Here is the list of supplies I bring with me wherever I go.
Opaque Watercolors.
I love the intense color I get from using opaque watercolors. My favorite so far are Pelikan brand. I get these at DickBlick.com.
Really, Really nice paint brushes.
More than anything I use, a great paintbrush keeps me painting. My finest brush I bought over 20 years ago and it still performs beautifully. It’s so old Windsor & Newton doesn’t make it anymore, but there are equals out there. Generally the more expensive brushes (exceeding $20) are handmade of natural hairs. If you invest as I have done, and care for them, you will love the act of painting for many years to come. A great final painting is just a bonus!
Watercolor Paper.
Watercolor blocks are great for full coverage since the edges of the paper are held tight until dry. I carry a butter knife with me to separate the pages, but any flat tool will do as long as its not sharp like a knife. If that’s all you got be careful. I have sliced through many nice pieces with my pocket knife.
Another great canvas-on-the-go to have is a watercolor field journal. I use this when I am working on several paintings at the same time, or I am just sketching and don’t mind if the paper gets a little warped.
A cup for your water.
While this is very elementary and hardly worth mentioning, I thought I would share a bit of a discovery about using a collapsible cup. The pill holder part of the cup (you can see in the photo below) creates two water reservoirs which was handy as I worked with different color intensities at the same time. When I was done creating all my colored stripes I was left with “dirty” water that had enough pigment in it to create a beautiful taupe color that coordinated with the rest of my piece.
These little color explorations were a joy to do, and the capture the spirit and colors of the Grand Canyon as I experienced them in Havasupai Falls. This coming weekend we are going to Coachella Music Festival. I am interested to see how different the colors are and what inspires me (besides the music.) I can’t wait!
