Watercolour field kit

  • Home made pochade – following James Gurney’s instructions – to hold a sketchbook or watercolour pad. Mine is a little bigger than his to fit an A4 pad or A5 sketchbook (It’s A4 when open…)
  • Manfrotto BeFree light weight camera tripod (shared with my oil kit)

Home made sketchbook holder

Home made sketchbook holder

  • Water container – held in place with Blu-tak
  • Pan watercolour – this set is Schmincke. It’s a big luxury box bought on special. I find that I don’t use all those colours. A smaller set weighs less too.

Home made sketchbook holder

 

The bag I use is just a kid’s school bag – the built in pen pockets are great for holding brushes

Plein air sketching kit

 

Sundry items worth remembering:

  • Paper towels and a rubbish bag – I save plastic grocery bags
  • Bug spray and a hat
  • A bottle of water to fill or refill painting water
  • Watercolour pencils and watersoluble graphite – my preferred brand is Faber Castell because they are easy to get in Western Australia. It’s not a full set just an assortment chosen from loose stock & added to over time.
  • A few graphite pencils and an eraser. I like the KUM long point for graphite pencils but also carry an ordinary one for the colour pencils.

Pencil roll

 

  • Fountain pen – I love drawing with a fountain pen (especially one with a nice flexible nib) but I don’t like taking one out in the field because I am very likely to lose it. Instead I use a Platinum Preppy converted to an eyedropper. I have made a few in different colours – Noodlers Lexington Grey or Bulletproof Black. Right now I am trying the new Super5 Frankfurt grey. (I choose inks which are waterpoof but still safe for a fountain pen so it’s possible to draw in ink and then put watercolour over the top.)