What to bring when you sketch?

Oh my goodness! You are going sketching with a group of people and you don't know what to bring? Check out the list of suggested items in the right column on this blog. You really only need the basics, a sketchbook and pen or pencil. The type of pen or pencil is a personal preference, I prefer to use Sakura Micron pens in black or sepias/browns and I prefer Staedtler Mars Lumograph pencils, I am very picky about the pencils. Been using them since my college days....I like the tips on the Sakura pens, but that's my personal preference. A lot of people like the Faber Castell Pitt pens, or even the ol' Bic roller ball type pen. I also like the old fashioned pen and ink with the India Ink, but years ago I spilled India ink on my mother's Oriental carpet and have a whole new respect about traveling around with India Ink, it's better off in a closed pen form where it can't be permanently installed on clothes or your favorite sketch satchel, or your mom's carpet.

As far as sketchbooks, again my personal preference is a Hardbound book, for a few good reasons. First being, there's no rings to get hung up on stuff. Hardbound pages don't shift or move around so those great pencil sketches you did won't get smeared. And finally, a lot of the better hardbound books like Moleskine or Hand.Book Journals have sturdier pages that can stand up to wet worked sketches, like watercolor or gouache. I am actually kind of impressed with Hand.Book Journals, they crinkle and buckle a little bit, but they can handle loose watercolor. I also use Strathmore hardbound sketchbooks, they aren't too bad and handle water work pretty well, but the Moleskines and Hand.Book journals are a little sturdier.

Where to buy? Well, you can get the Strathmore books and Pitt pens at Michael's or A C Moore. Moleskines pop up everywhere, Borders, Barnes and Noble, etc....but if you want to order something specific and can't find it locally, there's the on-line suppliers who are usually pretty reasonable, like Jerry's Artarama, Cheap Joe's, Rochester Art Supply, Dick Blick, etc. Your best bet is to spend a few minutes at the laptop cross checking the different sites for the best prices. They all don't carry the same items, either. It's not as much fun as when you can shop in person, but it's the next best thing.