My field sketching kit must haves

  I spend a lot of time running back and forth, taking children to activities, meeting people, and running errands generally. Since I also take the bus, I often spend a while at the bus stop waiting for the next one to come, and of course a while in the bus while commuting. The result is that I am able to squeeze in quite a bit of sketching in my daily or at least weekly routine. The flipside of these common but rather short opportunities is that I always need to have my basic sketching supplies with me on the chance that I have the time to draw, paint, or do an urban sketch. Inevitably it is those times when I sit empty-handed at a bus stop, or my children are late that something interesting happens or the view is particularly inspiring.

In response to this enforced flexibility, I have longe since refined my portable sketching kit. Everything I bring with me fits comfortably in my handbag and isn't overly heavy.

   In the natural history illustration course forum, I saw a lot of people asking about field sketching kits and what was best to bring and use, so I decided to share mine. Perhaps someone in that forum will find it useful.
My kit is broken down into categories: Paper, paint, drawing (pens/pencils), and extras. I also have a few flexible items that wont come on every trip.

Paper:

 I always carry a tin of Hahnemühle watercolor postcards, I use these for small stand-alone works. They primarily become Urban Sketches, food (at cafes) or wild animal portraits drawn at the natural history museum. I don't always have the time to finish them on site, but I am usually mostly done and am able to put the finishing touches in place when I return to my studio.

   Hahnemühle makes a larger format, A4 watercolor sketchbook, which I quite like. I actually have two of these, one is for general sketching, and the other is for natural history gesture sketching. I label them with a white paint marker which shows up on the gray cloth cover and allows me to grab the right one in a hurry. (If I have a particularly small handbag I leave this one out and just use the postcards).

 Paints:

  A friend introduced me to the small Schmincke watercolor box with a water reservoir and cap to use to wash brushes. I Love it! At the moment I don't usually fill it because I almost always use a water brush. If I plan a longer sketching trip I do fill it in advance.

   As there is not enough space for all of the colors I like to have with me I also have a small tin filled with individual tabs. I won't name them all at the moment but if anyone is interested I would be happy to provide a list. I taped a fortune from a fortune cookie to the top. It says, 'you are original and creative'. Generic but funny.

   I use a pentel water brush and a da Vinci 943 mini brush. I carry an extra mini brush and a Faber-Castell water brush that I look forward to trying. I bought it rather recently. A packet of tissues ensures that I have a place to clean my water brush if nothing else is available.

 

Drawing:

    I used to carry and use a lot of pens but over the years, having tried so many different brands I have minimized them to what I really like. Lamy fountain pens have great nibs that neither dry out nor scratch. Touch pens, a Japanese company, has a fineliner that creates a line with a consistent width without bending the nib. Both are favorites and in my opinion better than the other pens I have. Not that I don't use and enjoy a variety of writing implements, I just don't bring them with me everytime I leave the house.

   In terms of pencils, my absolute favorite is the Faber Castell TK9400 drafting pencil with its mini sharpener. It is quite hard which means it doesn't need to be sharpened often at all. I have been using this second piece of lead for at least half a year. For darker shadows or rough sketches I also have a Städtler Noris school pencil. I bought a box of these online for the children at the beginning of the school year. They are surprisingly good. So good in fact that it is the only pencil I used to draw the Buffalo I recently posted. It needs it's own sharpener, obviously.

 

 A blending stump and two mechanical erasers, one big, one small, make up the rest of the equipment. I carry them in a small pouch.

 

Extras:

    When I am working on a plant or something small and portable, but run out of time, I will sometimes just bring it with me. Thus the empty container.

   As a result of doing a lot of detailed work my eyes have become more sensitive, Therefore Sunglasses are a must-have. I also carry business cards to give to anyone who expresses interest in my work. You never know who you will meet when sketching.

 

 

 

Flex Items:

 

  A few of the items don't need to be with me at all times. If I am planning a longer trip I will fill the water reservoir on my paint tin and bring the lid, but if I am running errands, my water brush is more than sufficient. I also have additional leads which I virtually never need, and if I am not planning a huge drawing or an urban sketching, sketch crawl, I don't really need to bring the pencil sharpener. I just sharpen the pencil before leaving the house. Occasionally a ruler comes in handy as well. But usually it just sits at the bottom of the handbag if I do bring it, so, generally, I leave it at home.

  Do you sketch on the run? Or make frequent field sketching trips? Do you have a kit that works for you or a specific must-have item? Let me know in the comments.



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