I can’t help but watch videos where people share what’s in their purses or backpacks. They’re a fun way to learn more about someone and their interests. If it means I’m nosy, so be it.
It’s only fair that I share what’s in my bag after my voyeuristic swiping on Instagram reels. To keep within the theme of this Well-Appointed Desk, let’s take a tour through my illustrated journal travel kit.
What is Illustrated Journaling?
It’s exactly how it sounds. It’s part journal, part sketchbook. Sometimes it’s called visual journaling. I first learned about this from Danny Gregory, who has multiple books about his illustrated life. I highly recommend his books.
As a novelist, it’s easy for me to fill pages and pages with words in my journal. (Writing my novel is a whole other story. Ha!) I’ve always enjoyed drawing but couldn’t build a regular drawing habit. The magic happened a couple of years ago when I combined the two! My partner had hurt himself and was mostly bedridden for three months. I became his caretaker in addition to our kids and my work responsibilities. Sitting down in the evenings with my illustrated journal was my me time. No one needed anything from me at night so I lost myself into my journal and art supplies.
I’ve taught my intro to Visual Journaling Class at the DC Pen Show for two years now and my kit mostly remains the same. The kit I put together for my students are very similar to this. I try to be a minimalist when it comes to travel kits.
My intention for this travel kit is that I can grab it and quickly toss it into my tote bag for out-of-the-home adventures. However, it mostly stays home and moves with me from my home office to the couch to the bedroom so that I can sketch while I binge the latest season of The Diplomat (review: meh).
The Bag
It took me a few bags before I settled on this no-name pencil bag. I chose it for its compact size. It’s small and not too thick. I liked that it has loops for pens, pencils, and paintbrushes but also pockets for other supplies.
This bag measures 7.5″ long, 4.5″ wide, and 2″ thick. The other bags I had held too much. I know, it’s weird problem, but too many art supplies to choose from leads to overwhelm and decision fatigue. If you’re looking for a similar bag, it’s very close to Lihit Lab Book style case.
The Sketchbook
My favorite sketchbook for my illustrated journal isn’t really a sketchbook. I fell in love with Take A Note’s Record Master Journal because of its compactness and paper, 68gms Tomoe River Paper. I’ve used both the OG TRP and the new TRP-S in these Taiwanese notebooks. They handle my watercolors, gouache, acrylics, and fountain pens beautifully.
I’ve tried other types of sketchbooks and notebooks, but have stuck with this one. The form factor and paper makes me happy. I do watercolor sketchbooks that I use but not for my illustrated journaling.
My Watercolor Palette & Brushes
I’m a huge fan of Art Toolkit palettes. (Don’t ask how many I own.) These palettes are very slim and available in three different sizes. In my purse, I carry the Pocket Palette, which is the size of a business card case. The Folio, pictured above, is their largest. When I’m painting quickly, I don’t always have time to mix colors so I prefer having a large range to choose from. I admire artists who only need a handful of colors to create their art.
This palette is filled with Daniel Smith and Qor watercolors. I also have another Folio palette filled with gouache that I use with my reading journal.
In the zippered inside back pocket, I keep travel paint brushes, a pencil sharpener, clips to hold my sketchbook open, and an in cartridge for my Pentel Pocket Brush pen. I keep a piece of an old cotton t-shirt to use as a rag for cleaning off my brush in between colors.
Drawing & Miscellaneous Tools
My workhorse drawing pens are the Hongdian Black Forest fountain pen with a fude (bent) nib and the Pentel Pocket Brush pen. I keep both inked with De Atramentis Document Black since it’s waterproof and allows me to paint over my sketches. Even though I carry regular paintbrushes, I mostly use my water brush since it’s not always possible to have water jar.
I carry a Tombow Mono drawing pen (03 tip) that has pigment ink so it’s also water resistant, but I hardly use it. It’s there for backup, I guess. I keep a Tombow Mono pencil (first one I grabbed from my pencil jar) and Tombow Mono Knock Stick Eraser.
Things I don’t use often but are handy: a small water spritzer to help me wet my paints or refill my water brush, Uniball Signo white pen for highlights, and an Ecoline Brush Pen. The Ecoline is a new addition so I’m not sure if it’ll stay.
How Often Do I Change It?
I’m constantly re-evaluating what stays in my travel art kit. Even though I have the travel paint brushes, I hardly use them because I don’t carry something to hold water. I really should remove them. Same with the pencil sharpener since I usually draw directly with my fountain pen.
This is the most minimalist my kit has been. In the past, I kept a dozen colored pencils. They weighed down my bag and I didn’t like how they felt on TRP. Out they went!
Follow me on Instagram to see my most recent illustrated journal pages.
Do you have a travel journaling or art bag? What do you keep in yours?
I love Yarka St. Petersburg watercolor paints. They used to come in a sturdy plastic rectangular box that had a small mixing palette inside and room for two or three brushes and or pencils. They have changed the design of the box so I reload my old boxes. I have 4 or 5 of these paint sets because I often paint with my grandkids. You can buy single pans to replace used paints and I’ve added a few colors from my tube watercolors to supplement. I prefer the original palette of 24 paints. They’ve created different paint combinations which I’ve never tried. The pan paints are soft and don’t wear out my brushes like sole pan paints do. I can get nice saturated colors. And the colors all mix really well. I’ve painted all over the world and I can always mix the right colors for the environment—from the Antarctic to Alaska to Sonoma I can get the right colors from this one box of paints. I carry drinking water most places and keep my bottle of font-India ink for my Pelikan fountain pen in a plastic jar. If water is scarce I can pour some of my drinking water into the plastic jar. I’ve also used pill bottles and (now vintage) film bottles from the prodigal age to hold small amounts of water. You can see how I work from photos on my website.