What’s in my travel art kit

A video and description of what I pack in my travel art kit. It all fits in a smallish bag that travels in the car like a dream.

In the fall I posted on Instagram a reel of my travel art kit:

I like to share what I carry with me because I am personally obsessed with what people choose to keep in their studios. What they use for making art. And what they deem important enough to carry with them when they travel. It’s like an unboxing video with things that I REALLY enjoy! So sharing what’s in my travel art kit seems like a no brainer.

Journals

I usually take between one to four journals. Depending on what I’m working in at any given time. I like to have a couple of choices. I used to have a tiny journal that I always traveled with. But when I looked at it in preparation for this trip, I decided that it’s time had past.

This trip I have my Brown Leather Journal that I was given and my Yellow Leather Journal that I made. Also a journal I started for a class but I turned into a weird quote journal where I had it open while watching a movie and wrote down lines from the movie. I use those quotes as a starting point for the pages I make in the journal.

Things to color with

Paint

I’ve tried for years to figure out how to take acrylic paints with me with very little success. I prefer acrylics of all paints but honestly I’m a fail whale at taking them on the road. So instead I take Arteza acrylic markers and Prima watercolors. I brought the Terrain, Pastel Dreams, Currents, and Vintage Pastels Prima color sets. Both the watercolors and the acrylic markers are terrible in the big brown journal. They are better but not great for the other two journals I brought. Mostly I think I tend to over water/ink things because I am a mess that way.

Pens

I take a variety of pens: Sakura Microns, various black pens, gold and white gel pens and just a mishmash of a few others that I am enjoying in the moment. Other writing tools are grease pencils, regular drawing pencils, charcoal pencils, and this time vine charcoal. I also have a few fountain pens: one with green ink, one with blue gray ink, and one with orange ink. Three Krink markers in this bag as well: black, neon pink, and neon yellow.

I threw in my Sipa fine liners this trip because I knew I was going to be journaling a lot for my yearly retreat time. So these are less about big swatches of color and more about the writing I was going to be doing.

Crayon-like objects

I always take Neocolors 2s with me. They are versatile and are usable in a whole bunch of situations. They can be used wet or dry. Also they can look like crayons or like pastels. I love their ability to layer or to be solid blocks of color. They are probably some of my favorite tools and I have multiple sets. Behind acrylic paints, they are probably my favorite color making tools.

I also carry exactly one Sakura Expressionist Cray-pas in light green because it is the most perfect color in the world and it’s the perfect finish to almost everything I make. Or at least nothing feels very finished to me until I’ve added some of this color.

Other things

Also included in my kit are scissors, a glue stick, some bulldog clips, a couple of rolls of washi tape, and water brushes. So I can watercolor on the beach if the whim takes me. I also have deli paper in my kit because it’s great for using the glue stick on or using it as a splash guard under pages.

Paper

I brought a bunch of loose watercolor paper this trip so I could do some water coloring as the mood struck me. Sometimes I like to do smaller watercolors and then have those available in my stash for other artwork or journals. I also like to draw on them so I have patterned paper to use.

I also pulled a bunch of papers out of my stash. There is no rhyme or reason to what I pull. I just grab anything that catches my fancy. This time I brought a bunch of papers I prepped with acrylic paint so I could draw on them. Drawing over acrylic paint is a great way to add texture and an easy thing to work on in the car or hanging out around the house.

Packing it all

My goal is always to get it into a 13x8x6″ bag. (It’s the pink one you see in the video.) Traveling with my crew by car is always a special adventure because we usually have multiple instruments. That’s how this family rolls. So I like to keep my stuff as minimized as I can manage. I’ve learned that this bag helps me limit what I take into a manageable amount while still giving me plenty of supplies. Adding the box pen bag was a level up because I can zip it open and see all the goodies inside without emptying it.

This trip I brought the brown leather journal which had to ride in a different bag because it’s so bulky. Don’t worry though, I found a home for it in my laptop/bookbag.

What are you packing in your travel art kit? Tag me on socials or leave a comment here. I love to hear about what you all are taking with you!

If you don’t want to miss any news from me, sign up for my PencilBooth micro-newsletter! It will include a link to my most recent blog post, a couple of other pics/links, and a pic of Anwyn the studio dog in your inbox once a week! Sign Up here.