded eraser, a drawing pen, an ink brush, a water brush, a small rag, a watercolor palette, and two binder clips. But sometimes I like to travel super small, so I only carry a drawing pen, a water brush, and a travel palette. 

In addition to those things I carry a mid-sized sketchbook. My favorite sketchbooks are handmade. They are a luxury and I tend to take my artwork in them more seriously. However, my go to sketching book is the basic Handbook Journal sketchbook. It is not made for water-based media, but I use it anyway. 

Right now I am exploring direct sketching with watercolor so I left the pencil behind and packed this nice zipper bag for an upcoming trip. The bag has an elastic strap that loops over the front cover of the sketchbook, so it all stays together and allows me to work anywhere. The supplies included a new set of colors and a thin ink brush I am getting to know better.