What's in the bag?

Packing for a three week drawing trip

I’m getting ready for my Big Drawing Trip. This time next week, I’ll be on the plane to Berlin. A week after that, I’ll be in Poznań for the Urban Sketchers Symposium. Then there’s another couple of weeks visiting old friends in new cities.

As is usual for me, I’m taking a Small Bag.

The bag

The bag is a 22L daypack, but I lived out of it for a year while travelling, so I guess it’s a yearpack. That trip was a big part of how I got started drawing.

The bag is pretty sentimental to me, and I was close to retiring it before Macpac rebuilt it last September.

The problem

Clothing is easy. I’m heading into the European summer and travelling in cities. I don’t need anything special, just a couple of merino t-shirts, a hoodie and some zip-off pants.

I love travelling with one small bag. I can move quickly, never have to wait for a checked bag and don’t worry about dropping the bag off at the hotel. The downsides are that I have to wash clothing in the sink at night, and I end up dressed the same, like a (nerdy) Simpsons character.

Oh well. I don’t care that much about how I look. I feel no temptation to take an extra T-shirt for variety.

But drawing is the main goal of the trip, so art supplies are a different story. It’s easy to justify including just one more thing. More supplies mean more possibilities!

But I know I need to stop, which is in part why I’m writing this post.

“It should be ‘two uniball pens and a Moleskine,’ but no. We have to get all emotional about it.” -

Brian Biggs

Not enough stuff isn’t ever a problem. They have shops where I’m going.

Anyway, here’s a deep and nerdy dive into my emotional support art supplies.

What I’m taking

Pens

Tombow Fudenosuke firm nib brush pen

I love this pen. I’ve been using it almost exclusively for a couple of years. Really black ink. Waterproof. Bulletproof. Cheap. I’ve been singing its praises for a while now, so it was pretty cool that Tombow recently sent me a bunch of pens for my trip. I’m taking half a dozen black ones, and I have them in red and blue too.

Pentel brush pen

Black. Inky. Super flexible. Waterproof. I mostly use this to add spot blacks to drawings faster than the Tombow.

Fineliner

Faber-Castell 0.5mm black fineliner. Gives a consistent line. Not much to say about it.

Sakura Gellyroll 1.0mm

This is my favourite white pen. I use it for highlights on top of watercolour.

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Watercolours

I keep all the watercolour stuff in its own little wallet to save messes.

Paint tin

The colours are Schminke unless indicated otherwise. Full pans: French ultramarine, transparent yellow, magenta. Half pans: Pyroll orange(Daniel Smith), cadmium red light, raw sienna, prussian blue, cerulean blue(Winsor and Newton), burnt sienna (Daniel Smith)

I recently wrote about my approach to colour mixing and why I choose these colours for

Introvert Drawing Club

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Da Vinci travel brush

It folds into the handle and fits inside the paint tin.

Borrence mop brush

This is a really nice brush, but I don’t know where to get it from. A friend gave it to me.

Collapsible water jar

I used to think these were pretty stupid and I just used any old plastic jar, but after getting one in the sponsored bag at the Urban Sketchers symposium in Auckland, I’ve found this thing pretty useful.

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Markers

Faber-Castell double-ended PITT pens

One end is a brush marker, one end is a fat fineliner (I think 0.8mm). I use the grey the most, but I also have red, yellow and beige.

Molotow yellow paint pen

Opaque acrylic marker. Good for adding bright yellow on top of watercolour or drawing on dark surfaces.

Posca pen in light blue

Opaque acrylic marker. Great for skies. I love this on brown paper.

Tombow brushpens

Tombow sent me their “desert flora” palette to try out and I love the muted colours. I’m taking a light and dark blue, pale grey, pale purple and light and dark brown.

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Surfaces

Etchr A5 sketchbook

This book is pretty fancy and is filled with hot-press watercolour paper. I probably wouldn’t have bought it for myself, so I’m quite excited about it. Thanks for the nice gift, Etchr.

Pocket brown paper sketchbook

Soft cover, fits in a front pocket. A gift from the kind folks at Sketchwallet. I like having a smaller, casual sketchbook/notebook too.

Tiny homemade concertina sketchbook

I had a long and skinny piece of watercolour paper from the edge of a sheet that I made into a tiny book. I have a specific plan for this. You’ll see the results in a future post.

Index cards

I like having small pieces of card for tiny leave-behind drawings and notes.

A4 wallet

Filled with loose sheets, mostly Fabriano Artistico hot press watercolour paper.

Plywood drawing board

I found an offcut of plywood on the side of the road, cut it to fit my backpack, and rounded off the corners.

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Misc

Bulldog clip and masking tape. Just for holding paper down.

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It’s maybe a bit too much stuff. I know if I really had to I could cut this down a little (fewer markers would be the first step) but everything fits in my daypack, and it won’t weigh me down.

I’m very excited for this trip. There’s going to be a lot of drawings.

Happy drawing,
Andrew

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Other things I’m doing

💻✏️ My in-depth online course “Bold lines, clear colours” is happening again on Vivify starting October 5. This is such a great platform for teaching because, as well as the live sessions, you get individual feedback on all your work.

Student feedback below 👇

“Thanks, Andrew! Super helpful tips and so appreciate your expertise, humor, and whimsy. Great class! 5 stars!” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🌳 There’s still one spot in my drawing and painting retreat in rural New Zealand in November/December.

✈️ Next weekend I’ll be in Berlin, heading towards the Urban Sketchers Symposium in Poznań. If you’re going, please say hi! My weekly posts will continue on the road in a slightly different format.