Travel Art Supplies :: Japan/Thailand
I’m an over packer by nature.
As a little kid I would stuff virtually every CD I owned, at least 3 books and as many colored pencils/sketchbooks as would physically fit inside my backpack just to go on relatively short road trips. (Sorry Mom and Dad!)
It’s not that I fear being be bored, or have to be occupied at all times, — I actually really enjoy the feeling of “nothing” to do, I’ve just always felt a supreme need to be prepared. What if the car breaks down in a beautiful field and I want to draw? Better have my pencils. What if rains all day and our hiking plans are cancelled? Better have my sketchbooks.
These over-packing tendencies begged to be carried over into my international trips - but baggage requirements and the realistic weight of what I can actually carry have dictated otherwise. Over the last 3 or 4 adventures abroad I’ve whittled down what I consider necessary and have ended up with a pretty good list for creating the art I want to create while away. I’ve been asked a few times on instagram to share what I bring, so here is my complete list of art supplies for this 2017 Asia trip.
Art Supplies - Japan/Thailand 2017
Document tube + a few sheets of paper from home.
Tube acrylics
Acrylic brushes + plastic palette
Passport-sized Moleskine sketchbook (generally kept with my passport)
4 x 6 watercolor book (cold pressed)
Sennelier watercolor travel palette
9 x 12 Fredrix watercolor canvas pad
9 x 12 watercolor block (hot pressed)
Watercolor brushes (Escoda, Golden)
Washi tape
9 x 5 watercolor sketchbook
All of this fits into my carryon backpack except the document tube, which gets carabiner-ed onto my checked luggage. True it doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for non-art items, but with my phone and iPad I’m pretty well set for the flights. At the end of the trip I’m sure re-evaluate what I used the most/least and tweak my list again - but I think out of all the trips we’ve gone in the last 2-3 years, this has been my most successful packing list. What about you, how do you pack for art-inclined vacations?
