Zip up Outdoor Watercolor Kit

Now for medium size portable painting kits that have their own case or can fit in a backpack or messenger bag. They come with a variety of supplies. You can add some of your own like I did here.

This entire kit zips up into its own case. It even has its own wrist strap. See it in use here with a description of contents. It's still small enough to use comfortably in the car.

Additional materials shown: small plastic mixing palette, 4"x6" watercolor sketch block and tiny Altoids mini kit. I can use the Altoids kit for quick field sketches in the small sketchbook. For larger field studies, I squeeze out fresh paint on the plastic palette and use my 9x12" Kilimanjaro Paintbook, a 10x14" watercolor block or 1/4 sheet 200# Saunders Waterford paper.

Michele's South Pacific Studio

Short list of "studio supplies" for painting in Hawaii:

Sunshine, tropical breezes, palms, swimming pool, beach one block away, sunscreen, hat, camera, watercolor paper, paints, travel kit with brushes, pencil, eraser, water, sponge, Starbucks coffee and blueberry scone.

Have I forgotten anything?

Field Kit Lite

This is the "lite" version of my field kit for painting watercolors. Click image for larger picture. I used this almost exclusively this summer from August-September.

The easel is an Anderson Travel Easel that has its own quiver-style carrier case. It has quick release, telescoping legs, and adjustable tray-support with little hinged arms that hold your brushes (see the right side) and painting knives. (I use the easel left arm to hold my Yarka palette if I'm not holding the palette on my arm.) The Velcro strap is permanently attached, so it holds my water container.

The board is gator board (16x22") and I stack two or three half sheets of watercolor paper on it, then clamp all together with four large Boston clips (Bulldog clips)

The water container is from Daniel Smith, Inc. It collapses down to a flat disc for easy transport when empty and has a ridged handle to keep it from sliding sideways on the holding strap. I squeeze out my sponges and store them in the flattened container.

The black bag on the ground is a waterproof rain gear "yoga bag" with one shoulder strap, a top zipper and a long back zipper. It has two small zip pockets and a long elasticized pocket on the front.

I will take a photo of the bag and its contents for the next post, so you can see how it all fits easily. Please let me know if there is anything else I should add to this description.