With Walk & Sketch classes coming up later this year, I thought I'd share my travel sketching kit with you. I often post photos on social media but never really discuss what materials I use.
Firstly this is my travel watercolour palette. It's around 17cm by 6cm and fans out like a paint chart. There's a mixing palette on the bottom and the whole thing is really easy to pop in a pocket and to hold in one hand whilst you're sketching.
People always ask me where I got it from...my sister-in-law bought it for me years ago, from an ad on social media and can't remember which site she got it from! It has Japanese writing on it so obviously came from a Japanese company but that's all I know.
For my en plein air sketches I use a 0.3 fine line pen and watercolour washes. My pen of choice is now Unipin. It's water and fade proof, which means you can draw first and then paint over. It occasionally runs slightly if you don't let it dry properly but I don't mind this. I like the fact that the nib stays round and doesn't flatten on one angle.
I use a watercolour brush pen to paint. There is a barrel with a water reservoir so you don't have to carry a water pot and brushes separately. It means you have to squeeze slightly for the water to trickle down the brush to activate the paint. I have a couple of different sized brushes but only ever use this one.
I use Royal Talens Art Creation sketchbooks and I love them. The paper is fairly thin and some people don't rate them for watercolour, but I don't flood the paper so yes, it buckles slightly but not too much and I'm not bothered by it.
The paper is an off-white colour and smooth which I don't usually like for finished pieces but it suits me for sketches. The books also lay flat which is so much easier, especially when you do a double page spread.
I have three different sizes...roughly A5, 12cm square and roughly A6. The two smaller ones will fit into a pocket and the A5 one fits nicely in a small backpack. I have mini bulldog clips on the strap of each one to pin down the pages if it's windy...which it invariably is in the UK!
Quite often I'll find a bench or a rock or a log where I can sketch from, but sometimes I stand up. The small palette makes this manageable. Or if I'm super organised I'll take this walking stool. The legs slide in to make it smaller and it fits into a backpack. Sometimes I sit on the floor on a little folding out mat.
There are lots of travel kits out there and this is what works for me. Just a few materials to keep it simple. If you have too many things it can feel cumbersome and put you off but experiment with different things and find what works for you.
The last couple of photos were taken on the Walk & Sketch class at Newburn. Angela's sketchbook set up is a lot smaller than my A5 sketchbook but it's really dinky and manageable. There are fewer paint pans so you'd have to mix colours but I like the way it can clip onto the book.
Whatever solution works for you, the important thing is that you get out, enjoy the countryside, make art and relax in nature. Maybe consider booking a Walk & Sketch Class?
I'll be taking all my materials with me on my upcoming holiday to Scotland and will be blogging about it next month. I can't wait!