What I Would Take to Gilligan’s Island

My bare-essentials sketch kit -- what I would take to Gilligan's Island.

It’s been more than six months since I updated my Current Favorite Art Materials page photos. I used to update the page and the photos nearly every month because I was changing the contents of my sketch bag – and therefore my favorite supplies list – so often. But the past year or more, I’ve settled into a comfortable groove that I make only minor tweaks to occasionally. You can see the updated list and photo of my bag’s contents now.

The page also includes a photo and contents list of my ultra-minimalist sketch kit, but I realized I never did a post about it. When fitness-walking in the neighborhood or around Green Lake, I never used to take sketching gear of any kind. But ever since I spotted an elusive gray heron  at Green Lake and found myself empty-handed, my habit has been to take a small kit that I think of as the absolutely bare essentials.  These are the few items I couldn’t bear to live without on that fateful day when The Minnow washes up on Gilligan’s Island. (I suppose eventually I’d have to peel bark off of palm trees to make paper and wrestle an octopus to make ink.)

The kit is currently housed in a Travelon Convertible Travel Wallet, which has (though barely) enough space for my smart phone and keys too, so it’s actually a serviceable bag. It contains:

• A Pilot Petit1 Mini fountain pen filled with water-soluble ink (find out why this rarely used pen is ideal for keeping in this bag)
• Dark gray Kuretake Zig Clean Color Real Brush pen
• Kuretake waterbrush
• Handmade catch-all sketchbook
• Eyeglasses (with a dedicated space in the bag, the all-important glasses are never forgotten) 

What would you take to Gilligan’s Island?