A peek inside my pencil case: what I take with me when out sketchbooking

Tried and tested materials that are great for making drawings on-the-go.

Sometimes I make some new friends out sketch booking

First I’m going to start with a disclaimer, ok? 

Ok, here goes:

YOU DO NOT NEED to spend lots of money on the ‘perfect’ materials in order to have a regular sketchbook habit, or to do ‘good’ drawings.

Phew. There, I said it.

I promise I’m not just being contrary, and I will list some materials below. I haven’t lured you here under false pretences. It’s just that I have been there, too, looking at all the expensive, special or trending art materials and thinking I can’t start my next drawing until I have them. 

While it’s true that we all have materials we prefer to use, and can enhance our work, this hunt for the right materials can also be a great way to procrastinate and never actually start drawing! 

If all you can find is a Bic biro and a scrap of old envelope - you can start. So what are you waiting for?

Read on Substack

Sketchbooks

So first things first, let’s look at what I actually draw in.

What size sketchbook do you use?

I’ve spoken a bit about the sketchbooks I’ve used over the years in my previous posts on drawing from life, but I’ll mention again that when building my sketchbook habit, I favoured a very small A6 sketchbook because it felt less scary and was easy to fill a page in. They are also very affordable, a couple of pounds each.

I am currently working in A5 sketchbooks, having used A4 for many years previously. This switch has been mainly due to the reduction in time I can spend out drawing since becoming a parent last year. I find I can fill a spread in an A5 comfortably within 15 minutes or so, whereas an A4 I need more time than that.

I still have an A4 sketchbook but I use it now at my desks when working on book ideas and other things. If you have time, and space in your bag, I’d highly recommend getting comfortable in an A4. It allows for lovely big marks, and for you to capture lots on one spread. This is particularly good if you want to capture people in your scenes, which I find harder in an A5 because the figures end up being quite small.

many sketchbooks from over the years, different sizes and brands.

What about the paper?

For me, it’s important that the sketchbook paper can tolerate wet materials because I like to lay down colour before going out to draw sometimes, and have a preference for wet material. This means I’m always looking for a thicker paper - probably 180gsm plus. The sketchbook brands I’ve found to be best for this are Pith Supply and Hahnemuhler. Though I must admit neither are cheap, I find they are worth the extra spend.

I like Royal Talens for their hard covers, and the paper is still quite nice and thick. I can paint in them, but the pages do curl a little. They are also an off-white, creamy colour, which I don’t mind but some people may have views on. I also like Seawhitesfor the paper, but find the soft covers mean my sketchbooks can bend a bit. I need to be a bit more careful when taking those books out, but they are also at a very reasonable price point so good for people who might just be testing if drawing from life for the first time. 

Wet media

Wet media is my favourite. I love the fluidity of painting and drawing with a brush. Prepare for this section to be the longest!

What inks do you use?

My acrylic ink and drawing inks, alongside my trusty dip pen and a few nibs.

I use a few different inks in my sketchbook and illustration work. I love putting acrylic ink and water down as a layer in my sketchbook before I go out drawing and letting it dry. I do this to give me something to use as a background mid-tone, so that I’m not starting on white paper and have something to play with. Acrylic ink is great because it won’t re-take on any water, so you can paint over it with no issues at all. I have a few different colours, and you can also mix them.

I use waterproof black Indian ink with my dip pen, which I normally bring with me even if I don’t end up using it. Dip pen is how I always prefer to do my line work, but it’s not always convenient being out and about with an open bottle of ink. I’d need to be sitting down for that, and I’m not always sitting down for a drawing.

I might also pack a non-waterproof indian ink if I have space, or am going for a big draw. The water soluble one has a nice granulation to it that I like. I just have to remember that it’s not waterproof when adding other layers! 

What paints do you like using in sketchbooks?

For paint, I like to use an old palette I’ve had since I was a kid because it’s easy to travel with. I only re-discovered it a few years ago and it’s served me well. It’s from a brand called Pelikan, but I can’t even tell you what kind of paint it is, only that it feels a bit thicker than watercolour but isn’t quite gouache. It’s water soluble, so not really suitable for an underlayer.

Using my Pelikan set in the park.

Sometimes I bring watercolour, but I find it’s a bit slow to use out and about as it takes too long to dry the layers. I have this very ancient and well loved palette by Windsor and Newton, which does the job because I’m not a massive watercolour fan.

My ancient watercolour set, with some pans missing.

I like to bring a tube of white gouache with me if I want to add any white elements, especially if I’ve got a pre-painted layer of acrylic ink down. I might pack a few colours if I’m feeling fancy. Gouache is my favourite paint, because you have the option to make it watery or thicker and stronger,  depending on what you want to do. I have some very old tubes of Daley Rowney gouache, though I prefer Windsor & Newton. I used non-acrylic gouache for years before discovering acrylic gouache a few months ago, which was something of a revelation. I bought this small set of Holbein tubes as a test pack.

Small sample of the types of gouache in my paint drawer.

Side note: what’s the difference between acrylic and non-acrylic gouache?

Maybe you all know this but I didn’t. Non-acrylic gouache, or ‘designers gouache’ as it’s called on the WIndsor & Newton tubes, is not water resistant. You can layer it, but each new layer re-activates the previous one - like in watercolour. The overall effect is a bit more chalky on the page.

Acrylic gouache on the other hand, is water resistant, so you can layer up without impacting the previous layer. I like adding watery layers of this, knowing that each one won’t change once it’s down. I haven’t experimented with taking acrylic gouache out with me, and I’d say one downside is that because it dries very fast on the paper, it also dries very fast on your palette. So you end up potentially wasting some unless you’re quite careful to only squeeze out a little.

Dry media

Ideally, I like having a mix of wet and dry media. I’m probably always more drawn to wet, but I like how the two interact on the page.

My box of various Neocolours, chosen pencils and a few pastels.

What about pastels?

Neocolour 2 are water soluble, and are a great compact way to bring along the option to paint without having to pack a whole palette. I have a little box of them in various colours. They’re also quite affordable so you can build up a collection over time.

Neocolor 1 are non-water soluble so act as a really nice wax resist under wet media, or over the top of it. I always pack a white one of these with me, and actually desperately need to order a new one. I love the red one too - great for London buses and postboxes, and also just because I love red.

I don’t have many pastels, but I do like taking one with me if I can. They give a nice contrasting texture to wet media, and are great for softness on the page.

I have an Art Graf stick (which you can also get as a pan/pot) and I love using this dry as well as wet. I can use the side to make bigger marks, and the corner to make smaller ones. It’s also nice and unpredictable. Things that do both wet and dry are probably my favourite for sketchbooking because then you have more materials and options in one material.

A drawing made with some carbon pencil over the top of wet art Graf.

And pencils?

I have a confession, which is that I’ve always struggled with pencils. Perhaps I’m not patient enough? I like my line to be very fast. 

There are a couple of exceptions, and actually most of them aren’t traditional pencils. First one is a blackwing pencil. A bit of a ‘trendy’ or ‘hyped’ material in the illustrator’s world, I wasn’t sure if I’d like it, but when I was given one (a Blackwing ‘Matte’) by my Mum I must admit they are nice to use. They are quite dark, and very soft, so it feels more expressive and ‘quicker’ than the pencils I’ve tried before.

I also like using a carbon pencil, and/or a chinagraph pencil. A carbon pencil can be used dry, or if you’re drawing on a wet surface it can make a lovely dark line. A chinagraph pencil is something you can draw with over most other materials, as it’s actually meant to be used on pottery, or camera film.

Other useful bits and bobs

A drawing made on a very wet, windy beach in Wales. And necessary bull clips!

If you’re drawing in bad weather, or strong wind then bull clips are very useful. I love drawing in bad weather! 

A cup of some sort for water is handy, but in case I don’t have one I always pack some water brushes. I highly recommend getting a multi pack of these water brushes with different thicknesses.

Tissues, or a bit of loo roll is great to use over paint, or just to take to mop up any spillages.

I never pack a rubber in my pencil case. I don’t use them - not showing off I just can’t be bothered. Sketchbooks are for making a mess in and if I have to draw something twice, on top of each other then all the better. I can look back and see where my previous attempts are, which is more useful.

But Carys, do you have back ache from carrying all this around with you?

No. Because the final important thing to mention is that I never take EVERYTHING with me. Firstly, this isn’t practical, but secondly, limiting my materials means I don’t get decision overload. The only time I might being more materials is if I am going for a day to specifically draw - which sounds very dreamy and I think I’ve only done about once in my life.

So there you have it - a rundown of the materials I like using when sketchbooking. This post ended up being longer than I thought it would be, so thanks for reading all the way through if you’ve got this far.

Now that you know what I like to take with me when I go out drawing, I encourage you to remember this is only what works for me and everyone is different. Experimenting yourself will introduce you to what you like best. Happy sketchbooking.