My portable sketching kit - Art Toolkit

This is my “ultra portable” sketching kit that I’ve been using for a couple weeks. Ok, so there’s smaller out there. But this is pretty limited. And darn good so far!

This is from the company Art Toolkit, a company created by Maria Coryell-Martin. Maria describes herself as an expeditionary artist. I really enjoyed the interview she had with Mike Hendley on his Drawing inspiration podcast.

So, ok, yes, you can get much smaller than this - A tiny notebook and a pencil is an ultra portable sketching kit. Add colors? Ok, take a tiny Altoid tin and plop 4 half pans of colors. Yeah.

But this just… Works. It’s small. All contained. I can grab it on the way out the door and be ready to do a quick sketch at any point I can squeeze 15 minutes in.

I’m still playing with configuration - what am I actually going to have and carry with me. I’m aiming for small. I’m also not hoping to work on large sketches. Here’s what I have for now:

• A watercolor palette. This one is from Art Toolkit. It’s their “Pocket Palette”. It’s 1/4” thick, and 3 5/8” x 2 1/4”. I currently have 16 colors in it, but I’m going to change that in the near future. It’s way too many colors for what I’m using it for. Limited palette will be better. But that’ll be the topic of another post
• A mister. A small spray bottle I can use to spray the colors in the palette to rewet them.
• 2 magnetic clips. These are intended to be fridge magnets, but they are good to keep the sketchbook open, and snap the palette onto.
• 3 waterbrushes. 2 by Pentel, and one random one that has a flat head. I’m thinking of limiting this to only 1. The large one by Pentel.
• 1 Sakura Micro 005 fineliner. Sepia brown. Because I think the marks are less harsh than black pen. Ironically, I learned this in a Domestika course by Felix Scheinberger a few years ago. And he was using a black fineliner when I met him for a sketch walk last month with Urban Sketchers Vancouver. Felix is anything but stuck in his ways! But I like brown and I’m sticking with it these days!

Sketchbook

I’ve got this Stillman & Birn Beta series small softcover A6 portrait sketchbook. I haven’t opened it yet but it’s the only small sketchbook that fits well in the cover. I was disappointed that the sketchbook I really wanted to use was too big for it. I couldn’t close the cover properly.

But since I started in the sketchbook I really wanted, a Hahnemühle A6 portrait 100% cotton watercolor book, I’m going to keep going. I’ll just carry them separately for now. I’m going to finish that sketchbook before opening the other one. Because I need to force myself to finish sketchbooks! Especially when the paper is so nice.

Some sketches done with this kit

The following sketches are a few ones I’ve done since getting this kit. These are done in the Hahnemühle 100% cotton sketchbook

• First quick one - tree
• Good life
• Quick one at border crossing
• Quick one while waiting for take out

Time will tell

In the words of the Great Immortal Buzz Lightyear: To Infinity and Beyond!

I’m working hard to develop a sketching habit. To do it on location. To work quickly. To lose the idea of “let’s make something beautiful”, in exchange of forming my eye to see, my hand to draw what my eye sees.

I think the Art Toolkit is going to help me with this goal.

More thoughts

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