From a young age I was creative. I would pack a colouring book and crayons in my backpack if going on a trip in the car. Ensuring I had art supplies available was important for me during times of travel. This concept has remained true as I’ve transitioned into the life of a creative adult.
What I’ve learned from years of travelling with art supplies is that there are clear winners that transport well, are light weight, and most importantly allow for excellent creative potential.
The supplies that I’m listing are all mark-making tools that I use often. In all cases I am considering a sketchbook or other transportable art substrate to be of your choosing. I usually always choose something light and flat like a sketchbook because it’s easy! So, for my purposes the listed art supplies would be used with a sketchbook.
1) Pigment Liners and Pens
For the purpose of creating bold drawings comprised of single colour line work I gravitate to pigment liners for black line work or gel pens for coloured line work.
Some of my favourites black liners are the Staedtler pigment liners which come in a variety of line weights. A really amazing invention are the brush tip variety of pigment markers which allow for an even broader variety of mark making options.
For colour line work I love the Muji brand gel pens which come in a variety of colours and a few different line weights as well.
2) Pencils
This is the classic drawing tool we should all be familiar with. Really nice for on-the-go sketching, especially if you are attempting to create an image outside or in a museum. This is a particular favourite for me if I’m sketching on holiday because pencils allow the option for line work as well as shading for larger areas.
Some of my favourite pencils are created by Staedtler and I usually like to have a few different graphite weights such as HB, 2B, 8B.
3) Watercolour
Another classic art material for travel: watercolour. This material is a classic for a reason. Regardless of the form it takes the principles are the same, you just need to add water to activate! This means that you have great colour payoff, can mix colours, and create washes easily with just a bit of water.
I like to use watercolour as a means of adding large washes of colours to sketches when I’m on holiday. With more time watercolour is a great option for creating beautiful painted images easily, anywhere.
4) Pastels
Pastels are wonderful and feel like a throw-back to childhood to me. They come in a variety of colours and can be found in two primary varieties: chalk or oil pastels.
The chalk variety is as it sounds, chalky. This allows for a soft application and look, easy blending and removal. The downside is that it does require being “fixed” in place by either an aerosol or trigger pump adhesive spray. I’ve used a light application of the chalk without adhesive spray with not much issue in sketchbooks. I like this application in combination with the crisp lines of a pigma liner.
Oil pastels are like a more mature version of the wax crayons you’ll remember from childhood. They apply easily to paper or similar surfaces. Can be mixed to an extent on the drawing surface. Most important to me, they have wonderful colour payoff and do not budge which makes them a great travel friendly option.
The soft chalk pastels give a gentle wash of colour to any drawing. While the oil pastels have a more similar visual texture to dry brush oil paint application or wax crayons. The combination of the two pastel varieties can achieve an interesting visual look.
5) Colour Pencils
Colour pencils are beautiful in that there are an infinite number of colours and many trusted art brands that produce them. I personally love Prismacolor pencils for their even colour application and variety of colours.
I usually pack along one or two colours for my day-to-day sketchbook purposes because there are so many options. I’ll use the pencil crayon as an interesting colour variant in my sketches. If I’m going on a longer holiday and have the space I have packed a more comprehensive collection of colours allowing for colour gradation and more detail.
Final Thoughts…
Creating art while on-the-go is really helpful to me in my art practice and has informed a lot of my engagement with locations when travelling. It’s really easy to put together a small, lightweight travel art set for everyday use or your next holiday.
While I haven’t tried every art material available at my local art shop, I have found the supplies mentioned to be beneficial for my purposes when traveling. I’d suggest trying out different art options to determine what materials are most appropriate for you when on-the-go.
If there is a go-to art tool that you prefer for on-the-go art creation, please do mention it as a comment below. I’d also love to know if you agree with my suggestions.