Watercolor Sketch Kit Revealed

It’s a breath freshener! No, it’s a paint box! It’s two mints in one!

I wanted to show you what I took on the road to make pictures, on a trip with not enough time to make very many of them or space to put many extras. That car was tightly packed with everything a scientist needs to keep himself busy away from home for six months. I got to take a small overnight bag and whatever I could fit in my purse. And my banjo, which ain’t small (a Gibson Mastertone TB-2, made around 1929. It was a tenor when I bought it and became a glorious 5-string through the luthier’s magic. But I digress).

Waterpen. Holds about 1/2 an ounce of water refillable at a tap or stream near you.

Anyway, the barebones art kit that fits into my purse is this:

• 1 rapidograph pen;
• 1 waterbrush- a plastic handle contains water, which is squeezed into the bristles of the brush at the end. Ingenious. Has a cap to keep it from leaking. A gift from my friend Becky, where she found it only she can say;
• 1 Moleskine sketchbook, 5×8;
• 1 mint tin with empty half-pans (I bought them from Jerry’s Artarama) filled with dried tube watercolors. Double-stick tape holds them to the bottom of the tin;
• 1 .5 mechanical pencil with extra leads;
• A couple of pencils;
• A sharpener;
• an extra eraser;
• 1 Sharpie ultra-fine felt tip pen;
• a paper napkin to wipe excess paint or dab runny noses.

That’s it. Easy to take everywhere and forget you have it until you really want it, and then, there it’ll be.

Yes, it was cold outside- I put on gloves and warm coat and sketched until the waterbrush began to freeze.