Sketching Tools

Sketch kit

The Venezia Fabriano sketchbook is worn, and nearly full, after eight months. (This is one of the first sketches in it.) I usually sketch with a Lamy Joy fountain pen (EF nib), filled with De Atrametis document ink, then add color with a waterbrush.

I now use the second palette from the top of the stack--a Sennelier sampler with the plastic insert removed, then lined with empty half pans filled with various tube watercolors. There should also be a  small spray bottle (to pre-wet the paint) and a paper towel (to squeeze the waterbrush into between colors) in this drawing.

Interested beginners may want to start as I did*, with a 5x8 Strathmore Visual Journal for Mixed Media, a Micron felt tip pen (fineliner), and a Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolor Sketchers Pocket Box (includes a tiny travel brush).  Get a small spray bottle to wet the watercolor a few minutes before starting. If you plan to sketch away from home, you will find a waterbrush, along with a paper towel, useful--eliminating the need to have a cup of water to rinse your brush between colors. (Hobby Lobby has sketchbooks on sale every other week, and you can use one of their coupons on the palette.)
_________________
*The books that got me started were Gina Rossi Armfield's No Excuses Art Journaling and Cathy Johnson's Artist's Journal Workshop, followed by a few of Danny Gregory's. (Can be found in local library.) Sketchbook Skool kept me going. More recently, Craftsy has enabled me to focus on areas of interest and refine skills.