The field kit

Published by neil on December 30th, 2006

Less technology in my life is proving to be a good thing. Although it has been so necessary in the past, technology can help you lose touch with genuine creativity. All too often the ideal technological solutions become the quest rather than the creative endeavour itself. Process surmounts purpose.

These days, the Palm tends to stay in the desk drawer, and even the camera is less frequently dusted off in favour of the ‘field kit’. Impractical as it is to constantly carry around all the necessary equipment to supply whatever creative art urge might strike, some versatility is necessary. I am fortunate in that I love monochrome, pen and ink being my most commonly chosen medium - I’m lazy, pens are easy! But here and there colour is essential, and so watercolours are needed, but they require water, brushes… ah, there goes the convenience.

It has taken a while - and I’m not quite there yet - but my day-to-day field kit is taking shape nicely. All fitting into a relatively small bum-bag - small enough that I can sit in comfort without removing it - this kit goes with me pretty much wherever I go these days.

From upper left, clockwise, here’s the kit contents:

• Bum-bag. Just something we picked up on a whim one day.
• A5 cartridge paper sketch pad. The ring bindings are a touch big for my taste, but the paper texture and weight is ideal for pencil, ink, and even light watercolour.
• A small plastic bottle of water.
• A Rotring Art Pen. Fine nib, wonderfully versatile and expressive. I have used these for many years.
• A tatty old sable brush. This one will be replaced once I can locate a reasonably priced reversable field brush.
• A Pentel Graphgear 1000 mechanical pencil. Most people hate drawing with these, but my primary pencil technique when I was an illustrator (a good many years ago now) was using pencil with a fine point, so I use these more than any. Rremember, I’m lazy and hate having to stop to sharpen!
• A relatively new Windsor & Newton Cotman watercolour MINI set. This is a very cheap set but far superior in many ways to most field sets available - most are far too fragile to offer confidence in taking them out and about. I am a little unhappy with not having Artist quality pigments in there, but they will have to wait until I have a spare £50 to buy the colour pans I prefer. The set folds away neatly, contains space for mixing, and a small reversable brush stored in the lid. The price (around £12) is remarkable for its usefulness - highly recommended.
• Last but by no means least, a Moleskine (of course) watercolour book. This is a new acquisition and I’ve yet to use it, but I suspect it will live up to the usual Moleskine standards.

All this kit offers the ability to draw, sketch, and paint virtually anywhere, at a whim, and without labouring over a cumbersome outfit. Results from this field kit can and will be on my ‘sketch‘ and ‘drawing‘ Flickr groups.

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Tags: art, Art & Illustration, Creative, creative_endeavour, drawing, field_kit, General, Illustration, Personal, rotring, self_development, sketching, Watercolour
Posted in Art & Illustration, Creative |