Toolkit Time

what I brought and what I actually used

I have lots more posts written about the trip, but they’ve gotta get checked over by my pal Adrienne at AMNWR, and she’s still on the Tiĝlax̂! So til then, here’s a post about what I took with me for drawing in the field, since a few folks were asking. Not pictured is a 12.9-inch ipad pro, which I only used on the ship.

I had fantasies of doing plein air watercolors in a beautiful wildflower meadow…

…but realistically this happened only once and the painting sucked. I rarely got enough time in one place to do a full painting, so more often I’d do an ink sketch and add color back on the Tiglax from a reference photo.

Or I’d make black and white ink wash sketches, which I could get done real quick.

Here is what I brought with me:

clockwise from top left: pencil case, watercolor sketchbook, watercolor stuff, regular sketchbook

We’d be active all day, so most times I’d pack as light as I could, which would be my just pencil case and my sketchbook/s.

My pencil case is this great stand-up one. I’ve had it for ten thousand years and it’s pretty gnarly but the zipper still works.

I use a homemade version of the Midori Traveler’s Notebook. If you’re not familiar, it’s a modular notebook/sketchbook system where you hold several different smaller books together inside a leather cover with elastic. It’s a Whole Thing - you can look it up online. They’re expensive but it’s very easy to make your own: just cutting up some leather, punching holes and stringing elastic. What I like about it is that you can have multiple kinds of paper in one book, and it’s easy to swap them out as your needs change, or refill as you run out of a type of paper.

mmm, book sandwich

I brought three different kinds of book in mine, with refills in case I filled them: a banditapple blank sketchbook, a lined Midori notebook for notes, and a homemade book in the same dimensions, full of 93lb Bee Paper (I chopped up a big sketchbook and stitched them together with basic bookmaking supplies).

The Banditapple paper is right in my sweet spot of being lightweight (lots of pages!) but not too see-through, and holds up to a little ink wash without getting too warped.

The Bee paper is heavier (fewer pages) and can handle watercolor, though the colors wind up a little washed out.

Everyone is always curious about pens. Okay, pen nerds, here you go. Left to right:

• Uni-ball gel pen (never used it)

• Ai liner brush pen (never used it)

• Pentel Pocket Brush (used it to spot blacks)

• Uni-ball white gel pen (used it for highlights/corrections)

• Pilot Kakuno fountain pen (full of Platinum Carbon ink. Used a ton)

• .5 and .7 twist-erase pencils

• Muji .5 gel pen (never used it)

• Pentel Pigment Brush (used the most)

• Mini water brushes (with a green-grey and a purple-grey diluted ink in them. used a ton)

• white Sakura eraser, and a kneaded eraser wrapped in plastic so it doesn’t get everything scummy

If I did it again I’d ditch the stuff I never used and bring a second refill for the Pigment Brush pen. I hit that one hard.

If I thought I’d have more drawing time, I’d bring along a watercolor sketchbook. The paper is much better, has just the right amount of texture for ink and paint, and it’s perforated.

I’d also bring a little collapsible cup, my travel palette full of Daniel Smith and Winsor Newton paint (the pans have magnets glued to the bottom so I can switch out colors), and two travel brushes. I only used the bigger one. And paper towels. It all lives in a little baggu pouch.

I also packed this homemade Coroplast backing board, and a bunch of larger nice watercolor paper in loose sheets to clip to it. It’s light and it’s got that little cut slot to hold my watercolor palette in place.

Cute, right? I only used it once and didn’t finish the painting. I’d skip it. The sketchbooks were easier to deal with.

It doesn’t take up too much room all together…

…and fits nicely in this plastic waterproof zip pouch, which I’d throw in my dry bag for going to shore, or shove down the front of my waders while I was hiking around. I loved having the front of waders for storage, you could get EVERYTHING in there.

Extra credit but awesome: a cheap folding sit pad. I always bring it when I go hiking. It weighs nothing and makes eating lunch on a rock or wet grass or cold snow way better. It is awesome to have for sketching too. Though a lot of the time I was just standing with my pencil case open in the front of my waders. Waaaadeerrrrrs. I miss you…

Just kidding, no I don’t.