What Should Artists Bring on Vacation?
Josh Brooks’ Art Supplies for travel
The Short Answer: It depends on the artist.
I am traveling from California to Australia for two months. Here are the steps I took while packing and preparing:
Match Supplies to your Travel locations.
Start with your actual practice, not aspirations.
Build around one core medium and add strategically.
Matching supplies to your travel locations are essential to determining the space you will have to carry with you. If you are going on a two week road-trip, then you may have the ability to carry your full palette and inventory with you. Longer distances that involve flying or backpacking involve more limitations.
Starting with your actual practice is beneficial to packing correctly. For me I like to paint landscapes and different abstract compositions of culture. However this is not practical. Instead of bringing those tools, mediums, and instruments you’ve been meaning to try out; bring what you will definitely use. This may be a tiny watercolor set, a tin box of oil paints, or pens and pencils.
Build around one core medium and add what else is needed strategically. I thought about what types of material I want to use firstly. This helped solidify what materials and utensils to bring. If you are traveling far, bringing huge canvases are not ideal. Instead figure out the steps to your actual practice. For myself, a landscape artist, I like to sketch first then paint in my home studio. This allows me to capture the moment in ink and transfer, update, and perfect my idea later when I am back in my studio.
The Art Supplies I am bringing to the other side of the world.
My Sketchbook Notebook
this is essential for me and was the first thing I thought to bring. It established a guideline of practicality.
Tan Paper
A canvas I want to explore. This will fit inside my backpack and is the largest item.
An Assortment of Pens and Pencils
My practice derives from sketching. I decided I needed to bring various points of pens and a few different pencils to fulfill my goal of creating new landscape paintings. My process is Sketch —> Painting. I am bringing ballpoint pens, brush tip pens, soft tip pens, and an ink container. This will allow me to capture the different textures of the world.
2.5 x 3.5 in Canvas Cards
I want to establish a new line of drawings of different brush tip ink illustrations. Traveling is a great way to begin this initiative without taking up to much room in my bag.
What I hope to Capture in Western Australia:
The beautiful and empty beaches down south. The kangaroos on the wineries. The power of the ocean. The surfers challenging its strength. The culture of these surf towns.
Follow me on Instagram to not miss out and see what I create while I am away.
