Portable Artkit Assembly
Now that I'm comfortable enough doing painting and sketching at home, I'm preparing to move my practice outside. My plan is to settle a few months doing my thing in the LGS/cafe I frequent, then finally hit the road. That's a long road, you may think. Why not just go out cold turkey? Well, that works, I guess. I just want to give myself a little more grace. I already bring pens and notebooks everywhere so sketching on the go is not a big stretch, but painting on the go is something very new for me (wet media in general is very new for me).
I'm figuring out my first kit. Now that I know the kind of tools I like, there are several questions for me to sort in the coming weeks. Do I just double up on the things I like, or should I choose an entirely different set (probably more suitable for travel)? I know for sure I want a brush pen, a waterbrush filled with fountain pen ink, a writing pen, then everything else is still up in the air. If I bring a mechanical pencil, I'd need to bring an eraser. If I bring a watercolor set, then I want another waterbrush. Do I actually want to paint outside, or just stick with sketching and paint at home? To complicate matters (or maybe make things very easy actually) my pen case only fits 4-5 tools. That's a... sweet spot actually. It stays flat so it could fit in my notebook cover, which means I can bring it independent of my bag if I must. If I choose a lean enough sketchbook, I can fit in a watercolor palette in the same cover.
I got the leather cover from my old workplace back in 2022, and I like it so much I actually wish I could find where they had it made so I could have one more! I even contacted my ex-supervisor to see if he would part with his. Sadly, he didn't even know where his was. Maybe it's worth trawling old phone numbers to ask someone else...
I think back then people weren't so appreciative of the gift. We worked in a tech startup and they were all "who still use pen and paper these days" but for real, I like this. It's roomy, compact, supple, light, and it's real leather! You can feel that it's not the kind of expensive leather the ilk of fancy schmancy notebook cover you see on TV, but it's real leather and it won't fall apart. I wasn't actually impressed the day I got the package because I suspected it was pleather. Imagine my surprise. I have some schooldays writings in pleather organizers I got from mom, and they look disgusting right now. The peelings and crackings make a huge mess in my drawers. Touch them, and they're so dry. None of the handsome flex and soft feel you got on day one. I'm not gonna use that material again. I especially want to know this particular cover's manufacturer because my old workplace was...pretty cheap. If they could order hundreds of these so every employee got one, they must be affordable. (I do hope the minimum order is not a hundred)
I love my markers but they for sure won't be in my kit. My sketch kit will share space with my everyday carry, so they can't be too bulky or heavy.
I'm looking forward to have some practice runs and see how this comes together. If there's something I learn, I don't have to overthink this. The kit, like everything else, will evolve as I go, I don't have to get it perfect the first time. Besides, the cafe is only 15 mins away and I can drop by multiple times a week.
Really liking the paper in my current sketchbook. It's lovely for colored pencils too. I think it's pretty safe to stick with this one from now on.