My cousin messaged me the other day and said that she was going to visit her sister and they wanted to do some art journaling together. She wanted a list of materials that she should bring to work with. I was making a mental list and then I decided that this would make a great blog post…especially since it is summer and vacation season.
She will be traveling by car, rather than flying so the possibilities are greater for carrying a variety of materials. You can make it as simple or elaborate as you want. The materials can be inexpensive or you can spring for the fancy, latest, trendy art supplies. Here is a list of some of the basics:
- A journal with pages thick enough to handle water media. It can be large or small.
- A set of watercolors-they are easy to pack and much simpler than lots of bottles of acrylic paints.
- Optional-a tube or bottle of white acrylic paint to add highlighted areas or cover mistakes.
- Colored pencils-I like watercolor pencils because they can do double duty.
- Pencil sharpener
- Optional-oil pastels
- Graphite pencil
- Colorful markers and gel pens
- A sharpie
- Calligraphy pen
- Black Bic pen-they are great for writing over different media without getting clogged
- Fine point white paint pen
- Adhesives-glue sticks are non-messy or you can water down white glue to glue larger pieces. Make sure it is dry before closing the journal so your pages don’t stick together.
- Letter stamps and favorite image stamps
- Stencils and a cosmetic sponge to apply paint sparingly over the stencil
- Things to make textures like bubble wrap.
- Magazines with colorful images like faces and patterns to cut up and collage. If I am away from home, sometimes I like to gather materials locally like the brochures for local attractions, ticket stubs, tags, newspaper clippings.
- Some of your own photos that you would like to include.
All of this should fit nicely into a medium sized bag so it will be super portable.
Now if you are really limited on space you can make a miniature kit to travel with. This is great for when you are flying. When I am traveling out of the country, this is actually what I take.
- A small moleskine journal
- A tiny watercolor set
- A film canister for water
- A small mechanical pencil-extra leads inside
- A glue stick
- Folding scissors
- A Bic pen or other fine point black pen
This fits easily in a carry on bag or in a purse. (Even my tiny purse.) This one is good to carry with you anywhere just in case you are stuck waiting somewhere or if inspiration strikes you to record a memorable experience.
I hope this helps! Leave me a comment and tell me what your favorite travel art journaling supplies are.