On the Road - Going portable

If you want to take your art on the go, you’ll need to pare down to the bare necessities and work out some sort of organized way to take what you absolutely have to have with you. This may be in your purse, in your car or in a suitcase on a plane.

This is where watercolor really shines over oils or acrylics. Not that you can’t take any of them traveling, but watercolor seems to be more hassel-free. With oils you are going to need solvents, canvases are bulky and will not necessarily be dry when you have to transport them, both oils and acrylics come in tubes, acrylics need their own solutions to reduce drying time and clean up and such. There is always the danger that TSA will confiscate something and you’ll end up at your destination sans one item you have to have and no supplier around to buy more. Or some tube of paint will explode in your luggage if the pressure drops.

Not so with watercolor.

You can squeeze any tube of watercolor into a half or whole pan and let it dry for a few days, pop it into one of the many travel palettes there are and that’s it. Spray with water a few times, wait a minute and your watercolors are ready to use. But do check the manufacturers. Some reconstitute better than others and some never quite dry in some climates. That is why I use Daniel Smith.

I like metal palettes so I use the Whiskey Painters palettes made by FOME, Italy. I can replace them and the plastic half or whole pans if they get lost or stolen.

I'll use the standard palette that will hold 8 or 12 half pans. This is probably plenty big enough for journaling and urban sketching.

Or I'll use the master palette that will hold 16 or 24 half pans or, if I fold the separators down, can hold 8-12 whole pans. This is probably my favorite palette and I think I own four of them, each with a different kind of paint inside. If you're doing plein air, you may want a larger color palette. This is my go-to palette for that.

I bought this travel palette from Portable Painter when it was still an Indiegogo campaign. It is a clever design and has a lot going for it; two water cups with edges that hold your brushes, stable like a little table but it only holds 12 half pans and not the standard ones. You can contact Portable Painter to buy extra pans that fit.

For those wishing to go really small there is Expeditionary Art. Their palette is the size of a business card holder and the paint pans are small makeup pans that hold about a quarter pan. If putting together a plein air kit is a bit overwhelming, they even offer a ready made kit with everything you'd need.

If you have a few travel brushes you’re set. THIS is an interesting set. There are three handles and a number of different brush heads that attach to them, all organized in a case. The brushes are synthetic and aren't horrible. For the price it's not bad.

You might consider the ProArte Prolene Plus travel brush set from Jackson's Art in the UK. As of Jan 1. 2018 the set was 32 GBP or $43 USD. Amazon has the same set for $54. It's a #10 round, flat and filbert. Pair it with a Stillman and Birn 8.5 x 11 Beta or Zeta journal and you're set. If you want something more high end there is a set of six Escoda Versatil travel brushes, round 2,4,6,8,10,12. But I got mine on sale from Cheap Joe's a lot cheaper than amazon. The first travel brushes I bought were DaVinci and I didn't like them. The brush itself was OK but I didn't like the design of the handle and the way it screwed together. The connection is solid but they felt clunky in my hand. The handle of the #10 is huge. Way too pricey for the resulting discomfort and performance. Cheap Joe's has some nice travel brushes in 50/50 sable/synthetic. They work well and are reasonably priced, especially when there is a sale. If you want to go cheaper, THESE aren't bad.

I do NOT recommend the set of Jack Richeson travel brushes in case series 7130. They are cheap crap. I use them for my fabric medium when I use my Inktense pencils and blocks. I’ve repurposed the case and put my Cheap Joe’s travel brushes in there.

If I am journaling, I might only bring a single waterbrush. If a regular brush, a #6 round. If I were to add I would add: #10 round, Flat (1/2 or 3/4 inch), #2,  and lastly some sort of mop, probably a squirrel quill mop.

If you're going really small, you might opt for just one waterbrush and container. I've bought several of these because the brush performs well for a water brush and it is the smallest brush I've found so fits in some of my smaller palettes.

You can take a journal of any kind but I like the Stillman and Birn or I make my own by cutting down watercolor paper, punching tabs in it with a Circa punch and then using Circa discs to hold it. That way I can take pages in and out and rearrange them. But I am going to try the Stillman and Birn journals for a while as they are highly recommended. If you get them get the Beta or Zeta journals. These have the heaviest weight paper for watercolor. Not quite 140lb but close. The journals also lay flat so you can paint across the middle to make your painting twice as big as the page; 11 x 17. I have a few Hahnemule zig-zag journals but have yet to try them out.

You can even pack Arches watercolor blocks in your luggage or carry them with you as they come in assorted sizes and shapes.

You can usually get water in the classroom so you don’t have to bring that. I use two different types of water containers when I go to class. Either the Guerilla Painters Trio because they stack inside each other or two Faber-Castell click and go cups because I can rest my brush across the scalloped top and it won't roll.

When I do plein air (that's painting outside on site) I bring a plastic flask with a metal screw on cup that fits over the cap. I glue a magnet to the cup so that it will stick to my metal palette to hold it steady. It's the size of a shot class so I have to empty the water often but it works well for me. I have a 10oz and a 16oz. I also use waterbrushes that contain their own water, making plein air ever easier and more portable. They are not as good as regular brushes so cannot be used for fine details or good washes, but for urban sketching they are fine.

If you’re simply traveling to and from class, you just need some sort of tote to carry your materials. You can pack more, but still keep it manageable. I’ve used a few different bags and the two I use most are the HandyCaddy and the Artist's Loft Essentials Bag. Both carry a generous amount inside and have outside pockets. They HandyCaddy occasionally goes on sale for look for it between $28 and $33. Look locally for the Artist's Loft bag. My local Aaron Brothers had it two for $7. If you have a coupon for Aaron Brothers or Michael's you might even do better than that.

When you do plein air, the less you carry the more you paint. If you carry too much, it's too much of a hassle to stop and get everything out and paint. So less is more. When I went to Italy my journaling class went out every day. I had a fanny pack and my Walkstool and that was it. The fanny pack was identical to the Winsor and Newton Cotman Travel Bag but instead it said North Light Book Shop. I bought it for $5, empty, on eBay. Identical except for the brand name. There are pockets front and back to hold a journal and my palette and 10oz flask. The middle section folds out and has pockets and loops for several brushes, pencils and pens. It has a handle on top and a belt for your waist. I had everything I needed and painted every day. If you can't find a North Lights on eBay it's cheaper to buy it from Jackson's. Just replace the Cotman half pans and with artists grade paints. Since they're really hard, you can usually pop them out cleanly.

If I'm going to class I take this tabletop easel as it can fit in my HandyCaddy or my Essentials Bag. I like the design of a bar holding the adjustable positions rather than a little wooden stick. I also have a laptop stand which is even smaller and lighter.

Lately I have been using a travel tripod and a Guerrilla flex easel. They are fairly small, light and portable when closed and adequate for holding Arches blocks when extended. Together with a Comfort walkstool they provide good support and are small enough to fit in a backpack along with the other supplies.

If you want to get really minimal, there is the Accurasee pocket caddy that straps on to a Stillman and Birn journal. The large fits the 8.5x11 and the small fits the 5.5x8. You can stick a small palette and waterbrush in the pocket and a pencil and pen in the loops and you're off.

Bring a Walkstool Comfort with you and you can stop and paint anywhere. Amazon is pretty competitive but try a few places. I think I ended up buying mine from a camping supply website. I recommend the Comfort Walkstool not only because it is very well built and sturdy but also because it is very comfortable. Remember, you may be sitting for an hour or three if you decide to paint plein air (outside.) That's a long time to sit on something that isn't a real chair. I'm all for a bargain and saving a buck but don't be penny wise and pound foolish. This is the stool you want to have. It will last you for years. It even comes with a handy carrying case cleverly designed to be worn over the shoulder or worn over both shoulders like a backpack. In it's case it is also small enough to fit into some backpacks. The stool, tripod and easel will be your bulkiest items. A palette and brushes can be very compact and fit around the three largest items all to be carried in a bag or packed in a suitcase.

For maintenance nothing beats The Master's Mini-Cleanup Artist's Survival Kit. It really is. It has a small container of brush soap, a stain stick and a travel size hand soap that is supposed to remove stains. (Although nothing gets out the Phthalos) I brought this with me to Italy and used the stain stick when I laundered my clothes and the small brush soap container to maintain my brushes. All very compact. Took both to Yosemite too. I keep both with my class materials for occasional brush cleaning when I finish early. The soap not only cleans but also conditions natural hair brushes. Maintaining your brushes will help them last longer, protecting your investment.

In a future post I'll upload photos of some of the portable set-ups I have. I use a few different tools and materials, depending on where I'm going, what I'm doing and how much I'm willing to carry. I'll also include easels although I don't use them much. The lighter and easier you can make the process, the more likely you are to paint. When you travel, if you can keep it small and light, you are likely to bring your materials with you. If it's bulky or heavy, you are more likely to leave it behind in the hotel room or just not paint. This is another advantage of watercolor over other mediums. You can easily sit on a stool and sketch without an easel or table. Small is beautiful.