July Trend Report: Our Favorite Supplies
by Charles Leon and Anne Kupillas.
Many of you have been asking us exactly what supplies we bring when we’re sketching on location. So Charlie and I want to do a deep dive on this subject, and go into detail about brands, sizes and more.
Charlie’s Favourite Materials (notice the UK spelling, that’s the Queen’s English there, that is!). All links to materials are at the end of the section.
Pencils. My favourite go-to pencil is the Pentel Twist Erase 0.5. It’s a simple mechanical pencil with a very comfortable, soft grip. I tend to use an HB lead but occasionally change it to a 2B, which is a little more brittle but get really nice dark lines.
When working at a larger scale, or if I want a really soft expressive line, I take out my green Faber Castell 3mm with a 4B lead. This is a clutch pencil, and I carry a lead sharpener to keep it “on point”.
For life-drawing where you want soft fluid marks, I have a 5mm Faber Castell clutch pencil. When using this, I tend to hold it a long way from the point. It means that you can get very gestural strokes.
Beyond that, I used to use charcoal or red Conte chalk, but these are very messy but fun.
You need to have a putty rubber (eraser) as this collects the graphite rather than smearing it.
I always carry a penknife because sometimes you want a flat point or a very long point on your pencil or chalk.
Pens. I used to use nothing but an Artline 200, 0.4 fine liner. In sketching for work, these are fast and reliable. However, when doing architectural sketches, we primarily use very cheap rolls of very thin paper that we call “Butcher paper” (I don’t think that’s what it’s really called).
However, since combining a little more watercolour into my sketches, I have had to find something a little more waterproof.
Pilot makes something called a DR Pigment pen, which has a 0.1 nib. It’s very fine, but the problem with that is that the point runs down very quickly, so you can get through a lot of them.
There are many other fine-liners out there; always make sure that you get either permanent ink or waterproof ink so that when you add watercolour, the lines don’t bleed.
Fountain pens and inks. I have been collecting fountain pens since I was at school. I have hundreds, but there are only two that I highly recommend for sketching. The Indigraph is the only fountain pen I have found that can take and hold Indian ink without drying out. This is because Indian ink contains shellac, which is made from the shell of a little beetle and dries to a hard, waterproof crust. This is fabulous for old-fashioned dip-pens but absolutely kills fountain pens. It would be the equivalent of filling your car with diesel rather than regular lead-free petrol (gas). It clogs the engine.
There is a solution, though, Noodlers ink. I don’t know how they’ve done it, but Noodlers is almost totally waterproof and can fill any fountain pen.
My absolute favourite fountain pen is the TWSBI Ecot made in Taiwan. I love the look, feel weight and flow of this pen. With a fine nib installed, this is the perfect sketching pen. It glides across the paper and gives a lovely fluid stream of ink. The nib has some flexibility which allows for a reasonable variation in the makes you make. Nothing is worse than have a fountain pen where the ink doesn’t flow as quickly and spontaneously as you sketch. The reservoir is huge, so it goes a long way.
I have a couple of Fude nib pens (the nibs are angled backwards), so you can get thick and thin lines). These were, I think, initially developed for calligraphy, but I know some of my sketching friends love this nib. Whilst I can see the benefits of what it can do, I’ve never really got into them. Too much in love with my TWSBI.
Stacks of Sketchbooks, all of them get used regularly.
Paper. I love cheap paper. I love that you don’t have to be precious about what you do and that with something like the butcher paper, you can put a layer over layer. Scribbling down ideas quickly and then amending them with an overlay is one of the joys of creating and developing ideas. I don’t like having to feel that the paper is more important (or expensive) than the ideas. I like to draw fast most of the time.
That said, in recent years, I have slowed down and found great pleasure in sketching slowly and deliberately. Watercolour paper has always felt a little intimidating, but I’ve recently begun appreciating the difference between cold-pressed (lots of texture) and hot-pressed (smoother texture). Also, sometimes it’s nice to make the paper itself add character to a sketch.
I love buying sketchbooks; I just can’t help myself. Every new sketchbook is a promise of the joy and pleasure it will bring. At the moment, I use a cheap sketchbook from Tiger Tiger, A Langton cold-pressed 300gsm (140lb) 10 x 7-inch watercolour spiral-bound pad, a Langton hot-pressed 300gsm (140lb) pad, and I also have an Arches aquarelle, pure cotton 185gsm (90lb). The difference with theArches pad is that it is bound on four sides, so it remains unwrinkled when you add water.
Without any doubt, a spiral-bound pad with a nice stiff back is best. I don’t like having to remove the sketch every time it’s complete and file it somewhere. I want to be able to come back to a sketchbook and flick through it and see what story it tells me. I’m a huge fan of keeping a sketchbook or journal. Revisiting them years later always brings back floods of memories. I suppose it’s different if you produce sketches for sale; I don’t. I’ve never sold any sketches; I’ve always sketched because It keeps me sane. It’s just as good as any meditation.
Paint. I have the same watercolour pan box that I had when I was at school. I’ve changed the colour many
times since then. There was a time when I only used one colour, Sepia when I wanted to paint like
the old masters. The truth is that I think I was too much in love with drawing that I forgot to use colour.
The pan box I have is from Windsor and Newton, and so are all the pan colours. I keep a little piece of paper with a little thumbnail of each colour to see what each one looks like. If I’m painting on location, I will always take plenty of water, some paper towel to dab off too much paint or dry my brushes and a little sponge to mess up the paint surface.
Brushes. I have lots of brushes accumulated over the years, but mostly I use just three. They are marked 0, 3/0 and 10/0. More importantly, they’re made from squirrel hair. Perhaps not as good as sable, but sufficient for me. What I think is essential for a watercolour brush is that it should; hold water well, come to a point, and have some spring in it. In addition, you want it to be responsive and not too floppy.
Just sketch. I don’t think you need to sketch for any purpose, except for the sheer pleasure and as a record of your life’s journey. I don’t think it really matters what medium you use; just do it. Sketching, if done regularly, is a way of thinking and observing. We all get so busy that we don’t often stop and look at what’s around us, the ordinary and the common. You don’t need a glamourous location; you just need eyes, a brain and anything to record a moment. Use drawing, painting, diagrams, symbols, words, anything that connects you with where you are and what you’re thinking.
LINKS to Where I buy most of my supplies:
https://indigraph.myshopify.com/
https://www.twsbi.com/products/twsbi-eco-black-fountain-pen
https://www.pentel.co.uk/product/twist-erase-automatic-pencil/
https://www.faber-castell.co.uk/
https://www.daler-rowney.com/the-langton-watercolour-paper/
https://www.winsornewton.com/uk/paint/watercolour/professional-watercolour/#product-info-sets
Anne’s On Location Materials Kit - it all fits in the one bag
Like many on-location artists, I pride myself in being able to carry everything I need in one bag.
Whether you like a tote bag, a backpack or small rolly cart, try to stay light – that way you remain agile and can save your energy for sketching. My tote is lightweight (no hardware, it’s made of raffia) but sturdy with thick handles. It also holds a lot! This is what’s inside:
Sketchbooks. Like Charlie, I can’t resist the allure of a new sketchbook! I regularly carry two sketchbooks, a large one by Speedball and a smaller one, usually one of my Field Artist books. I prefer cold-press paper with a lot of texture.
Speedball has a beautiful bumpy texture, and is nice and thick – it can take a lot of water. It’s listed as 140 lb/300 gsm but it feels thicker. The textures is similar on both the front and back of the pages. It also has a clear plastic pocket on the inside of the back cover, which you can use to hold business cards, all sorts of scraps and loose paper. You can get it for under $40.
Field Artist sketchbooks are beautiful leather bound creations, hand stitched and with a cross-hatched textured paper, and bonus fold-out panorama panel at the back. They range in size from 4” square to 6.5” -- these are truly pocket sized. Check out the Field Artist store to see all the choices.
Loose paper. I often will tuck a few pieces of 9x12” Arches into my kit, especially when I know I want to do a more “complete” painting, rather than just sketches.
Palette. Big News! I recently bought a new palette! I’d been using a small Windsor Newton 12-pan palette for a decade, and wanted to try out bringing more colors along with me, and also to have more flat pan space for mixing. The Color Around aluminum watercolor palette has space for 30 pigments and has two divided wells plus a large flat area for mixing. It’s light as a feather and snaps open and shut easily. I’m loving having more color options and figuring out which ones I’ll keep and which ones I might change up, depending on the location or season. This brand makes a variety of options, from 13 to 65 (yes, you read that right!) wells , all in compact sizes (nothing over 14”x 6”).
In terms of colors, I recommend you start with a range of earth colors for your on-location painting. I use Ochre, Burnt Umber and Raw Sienna a lot. I also really like Daniel Smith Titanium Buff, as it’s great on its own for sand and mellows most other colors nicely. Sap Green, Cobalt Blue by Daniel Smith and Sap Green serve me well for many surf, turf and sky scenarios. Add in a warm yellow, a warm red and perhaps a violet, or an indigo or gray to punch things up, and you are probably set for almost any scenario. But don’t limit yourself – if you want to bring more pinks or blues, then go for it. I’ve been loving experimenting with more vivid colors lately, and find that the Viviva Colorsheets are a great addition to my traveling kit.
They come in a little booklet and weigh nothing, so they’re perfect for this particular use (16 colors, $20 plus postage). Look for my next blog post about these amazing pigments!
*One caveat I will say about experimenting with colors – if you only take a limited palette, test the colors out BEFORE you go on location. There’s nothing worse than being out and not having colors that work for you, or work together.
Size isn’t everything.
But there’s also a saying that variety is the spice of life! Choose which saying works best for you!
Brushes. It’s tempting to bring all my favorite brushes with me, when painting on location. But it’s just not possible, although I am considering doubling up on a few so I have one at home and one in the kit in the car at all times. Until I pull the trigger on that, I carry only a few brushes – a #6 pointed round, a #8 pointed filbert, a flat wash brush, and a #1 detail brush which comes to a nice point. When I feel adventurous, I tuck my fan brush or dagger into the kit that day, to change things up.
Pencil, pen and eraser. I carry the same items which I would use for ink-only drawing. That said, it’s very trendy right now to add pencil or crayon over the watercolor, and for this technique I’ve been using Blackwing’s colored pencil set. It comes in a lovely box with 12 pencils, which are really all I need. I also always carry a Blackwing Dark Black pencil and sharpener. I like the soft, dark marks I can make with this brand. They used to be only sent from England, but now lots of American stores carry them, like Dick Blick. I also use a waterproof finalizer most of the time, like a Micron or EtchrLab series.
Water receptacle. I love the collapsible rubber Faber-Castell Clic & Go Artist Water Cup, because it has scalloped edges that act as a paintbrush rest. You can find this cup at any art supply store.
Clipboard. I found a genius horizontal clipboard at Daiso which is perfect for my needs. I can tape a loose sheet of paper down to it, or use it as a lap table. You can also buy these at office supply stores.
Etc. Artists’ tape, small travel spray bottle of water, for wetting the page, cloth for blotting (or paper towel), and extra rubber bands or clips in case of a windy day. Also, don’t forget to fill up your travel water container and grab your sunblock and hat! If you’re going near standing water, you may want to bring bug spray, too.
*A note about stools and easels – A lot of plein air artists use a travel easel and travel stool or chair. I prefer to stand or sit where I can find a spot, because I want to carry as little as possible. I’m not against these items – I just prefer at this point in my practice to not use them, and be able to move around more easily.
Summary. For me, less is usually more, and when painting on location I like to be mobile and agile. Some days, I’ll just go out with my small kit and one small sketchbook, plus a water bottle. Especially when I’m a tourist, it’s important to be able to have just a few materials on hand, so I can grab a minute to quick sketch on whatever corner or plaza, at the moment I’m inspired. So, try not to get loaded down and focus more on quality – your favorite materials – rather than quantity.
LINKS to many of Anne’s favorite materials:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Field+Artist/page/7C3665A2-BEB9-4C82-8A1C-840DF881B2C5?ref_=ast_bln
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B088ZT5994/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_3?smid=A27CXYDFTK4JM8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N5OMQYX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 palette
https://vivivacolors.com
https://www.dickblick.com/products/blackwing-colors-coloring-pencil-set/?gclid=CjwKCAjw87SHBhBiEiwAukSeUbU_yxEUzoT9FO-Dq2SK4LdZhJotHReEqrjOGIJ2thWgBD13duccchoCf2QQAvD_BwE
If you’re interested in drawing and sketching on location, with a group of great artists, then I hope you’ll check out the art retreats we’ve planned, with Charlie and I as leaders at www.eatpaintlive.com We will be hosting day workshops and art retreats with small groups (no more than 9) in stunning locations. I invite you to join us on the first retreat in Ojai, CA in September! There are just two spots left – hope to see you there!
And check our individual blogs and live art streams out on Instagram to see what we’re up to daily:
@eatpaintlive
@charlesleon917
@anneQPdraws
Thanks for reading!