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Art and Craft Supplies For Creative Travelers

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There's something about art and travel that just go together. My soul loves both and I always feel creatively inspired when I go to new places. And when I'm home and not traveling, it's things like painting, drawing, reading and writing that make me ... 

If you are a travel-lover with a creative soul or if you need a Christmas gift for someone who sounds just like that, this is a great curated list for you! Enjoy! - Jill
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My Favorite Art Supplies

These are all of my favorite art supplies that I have at home and use regularly. I love to draw, sketch, doodle and paint. :) 

 
Jill Jones profile picture
Blending stumps - a must have unless you love having gray fingers that put smudges on everything you touch. :)
Blending Stumps & Tortillons by Artist's Loft™
 
Jill Jones profile picture
I love this sketchbook for practicing pencil drawing and techniques. The 9x12 size gives me plenty of space to work and I like that it opens horizontally in case I want to stretch my drawings out over a page spread. Paper feels nice and smooth to dra...
Necessities™ Sketching Pad by Artist's Loft™, 9" x 12"
 
Jill Jones profile picture
These are a great set of beginner pencils for  people wanting to try their hand at pencil drawing. A wide range of values from very light outline pencils to dark shading pencils.
Sketching & Drawing Set by Artist's Loft™ Necessities
 
Jill Jones profile picture
These are the watercolors I use. They are professional grade, which means they are a little more expensive than store brands or student grade versions. But I think even beginners should start with these. Here's why! 

You don't need tons of colors to start. Truly. You need a yellow, a blue, and a red. Then you can add more colors as your budget allows. 

Professional watercolors paint nicer and their colors are rich and long-lasting on paper. Plus, these tubes will last you for a long time, so they are a great value. 

I recommend getting the first few at Michaels, and then use rewards to add more colors to your palette. 

Here's what I have in my palette, in the orders that I prioritized them. 

Lemon Yellow Deep
Prussian Blue 
Scarlet Lake
Opera Rose (makes gorgeous purples when mixed with blues) 
Permanent Sap Green
Mars Black
Cobalt Blue
Yellow Ochre
Phtalo Turquoise
Burnt Umber
Hooker's Green
Payne's Gray
Winsor Violet
Permanent Rose
Winsor Orange
Manganese Blue
Permanent Magenta
Cobalt Turquoise Light
Winsor & Newton® Professional Water Colour™ Paint, 5mL
 
Jill Jones profile picture
I researched the heck out of palettes before I finally chose one. Why did this one win? Plenty of paint trays - I don't have 29 colors in my palette (yet) but this palette gives me room to grow into, plus I can have three pans for yellow - one that I... 

Tip: Get a Magic Erase and rub it over the mixing tray parts of this palette so your paint doesn't bead up when mixing. :)
Transon Large Paint Palette Box 29 Wells w/ Brush
 
Jill Jones profile picture
Ok, I've been buying these pens since high school!! They were my go to pen for decorating my planner when I was bored in class, lol. The metallics are my favorite - they are smooth, shimmery and work on both white and black paper, which is a really c...
SAKURA Gelly Roll Metallic Gel Pen 10-Pack (57370)
 
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This is not your average Sharpie marker. These are Sharpie's CREATIVE paint markers and they are absolutely lovely for art purposes. Super smooth and amazing on both white and black paper. Great for doodling, outlining, mixed media, drawing over the ...
Sharpie® 12 Color Bullet Tip Creative Markers
 
Jill Jones profile picture
More Sharpie creative paint markers, but this time in the Earth Tone color set and I love these colors. :)
Sharpie® Creative Markers Bullet Tip Earth Tones Acrylic ...
 
Jill Jones profile picture
Full disclosure….I don't have these yet but they are ON MY CHRISTMAS LIST. I've been wanting to add metallic watercolors to my palette for awhile. I have some from Winsor and Newton, but they are pretty dull, boring neutral colors….silver, gold, bron...
Arteza® Metallic 24 Color Watercolor Half Pan Set
 
Jill Jones profile picture
I've tried a handful of brushes and I really like my Neptune brushes. They are juicy brushes that hold a lot of water, so if you like that loose, flowy watercolor look….these are great for that. I also like this brush sizes in this set. You really do...
Princeton Neptune 4750 Watercolor Brush Set
 
Jill Jones profile picture
Not exactly an art supply, but out of all the watercolor books I own, this one is my favorite. Jenna also has a lot of great tutorials on YouTube. I love that she's always painting with a lot of bright colors and I based a lot of my palette color cho...
Everyday Watercolor: Learn to Paint in 30 Days
 
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Pretty basic but a must have. So much easier to get accurate erasing when using one of these.
Staedtler® Mars® Retractable Plastic Eraser
 
Jill Jones profile picture
Must have fine liner in black for sketching and drawing lines over watercolor.
Pigma® Micron™ Fine Line Black 3 Piece Pen Set
 
Jill Jones profile picture
I got my first paper cutter a long time ago from Creative Memories and used it for so many arts and crafts projects. That one finally bit the dust, so I replaced it with a Fiskars model and it's great. So useful for any type of card making, scrapbook...
Fiskars® SureCut™ Deluxe Paper Trimmer
 
Jill Jones profile picture
This is important. If you're thinking about starting watercolor or buying a gift for someone who loves to watercolor, PAPER MATTERS. Cheap, storebrand watercolor papers are just not good. You can have the highest quality paints and brushes and none o... 

At the very least, you need 100% Cotton Cold Press paper but even those aren't created equally. 

This brand is known as a little hidden gem in watercolor paper. It's high quality and it's one of the best values out there. I recommend buying the biggest pad because you're getting more paper for the money and then you can use a paper cutter to cut...
MEEDEN 15x10.2" Cotton Watercolor Paper Block

Must Haves for The Traveling Artist

My must-have art supplies are catalogued in this list, but this section is specifically for the ones I love to have when I travel anywhere, whether it's to visit family for the weekend or a 7-night cruise. :) 

 
Jill Jones profile picture
This is my favorite travel-sized watercolor palette. Half pans are the perfect size and I can change them out often with new colors. Can easily fit this into my purse or carry-on luggage.
MEEDEN Empty Travel Watercolor Paint Palette
 
Jill Jones profile picture
These little sketchbooks are perfect to travel with. 4" x 4" means I can easily slide it into my purse, backpack or carry-on luggage. They come in a handful of cute colors and I like that it has a hard cover so it can hold up to being tossed around i... 

I LOVE getting my art supplies from Michaels because they always have coupons PLUS a fantastic rewards program that's free to join. I feel like I always have a $5 or $10 reward waiting for me to use!
Sketchbook by Artist's Loft™, 4" x 4"
 
Jill Jones profile picture
I love this travel roll for transporting my pencils. It's easy to throw my art pencils in here, plus some additional colored pencils, blending stumps and mechanical erasers. Occasionally I'll throw some brushes in here too, but just small ones - I do... 

I love getting my art supplies from Michaels because they have great coupons, sales PLUS a fantastic free rewards program. I feel like I always have a $5 or $10 reward to use. I love the order online, pick up in store option. :)
Black Pencil Storage Roller by Artist's Loft™ Necessities
 
Jill Jones profile picture
I like to use this case for my watercolor brushes so they still more protected than they do in the roll case.
Zipper Pencil Pouch by Artist's Loft™
 
Jill Jones profile picture
This is a great travel sized watercolor journal. Paper quality matters A LOT when doing watercolor, Paul Rubens is a good, affordable brand.
Paul Rubens Watercolor Paper Journal 5.2x3.8
 
Jill Jones profile picture
I don't go anywhere without a few of these in my purse or bag. They're great for travel because you can grab 5-10 colors and they don't take up any room at all. They're nice and thin - so not a good choice for coloring in large areas - but perfect fo... 

One of my favorite things about these markers? They don't bleed through the page!
STAEDTLER Fineliner triplus 42pcs
 
Jill Jones profile picture
If we are traveling by plane, I have to be selective on what I creative tools I can bring with me. But if we are driving for a trip, you can bet that I probably pack more creative supplies than socks, lol. Having a bag like this to hold all of my art...

This bag has great compartments and comes in so many fun colors. I actually like the bigger size because I have a pretty big laptop, but the 15.6 is probably a great choice for most people!
RAINSMORE 15.6" Laptop Tote Bag for Women