In this video, I discuss the supplies I recommend packing for a day out sketching and painting in the field.There are several reasons I encourage you to work outdoors. One is that it will be a less intimidating, less formal venue for learning to use your materials. I mean, how serious can you be when you’re sitting at a picnic table with birds chirping around you and chipmunks trying to steal your snacks?

Secondly, the outdoors provides a relaxing and therapeutic location to get to know your journal, paints, brushes, and pens. Being surrounded by the natural world offers intriguing subject matter that will inspire you to observe and study its beauty; whether it’s the hue of a flower petal, the texture of a pine cone, or the patterns on a butterfly’s wing. Hopefully, you’ll be motivated to document these jewels in your sketching notebook.

In the video, I mention a blog post on bandanas (I call it a handkerchief in the video, wow does that really date me!) It’s called 47 reasons to pack a bandana on your next adventure and includes the myriad uses that I’ve discovered for them whether you’re in the great outdoors or traveling overseas.