Every time I leave for a trip I put together a travel watercolour kit to take with me. I’ve curated a kit after doing a lot of research, observing what supplies I gravitate toward in my studio practice, and which supplies are practical when painting outside.

In this blog post, I’ll share with you how to prepare a travel watercolour kit that works for you.

Essentials of a Travel Paint Kit

Drawing Tools

Pencil

Pack any pencil available to you, preferably with an HB, 2B or 2H lead, depending on what line weight you prefer. I carry a 0.5 mm mechanical pencil with an eraser insert.

Pen

Pack a pen with waterproof ink. I carry 0.1, 0.3, and 0.5 mm black fineliners because their ink is water-proof, lightfast and pH-neutral. Their nibs provide a great balance between hardness and flexibility, producing extremely controlled and consistent lines. Additionally, they are available in a wide range of nib sizes ranging from 003 to 08, and a decent variety of colours.

Eraser

Pack any eraser available with you. I carry a non-dust rubber eraser to erase pencil lines and a kneaded eraser to lighten the pencil marks.

Sharpener

Pack any sharpener available to you. I carry a reservoir sharpener with a two-hole insert- one for thinner pencils and the other for sharpening thicker pencils. The compartment of the reservoir sharpener holds pencil shavings, making it a perfect on-the-go sharpener.

Essential Non-art Supplies to pack in your Travel Paint Kit

Painting Tools

Which brush to pack for travel art journalling?

When it comes to paintbrushes, you have 3 options:

Brush roll– When travelling, watercolour brushes need to be carried in a brush roll to protect the bristles of the brush from getting deformed, and ensure that it maintains its shape.

Travel watercolour brush– Travel brushes are constructed in a way that the body of the brush serves the dual purpose of being the handle when in use and the cap to put over the bristle and ferrule part of the paintbrush when not in use. I carry a small (size 4/6) and a large (size 8/10/12) travel watercolour brush in my kit.

Water brush– This brush is a great choice because one it has a water reservoir which eliminates the need to carry a water jar and two it has a cap which protects the bristles of the brush. I like carrying a small and large bristle water brush for when I want to quickly paint something without putting out an elaborate set-up.

Which sketchbook to use for travel art journalling?

I generally use a sewn & glue bound hardcover sketchbook which contains hot-press cotton watercolour paper or mixed-media paper having a thickness of 200-300 gsm.

Both, heavy-weight cotton watercolour and mixed-media paper, absorb a good amount of water with minimum to no buckling. And the hardcover provides a sturdy backing surface for the paper.

I like to experiment with the sketchbook format, I gravitate toward accordion-style books, and portrait or landscape orientation sketchbooks, based on how I want to tell the story of that trip.

How to curate a travel watercolour palette?

Watercolours are easiest to carry in the form of either pre-poured pans or squeezing your own tube watercolours into a pan.

Student-grade watercolour paint

Student-grade watercolour paint manufacturing companies combine an increased quantity of additives and a decreased quantity of pigment. This, in turn, affects qualities like application, colour strength/ payoff, pigment behaviour, and lightfastness.

Certain brands like Winsor & Newton and Royal Talens Van Gogh provide extremely high-quality student-grade watercolours which can be great substitutes for professional-grade watercolours when you’re on a budget.

Professional-grade watercolour paint

Professional-grade watercolour paints allow the true qualities of a pigment like transparency and granulation to shine and provide ease of use.

Certain brands like Sennelier and White Knights provide affordable professional-grade watercolour paints, which are otherwise steeply priced.

If you’re on a budget, I would recommend starting with three primaries– ultramarine blue (PB29)/ phthalo blue [warm blue], quinacridone red/ rose (PV19) [cool red] and hansa yellow medium (PY97)/ lemon yellow [cool yellow], with an optional neutral such as payne’s grey or burnt umber. As you get used to the colours, you can slowly add colours of your choice.

My Current Travel Watercolour Palette

My basic palette, which is a collection of colours I gravitate toward the most in my studio practice, is always the starting point when I am curating my travel palette.

I customize my watercolour palette based on where I’m travelling. I do a quick Google image search to get an idea of the dominant colours of the destination landscape and make additions or substitutions accordingly.

I think a paint palette evolves with us as we grow in our practice. The colours we choose to put in our palette largely depend on what subject matter are we painting and along with our personal colour choices.

How to Personalize Your Travel Watercolour Kit

I like to add a set of oil-based colour pencils to my kit because I enjoy creating with them when I’m travelling. I love scribbling with my colour pencils while I’m waiting for my food to be ready or while enjoying a cup of coffee.

You can curate your kit to be as small or as big as you want it to be. You can start with just a small palette of 3 primary colours, along with a water brush & a small sketchbook or pack a sleeve full of collage papers in addition to your watercolour kit to create mixed-media art on your travels.

It is important to remember that your travel paint kit is YOURS. Take ideas from different places, like this blog post, but don’t forget to include supplies that bring YOU joy.

[P.S. This post contains links to supplies that I trust and use, to help you choose the best supplies for yourself. Some of those links are affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase through those links then I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It is a little something that helps support my art practice and the creation of free resources such as this. Thank you!]