My Minimalistic Sketching Kit

The sketching kit I took on my trip to York

I was recently on a personal trip to York (you can read more about it here). Even though I knew it’s not strictly a sketching one, I decided to take my kit just in case I could muster up some time to do so. With that in mind, I made sure it was as compact as possible; for I did not want to end up with loads of unnecessary weight in my language from items that I won’t even use. I always take my moleskine daily pocket diary whenever I travel to keep up with the habit of documenting my daily memories. In case you are new here and don’t know what I’m talking about, here you go. Based on the above, my sketching kit is divided into two options depending on the sketchbook I am using.

Option number one / urban sketching kit

This one consists of my sketchbook, which on this trip I opted for a Moleskine Pocket Art Watercolour one. I wanted something small that would fit into my little pouch. Usually on my sketching trips I go bit bigger but since I knew I won’t be sketching that much I wanted a kit that is more portable. I kept my pens and stationary to the minimum all nestled in a pen wrap along with a small watercolour palette.

No matter what option I was going for I wanted to make sure it went into the pouch I intended for this trip. Though it is called a large pouch it is actually about an A4 size. As you can see from the picture I managed to minimize it to three travel brushes, one small watercolour palette. One of each. Pencil, fountain pen, white poscha pen and marker. These would all go into the pouch then into any bag that I am carrying on the day.

Option number 2 / daily sketching kit

Basically it will be exactly as above with two minor differences. The sketchbook would be replaced by my Moleskine Daily Pocket Diary and instead of the fountain pen for outlining and annotating I would replace it with permanent ink liner. Reason being, the paper in the pocket diary is much thinner therefore the fountain pen ink would bleed right through it. I also like to use my Rosemary & Co. dagger brush when I’m at home or in this case in my hotel room. It allows for multiple brush strokes and thicknesses without having to change brushes.

One thing that you would see with both kits is a small water container which I forgot on this trip. That could be easily rectified with just using a disposable water bottle you had on the day like I did.

To demonstrate more how small and compact both kits were, here are some pictures of the whole thing packed up. Bear in mind, on the days I was out and about I only had my sketchbook while the daily pocket one would be left behind which I usually sketch in when I’m home.

So, this was it. Small compact and would fit in any medium size bag. We all tend to pack loads and try to carry the whole studio with us thinking that we just might need that perfect pen or watercolour brush. Yet, we all know how deceiving that is and heavy in the carry bag on the long run. So next time you are out and about sketching, look closely. You will see that you are using about 10% of your kit. That’s the kit you should carry.