When you enjoy hoarding art supplies and you’re planning on a trip, you’ll probably have the same dilemma like I do.

Which one should I bring? Should I bring my favourite journal or journals? Should I bring all my pens? All the blacks with different tips or the coloured ones? Let’s not forget watercolour. Which brand or how many palettes? The struggle is real!

I remember bringing almost everything. When I went to Vancouver last year, I brought all my calligraphy supplies. Then 1 watercolour set {Sakura Koi in 18 colours}, my pencil case full of pens, 2 journals and watercolour papers. Only to end up buying more when I was there. I had to leave some of my clothes in my sister’s house to have more space for my art supplies. Imagine how crazy I can be in hoarding.

Anyway, June was full of adventures for me. Been on a road trip to Camiguin for two weeks. Then to Australia a week after. I realised my carry on bag had more art materials and it’s quite heavy. So, I challenged myself this time to bring just a few and make the most out of it. Now the biggest question is – which one should I bring?

Let’s start with the basic or my choice of weapon all the time. These are basic for me because this can be used in so many ways.

• Soft tip marker {Zebra or Pentel Touch} – when you need to put labels on your boxes, ziplocks or anything that needs bigger and bolder text, this becomes very handy. If you just need something for lettering or sketching, this marker is also nice for artworks.

• Pencil and eraser {Stabilo} – for drafting.

• 300gsm Watercolour paper {Strathmore} – Instead of bringing a watercolour journal or sketchpad I just carry a thick watercolour paper and cut them into a postcard size {4x6in}. Easy to draw on and you can already use it as a postcard.

• Watercolour set {ZIG transparent in 12’s} – I normally like playing with black and white but sometimes I want to play with colours too. So a watercolour is a must. The challenge here is how many palettes to bring. I have not experimented my own palette yet so a handy watercolour is what I’m looking for. I like ZIG because it’s not heavy and I have 12 colours already.

• Watercolour detailer brush pen {Kuretake} – for small details or lettering, a detailer is perfect. But if you like painting landscapes, I suggest you bring another brush which is either #4 or #6.

• White gel pen {Uniball} – contrary to black, you can add white details to it or to the watercolour.

• Tissue paper – make sure to bring the thick one.

• 300gsm Watercolour paper {Strathmore}

Now, here’s the funny part. I used to pack my toiletries or other things in a cute small pouches until I discovered ziplock. It’s so handy, disposable, you can label it, then just throw it after. I got so comfortable with it that I also put my art supplies in a ziplock too, haha.

For our recent trips, I made a postcard size lettering for all the cities we went to.

These will be digitised then turn them into a postcard set. I might also do a postcard swap, so if you’re interested to join, email me at [email protected].

There’s my very handy dandy art supply. Surprisingly, these worked for me. What’s your travel art material must have? Leave me a comment, I would like to know…