Clearing up the art supply clutter the other day, I found an old piece of watercolor paper that was taped and divided for 6 studies. I knew it was old because the last time I used black tape was around 2012 when I was still in art school.
I immediately cut the paper into 6 individual squares and put one in my purse. The next day I did a small watercolor cloud study during my lunch break. I did the same the following day and in a couple of days I had three little studies that I otherwise wouldn’t have done if I wasn’t because of the size of the piece and the materials I took with me.
If you’re like me, you probably have a full time job (to pay the bills) and that doesn’t leave you with a lot of time to spend in your studio working on your actual pieces. I love making studies, because I learn a lot from them, but with my limited time, when I’m home, I actually want to work on my big paintings and linocuts… so what do you do? make everything tiny and take it with you!
I have a tendency for working very small (check out my Bottle Cap Paintings) so I took advantage of that and made a portable miniature (and minimalist) painting kit. My supplies include:
- 0.5 mechanical pencil
- Ink brush
- Water brush
- Limited Watercolor palette (I made myself a miniature one with the smallest Altoids tin and polymer clay)
- white charcoal pencil
- your choice of pre-cut paper, or small sketchbook
See, if you have your supplies with you at all times, you will be doing some work whenever you get a chance. Whether it is studies of people, places, you desk supplies as a still life, or if it’s just doodling, you will be working on polishing your skills.
Happy Sketching Everyone!
Happy Sketching Everyone!
