10 tips for creating art on holiday: How you can have a holiday sketchbook to be proud of

art create holiday Aug 19, 2020

 

 

I have just got back from two glorious weeks on the Northumberland coast.  It’s somewhere I love going with my family because the beaches are incredible. Who needs to go abroad! Although the weather sometimes leaves a little bit to be desired, the North Sea isn't quite the Mediterranean. It's so beautiful, so unspoiled, so quiet. It's perfect for painting or drawing.

 

If you wanted to do some art while you are away, this is the perfect place to do it. Or wherever you are on holiday….UK, abroad or staycation! 

 

My kit when I go away is simple and fuss free. (DISCLAIMER ALERT….sometimes I don't end up using it because I'm running off after my children).  I do like to take things with me that are easy to just slip in a bag when I’m off exploring somewhere. 

 

Here are my 10 go to items of what art materials to pack for your holiday:

 

 

  1. A collapsible water pot: you can sort of squash it down into really small size and then pull it out into a pot shape again when you are ready
  2. A bottle of water: to fill up said water pot
  3. A reservoir pen or brush: a really good alternative to a water pot… you just fill it up with water, and then you can use it wherever you are
  4. Watercolour pencils: An excellent hybrid material for drawing and painting…they're so small and flat you don't really need a lot of space to carry them around. These also team up perfectly with the reservoir brush
  5. A compact palette of watercolours: water colour is perfect because they're not messy, you can just fold them up, pop them in your bag
  6. A couple of pencils of different strengths: I always recommend going for an HB (the goldilocks of pencils - not too hard, not too soft) and one other B (soft) pencil like a 2B or a 4B. This gives you a good mixture of line and tone capability
  7. A biro: Just find a pen in your bag and you can draw with that! Great for quick, intuitive sketches, perhaps try some continuous line and cross hatching marks
  8. A charcoal pencil: This provides a good way of overcoming the mess of charcoal whilst achieving the feel of the deep line and tonal quality that charcoal can give you
  9. Paper: A small sketchpad or notebook that isn’t going to blow away…also there’s something much less intimidating about a small piece of paper to fill! 
  10. A camera: If time or weather or any other factor prevents you from creating art on holiday, at least take lots of snaps which you can sketch when you get home! 

 

 

As for what to do when you’ve got your kit ready…. Try some simple pencil, pen or watercolour sketches or you might like to mix and match your materials together. Have fun getting your holiday art kit together and I’ll have more tips in my next blog about how to go about creating art outdoors. 

 

Remember to pop a picture your art or perhaps a snap of you with your holiday art kit in our Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/CreateArtSchoolClub/

 

Enjoyed these tips?  You can download my top ten watercolour tips here https://www.createartschool.co.uk/sign-up

 

 

 

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