contents of small sketch kit

Following yesterday's post, I was asked what I currently carry in my small sketch kit. This, of course, is subject to change on a whim just as my selection of paints. 😆

From left to right, there's a wee mechanical pencil, a Mark's Inc. Tous Les Jours ballpoint pen, a Pentel mini waterbrush, a small bit of a white eraser, two Liliput fountain pens (one with brown ink, one with a turquoise-like ink) and an extra refill, a mini spritzer, a contact case holding water, a plastic ruler, a mini sketchbook (this one, Hahnemuhle's ZigZag) , a Demi paint palette, a clip, and two Rosemary travel brushes (a squirrel mop and dagger).

The turquoise ink is not waterproof, as shown by the smear in the upper right. I use cartridges in these pens, as I've never found a converter that worked well.  My turquoise choices are Kaweco Paradise blue (a very light turquoise) and Graf Von Faber-Castell Deep Sea Green (a deep teal). The brown is waterproof, DeAtramentis Document Brown.

During the COVID-19 shutdown, I have watched several art demos online, including Maria Coryell-Martin's weekly demos and Barbara Luel's daily confinement journal sketches (both can be found on YouTube). From Maria's chat with Katharina Stoll, I learned about carrying water in a contact case. From Barbara, I heard about the Tous Les Jours pens, which are waterproof.

My small case came from JetPens.com -- It's called a Lihit Lab Smart Fit Compact Pen Case. I've tried several small kit cases; this one seems to fit in most bags and easily holds just the essential tools.

This card is tucked in as well, showing my current limited palette.

And for a serious sketch time away from home, I carry lots more in my Art Toolkit from art-toolkit.com -- I bought this case as a "factory second" at a reduced price during the company’s moving sale because the lower right pocket stitching was too tight to fit a regular Pocket Pallet. So I removed the stitching and added a temporary safety pin to make the two pockets holding two Pocket Pallets. I plan on stitching it at some point; I'd just rather get out and sketch rather than sew!