Farewell, Travel Sketching Angst

My bag dump! (For a detailed description of my bag's contents, see "Current Favorite Art Materials" link at top right.) I don't usually include my glasses when I photograph my sketch bag contents, but I love these new purple specs (they match my bag, of course) that I got a few months ago, so I put them in. After all, they are an essential part of my sketch kit.

In three weeks, I leave for Brazil, where I’ll be attending the Fifth International Urban Sketching Symposium in Paraty!

Tote on the left, Rickshaw on
the right.

Compared to last year when I was prepping for the Barcelona symposium (it took two blog posts just to discuss the art materials I was considering), I hardly have anything to do (other than learn Portuguese and pack, both of which I’ll begin in about two-and-a-half weeks!). Much to my relief, my ever-critical bag issue – the one significant equipment failure last year – is now resolved. I recently reviewed the supply lists for the three symposium workshops I’ve signed up for, and none of the instructors is requiring or even suggesting unusual materials that I don’t already carry regularly in my everyday bag anyway. Sweet!

For transit: the Velo backpack.

A couple weeks ago when I packed for a few days in L.A., it was a similar experience. I just checked to make sure my pens were full of ink, grabbed a few signatures for my “Stefano” sketchbook, and threw my everyday Rickshaw Zero bag and its usual contents into my Rickshaw Velo backpack (for transit only; once I arrived, the Velo stayed in my hotel room). Art material packing done.

"Travel" sketching at my neighborhood park.

There’s liberation in knowing that I don’t have to bring anything “special” just because I’m traveling. (Or maybe it’s the other way around: I “travel” every day, even if it’s only to the park.) My sketching life is completely incorporated within the rest of my life – even when I’m not home.

Top view of my Rickshaw Bagworks Zero messenger bag's contents.