Recently, I traveled from New York to San Francisco for a family trip and I packed a minimal kit to create a painting studio on the go. I usually pack everything... literally, everything because I have this "just in case" mentality. So when I packed less this time, I thought I'd share.
Here's what I brought with me:
- Grether's Pastille tin with:
- Six Daniel Smith Essentials set + one half pan of a Cotman Winsor Newton color I've been testing
- Two Da Vinci travel brushes
- Shortened and hand-carved Silver brush
- Small piece of sea sponge
- Small binder clip
- Pencil + sharpener + kneaded eraser
- One Dinky Dip of Sumi ink wrapped with a piece of Glad Press'n Seal to mitigate any leaks
- Shortened oblique pen holder + Nikko G nib
- Small silica gel bag to ensure everything in the tin stays dry (I collect these bags from random purchases such as bags, electronics, or shoes and recycle them for this purpose.)
- A few small squares of reusable putty to hold things in place or to secure my mini water container
- You'll also notice that I use a blank plastic card as my mixing palette, also secured by the reusable putty (If need be, I can also use it to scrape my paints or paper!)
- Nalgene mini bottle from the Container Store to hold water on the go, but they also sell it on Amazon
- A few pieces of super absorbent towels
- A small pencil case with a mechanical pencil, Tombow mono eraser pen, Micron pen, and brush marker; purposely can be separated in case I intend on only sketching
- Travel watercolor journals and a pad of Strathmore watercolor postcards
I have been doing research as well as testing what works best for me the last two years. A huge thank you to Cathy Johnson for sharing her tips on making homemade watercolor palettes:
- Homemade Watercolor Kits
- Cathy Johnson: Watercolor Palettes On the Go
- My Smallest Travel Kit... So Far
What's in your travel art kit and what are your must-haves for painting on the road? I'd love to learn what works for you!