HOLIDAY ART KIT - TIPS & THINGS TO CONSIDER

I know how it feels – the holiday is booked and you’re looking forward to having some time to get creative but what on earth shall you pack; too little and you’ll feel ‘oh I should have brought that’ and too much ‘what a waste of space bringing it all’. You don't want to feel restricted but you also recognise that you want to avoid having so much with you that you are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of materials you have available. It is a bit of a balance so I thought I’d share a few things I consider when packing my holiday art kit.

How am I travelling and what restrictions are there?
How you travel will determine how much and what you can take on holiday. For example on flights there are restrictions of types of substances you can pack and volumes of liquids, plus limited baggage allowances – check with your airline. In this scenario you may prefer to buy all/some materials at your destination.
If you’re travelling by car you have more freedom but then the temptation is to take more than you actually need. Remember you need to pack clothes as well!

What are your expectations?
Knowing what sort of art you want to create while you are away is a good way to narrow down the list of materials you need.  Personally, I tend to concentrate on sketchbook work – purely capturing memories of the place I’m visiting. Acknowledging this allows me to narrow down my kit by striking off acrylics, palette knives/big brushes and boards/canvasses to paint on. You can do the same with your list when you work out what your intentions are art wise.
As an aside, getting creative is supposed to be fun so don’t feel that you have to create just because you brought some art materials on holiday with you – just do it when you feel in the mood to do it after all it’s a holiday.

Where will you be creating?
I also consider whether I’ll be creating work at my accommodation and/or only when I’m out and about. If I’m needing an art kit that I can carry this again prevents me from overpacking. Knowing where I’ll be creating art forces me to think about bringing items such as tablecloths to protect the furniture in the accommodation and making sure I have a bag to carry my ‘outdoor’ kit.

What is my outdoor kit?
I carry a small rucksack, something to sit on (I have a folding small stool but it could also be a plastic bag), kitchen roll sheets, wet wipes and then my art materials (small sketchbook, pencil case, mini home made travel box of bits of colour)
 
How do I reduce the load?
First of all I take a small hardback sketchbook no bigger than A5 – I use one that allows for me to work across the whole open spread rather than one that is ring bound. Hardback so I don’t need anything to lean on. Mine also has an elastic to prevent the pages blowing around but an elastic band works just as well.
I have a pencil case that holds soluble and non-soluble pens and pencils plus a pencil sharpener. I also have a water brush and make sure I’ve filled the water reserve. Instead of taking a full selection of colours I’ll cover the spectrum of colours I want available across a mix of mediums and avoid taking a duplication of colour eg I wouldn’t take an indigo Inktense block and an indigo watercolour pencil.
I also reduce the load I have to carry by avoiding taking the original product boxes and make use of broken stubs of eg Inktense blocks rather than the full size blocks. I create my own mini travel box of bits – one that I can just grab when I’m off out.
One thing I don’t take is an eraser as I’m not worried about making mistakes – I’m only working in a sketchbook.
 
So what did I actually bring on my recent holiday?
I intended doing sketches outside and some studies back in the accommodation. I took:
A selection of sketchbooks (Seawhite) – a variety of sizes and paper weights to allow for a mix of materials: small hardback sketchbook for day trips., 8” x 8” hardback sketchbook 160gsm paper and a 10” x 10” softback sketchbook for use in the accommodation.
My mini travel box of bits of Inktense blocks
A selection of inktense pencils, watercolour pencils and Neo color II crayons – note that I like soluble materials!
Faber Castell aquarelle pencil 8B
Faber Castell graphite pencil 4B
Art Graf Soluble graphite stick
Berol fineliner black pen – you can pull the ink with a damp brush to create lovely effects.
Biro – permanent allowing for washes over it.
Derwent water brush.
A view finder – so I could use it for my ‘take time to notice’ process. Check out the blog about this here.
Collage paper (selection of colours/patterns), scissors, brush/water pot and matt medium as glue
 
What did I wish I had brought along?
White acrylic paint – because I wanted to combine it with a collage I was working on but other than that I didn’t need it.
A charcoal pencil/stick – I fancied something that gave darker marks in the rain!
 
I think I  travel reasonably lightly but you really could travel with less – there are no rules about what you should take. You could just make use of papers that you acquire on holiday to draw on e.g. postcards, paper bags, maps, receipts, packaging etc and limit yourself to a single pencil and pen. You can create patterns with stones/vegetation, make marks in sand/earth and photograph what you create. You could just record everything that catches you eye on camera to explore later in the studio.

And above all, whatever way you get creative, just enjoy it!