I travel around a lot. In fact, I’ll be changing countries again next week. That’s when I remembered that I need to streamline my process for packing art supplies for travel.

My love for mixing colors made watercolor the perfect medium for me (among many reasons). I’ve been trying to figure out a system for packing my supplies as I love painting in different locations or, if I’d like to sound a bit pretentious, en plein air.

After a year of trial and error, here’s my current setup. Hope you’re able to get some ideas from this and incorporate that into your own packing!

THE GOODS:

Yep, here’s more or less everything (save a cup to hold water). I’ve been quite resourceful with that over the months. I started with a tourist brochure that I folded into a cup. I can thank my Japanese-influenced upbringing to help me with some origami skills.

STUDIO BAG

My portable “studio bag.” I bought this at a store Thailand called Moshi Moshi for a couple bucks. I guess I wear it with irony, since I used to live in NYC and would probably shun wearing anything that says NYC on my apparel. But now, since I just need to pack my art supplies for travel and not look fancy, I don’t care!

MY WATERCOLOR TUBE BAG

I kept a bunch of watercolor tubes in a big bag and they all got smushed, so I found something more respectful and compact. I feel like Marie Kondo would approve of this sort of non-violent packing. This case is courtesy of Moshi Moshi once more.

MY BRUSH CASE

I didn’t know it at the time, but when I subconsciously told my ex at a cafe that this would make a great gift (I really meant it! It was packaged so nicely and I would really buy it for someone!), he surprised me with it and wrote in a letter that he could see it “being a part of my world.” I didn’t know that my affair for painting would become an obsession, so I suppose he had some kind of foresight. This case was from Rosie’s Cafe in Hoi An.

WATERCOLOR BLOCKWATERCOLOR BLOCK

I’m a bit obsessed with paper now. I’ve tried the Fabriano Blocco Per Artisti 50% Cotton (saying this with a faux Italian accent as I write it), and now I’m trying this Extra White version and feeling excited about the 100% Cotton.

WATERCOLOR PALETTE

As an art baby (I’ve only just started teaching myself how to paint since last year), I really prefer experiencing colors from tubes and self-mixing. This is why I have an empty watercolor palette with area to mix and store my favourite colours.

PAINT BOARD AND COVER

If you ever go into those art shops, you’ll see big black bags that look grim. I completely made this system up and better yet, it’s ridiculously cheap. I have a wood board (can be found in most art supply shops) and a plastic sleeve that protects the outside. It’s so easy to travel around with!

I might not travel around with this all the time, but I always throw my bottle of masking fluid and masking tape if needed.

PENCIL CASE

I store all my pens, pencils, and my custom woodblock stamp in this lovely pencil case. The size to me is perfect – and it’s also waterproof!

THAT’S IT!

This is my current setup and I’m sure I’ll update this post if anything changes. Packing art supplies for travel can take a while to figure out, but as soon as you know what works for you, it gets easier. I hope my list is a good starting point or you get some ideas from it!

Til next time my friends! xoxo,

Jillian