Granted, you may find yourself sorry you don’t have X, Y or Z with you—I’ve done that more than once. But really, if I don’t have six different pens, I simply decide that the two I have will do just fine. I may get a different effect than I’d originally planned (or hoped for), but sometimes that’s truly a happy accident.
You can also adapt. Use one of the tools you have as a substitute, or in a different way. Consider tools that can do double duty. I always sharpen the ends of several of my wooden-handled watercolor brushes so I can dip them in paint to draw with or scrape through a wet watercolor wash for interesting linear effects. Also, cutting the end off a too-long brush helps it fit in your travel kit, which is handy, too, because it’s difficult to find a large folding travel brush, and sometimes I want to be able to make a broad, wet wash.
Consider sharpening the end of one of your brushes. It’s like having two tools in one!
Pick up a stick, dip it in your palette and draw with it.
Add washes later if you want more color.
Cut up an expired credit card for a super-lightweight scraping or scoring tool. Make it an irregular shape so it’s extra versatile. The planes and shapes you’ve trimmed the card to will allow you to scratch dark lines into a wet wash and scrape out lights of varied widths when the paint has begun to lose its shine.
If you’re a watercolorist—or even if you just need to add a whisper of color to an ink or pencil sketch—that have-to-have, essential list generally amounts to a brush or two, your pigments/palette and a source of water. Many traveling artists choose to make do with folding or telescoping travel brushes, a tiny travel palette and a source of water. You may prefer a waterbrush that combines a brush and water supply in one, but the largest brush is rather small and none hold much water, so you will need to work smaller than 5" × 7" (13cm × 18cm).
British artist Sue Hodnett keeps it pretty simple. She gets delightful results with small watercolor blocks for sketches, a palette, water container and a folding travel brush.
Make yourself a note of what you truly needed the last time you were on the go but forgot to pack. Then keep the note with your gear! For some reason, with me, it’s tissues. I use them to blot a spill, wipe a too-wet brush, make textures by wadding and touching a wet wash. How I consistently forget to pack them, I’ll never know.
Once in a while I forget to refill my water container, too. My dear friend Vicky Williamson used to know to pack more and shared with me. Bless the woman! So, yes, it’s a good idea to make yourself a checklist and look at it before you head out.
Roz Stendahl uses a tiny kit (like When Are You Able to Sketch on the Spot) when sketching at the Minnesota State Fair. She works standing up, surrounded by hundreds of people, and manages just fine!