In August we asked our Facebook group to let us know what their small travel watercolour kits looked like and we had a response from Janet Hathiramani

“This is my very tiniest one for the days when I just want to take my kit in my pocket. In the little mints tin are 6 Daniel Smith watercolours squeezed out into a cut up pill strip.  Into the mesh pocket go a travel brush, a travel pen, a pencil stub and a soluble pencil stub plus a wax stick.  I made the sketch book myself and it contains three different papers.  The elastic on the outside edge holds a small water brush.  When zipped up the whole kit measures 9 x 12 cm.  All good for a tiny on the go sketch.”

We loved it and started asking around at urban sketchers events and at other events to find out what everyone liked to use for travel purposes.

Three interchangable kits

The following is from Gemma, a veterinarian who loves to play with paint.

The large set

On the left: 30 watercolours and 2 metallic gouache paints along with a TWISB eco pen, three travel brushes, a mechanical pencil and a kneadable eraser and a small chamois cloth. Most of the half pans were bought separately and filled with tube paints (mostly Daniel Smith).

On the right: Tiny magnets were super glued to the bottom of each halfpan, as well as the chamois.

By using magnets, the weight is slightly increased, but it helps later when she wants to reduce her kit size and stops the half pans from shifting around.

The medium kit

The medium set uses the metal tin from a watercolour postcard set (left top)

Left bottom and right: The medium set can easily take 12 half pans, travel brushes, a mini spray bottle, a micron fineliner, the TWSBI eco pen, a white gel pen, a travel masking fluid pen and the kneadable eraser. The chamois cloth fits perfectly in the lid.

Smallest

The smallest kit is in a metal tin that used to house some fancy soap

For this one, can comfortably fit the Daniel Smith essentials set of 6 primary colours and the mini spray bottle. The smallest travel brush can probably fit, but for this set she carries a waterbrush as a separate item. If she is flying and needs to conserve space and weight, this is the set that comes in most handy.

Unlike Janet’s tiny kit, all three of these do not include the sketch book, but then depending on the trip, the artist can adapt the paper to suit the environment.

If you have any favourite travel art kits or tips for painting while on the go – let us know and we would be happy to feature you in our next newsletter.

If you want the creme de la creme of travel sets, don’t forget our sponsor, Daniel Smith Watercolours have half pan sets available from your favourite art outlet.