I often get asked “what do you keep in your sketch kit?”
You would think I have the same answer each time but because of my fetish for compact travel items and in particular sketch gear it changes, I would say every few months if not few weeks. And oh, my love for pens too, but that’s not unusual for sketchers.
I try to keep it to a minimum but somehow new pens, and sometimes old pens end up finding a place in my yet another “new” pencil case.
So what’s in my sketch kit this month, May 2016?
- My modified Kuretake Zig Water colour palette with Daniel Smith Tube paints (this is a staple and almost always never changes – the reason being is that it’s my only palette which has ALL my colours and I like to make sure I have all my colours even though I may not use them all) . One day I’ show you all the palettes I have and have made 🙂
- My Pentel Waterbrush (I can’t live without this) . It’s a medium brush. I do have all the other sizes (small, medium and large, as well as the flat brush) but I tend to use this one the most. I’ve even tried leaving it at home and using a regular watercolour paint brush but I just keep going back to my Pentel Waterbrush. It’s so much more convenient to have a reservoir attached to the brush). Some artists don’t like using the waterbrush because they say it doesn’t hold much of the pigment, but I don’t notice it, maybe because I’m not a true watercolourist. And also maybe I prefer the waterbrush over regular brushes because that’s what I started using when I was introduced to watercolour sketching. You can find these online (Amazon, eBay, JetPens) and also locally at Jackson’s Drawing Supplies, as well as Riot Art & Craft (although they may stock a different brand)
- My fine line pen, it’s usually a 0.1 but I’ve been known to carry a 0.3 around. When it comes to brands I tend to use Uni Pin (which I just buy from Office Works and is only a few dollars and is permanent not water soluble). On my recent trip to Melbourne I treated myself to a set of Rotoring Tikky Graphic pens (only because Shoo Rayner who I follow on YouTube uses them and I figured if you use what the masters use then naturally you begin to draw like them right?!! hehehe hmmmm well that’s the hope!!……really it’s all about practicing and drawing daily, make yourself a daily doodler!)
- I have a terry toweling wrist/sweat band, that not only keeps my pens, waterbrush and palette together but I also use it as cloth to clean my waterbrush on. Watch this short video Aggie Lim Travel Sketching to see how I use the wrist band and me just enjoying my trip down south.
- And lastly my sketchbook . Although I have multiples that I sketch in simultaneously, my current one is one I bought from Riot Art & Craft , HolCroft Premium Sketch & Draw Diary 225gms (see picture above). It holds watercolour very well and doesn’t really warp (warping is ever to so slight it’s barely noticeable). UPDATE : I’ve just recently switched back over to my pocket Moleskine watercolour sketchbook. I like the paper because it’s watercolour paper, the size because it’s about an A6 landscape format, and very compact.
- Sometimes I bring along my Pentel Brush Pen which I love for those loose fast gestural sketches. The only downside is that the ink isn’t waterproof or permanent. So you’d want to be careful when using your waterbrush. Although sometimes this has a nice effect. One of those happy accident sketches!
- Something I can’t do without is my bulldog clip (large)
So this is what I often carry with my I would say 90 % of the time. But stay connected because maybe next month …actually not maybe …..it will happen…I will have added more to my kit or changed something!
I’d love to know what you keep in your kit or if you haven’t started yet, then, what you would most likely keep in your kit 🙂
Leave a Reply