What watercolour painting supplies are best for travel, especially if you plan to be painting en plein air on location? Here is what I bring when I travel to art workshops. This kit will fit in a backpack or carryon luggage and is light enough to carry easily.

It's not better to overpack; while you think you want all those extra supplies, it's going to take you longer to set up and take down your materials, and weigh a lot more, and you'll end up painting less if you bring too much stuff.

This is the kit I bring, the basics fit in a 9x12 inch pouch and I add some extra paper when I plan to paint a lot. I have brought this kit to Italy, England, to Prince Edward Island, Arizona and hiking in my home area as well, and I treasure the memories my watercolour sketchbooks hold.

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Paint and palette: Bring the color palette you are accustomed to. I like this portable palette from Mijello for travel. LINK: https://amzn.to/3HCWuqc

The paint colors I’ll be using most will likely be these from my Daniel Smith dot card: https://www.dickblick.com/myaccount/b...
Aussie Red Gold
Carmine
Cobalt Teal Blue
Cobalt Violet Deep
Green Gold
Hematite Burnt Scarlet Genuine
Lavender
Mars Yellow
Moonglow
Nickel Azo Yellow
Opera Pink
Phthalo Turquoise
Quinacridone Sienna
Rose of Ultramarine
Sodalite Genuine
Venetian Red
Verditer Blue
Zoisite Genuine
...and Payne's Grey or Payne's Blue Grey
Manganese Violet from Schmincke: https://bit.ly/33Pm9Xl

Little extra colours in my palette right now:
Bloodstone by Daniel Smith
Horizon Blue Holbein

NOTE: If you are filling your palette with paint, please try to do this several days before you plan to travel, so that the paint has time to dry in the palette. And note that honey based paints (Sennelier and M Graham for example) do not set firmly and will often ooze during travel and make a huge mess. Glad Press & Seal wrap can help add another layer of protection to keep wet paint from spilling in your palette.

Brushes: your favorite brushes (I like round natural brushes or soft synthetic with long, flexible bristles, but a variety of brushes is helpful for making different marks.) Travel brushes can be nice although if you have a good brush roll for travel, full size brushes don’t take up much more room than travel brushes. The brushes in this video are made by Rosemary & Co:
https://www.rosemaryandco.com/waterco...
I use the R2 and R9 brushes from this travel line.

My favourite Escoda Versatil #10 rigger: https://bit.ly/3txbuga

Paper: I will be bringing a couple of watercolor sketchbooks
My favourite Etchr Perfect Sketchbook Limited Edition: https://etchrlab.com/products/tpssig...

9x12 Kilimanjaro Watercolor Paintbooks:
https://www.cheapjoes.com/kilimanjaro...

Hahnemühle Watercolor Blocks: https://bit.ly/444JdAR

or a good supply of artist quality, 100% cotton paper in about 9x12 inches. The main reason for bringing both sketchbooks and paper is that while one painting is drying, I can work on another piece of paper without smearing the first painting.
Arches watercolour paper at Blick Art Materials: https://bit.ly/3G0O2i7

Water containers: 12 water containers or collapsible cups
https://amzn.to/3vqYteL

Painting board or support to tape or clip your paper to. I use corrugated plastic (corplast) cut slightly larger than my paper. I bring two I can sandwich my paper in between the corplast and keep it smooth and clean while it’s in my suitcase.
Corplast boards: https://amzn.to/3TRg0aa
Paper towels
Masking tape
Bulldog clips (to hold down paper when painting outdoors)
Pencils, pens for sketching. I like an assortment of markmaking tools to help me feel playful when I’m sketching in a new place.

Easel: The En Plein Air Pro is my personal favourite for watercolour. Easy to set up and durable. https://bit.ly/3XxlzdB

If you prefer to sit when you paint, rocks can get uncomfy! Packing a folding stool (some camping stools have a zippered case and strap for carrying) might be a good idea for rural locations (i.e. locations without a cafe on site!).

Want to travel with me? View my current workshop schedule here: https://angelafehr.com/inpersonwork...