Packing Pastels for Any Type of Trip

'Summer Breeze'        2.5 x 3.5        pastel       ©Karen Margulis

If you have followed my blog then you probably know I have made it a priority to downsize my pastel supplies for traveling. I have been through so many boxes and bags and easels that I have lost track. I have come to the conclusion that there is no one size fits all solution for plein air set ups and supplies. Every trip is different. Some trips are not even dedicated painting trips so how do we decide what to bring?

No matter what the purpose of a vacation or trip it pays to keep your supplies light and simple. I call it Plein Air Lite.

My pastels supplies

No matter what kind of trip I am taking I always throw in my Heilman single sketchbox (Love!) I will be able to paint some 5x7s as well as my minis (2.5 x 3.5) Everything fits into a soft sided lunch box. I have a 5x7 portfolio book filled with paper which doubles as a finished painting holder, a piece of foamcore backing board, baby wipes, a washcloth to protect my painting surface and some mini Bankers's clips to clip my paper to the board.

The small zippered pouch on the right hold the precut paper for my mini paintings and an extra packet of wipes.

The Heilman box along with wipes, towel, backing board and paper/holder  fit in the lunchbox

Along with the pastels I sometimes bring some sketching tools for the times when I just want to sketch.In the photo below I have a small sketchbook and watercolor postcards along with a set of Caran d'ache watercolor pencils and a water brush as well as some black vision pens. These sketching supplies vary depending on my mood and supplies I am playing with!

The lunchbox with pastels and the zippered pouches all fit nicely in my backpack. I also have room for some art books and magazines. I have all of the supplies I need for a creative and relaxing....and LITE vacation. I can easily throw one of these items into my beach bag to backpack when going out for the day.

Below are a few mini pastels. I like to do these small studies using the lunchbox pastel kit. Each one measures 2.5 x 3.5 inches.