My Teeny-Tiny Sendak

 

The Sendak Nutshell -- just right for crayons!

I have a big one. I have a small one. And now I have a teeny-tiny one! Peg & Awl, one of my favorite sketch kit accessory makers, has come out with a scaled-down version of their ever-popular Sendak artist roll. Adorably called the Nutshell, it was exactly what I was looking for to solve my problem of carrying Caran d’Ache Neocolor II crayons on location.

Shorter than pencils, crayons are difficult to dig out of the Rickshaw Waldo case I’ve long used for pencils. I briefly tried putting a few crayons into one of my larger Sendaks, but that failed immediately. The slots are made for pens and pencils, and if a crayon got pushed in too deep within a slot, it was really difficult to get it out.

Last summer I used the bulkier Rickshaw Sinclair to carry crayons, which wasn’t ideal, either. While its padding did protect the somewhat fragile crayons, and the crayons could stand upright and accessible, I couldn’t really see the colors easily without pulling all of them out.

I kept thinking that eventually the right kind of case would appear – and then it did! The Sendak Nutshell’s slots are about 5 inches deep – too short for full-length pencils but just right for 4-inch crayons. And six slots are ideal for my wacky palette or any limited palette.

Of course, it doesn’t fit into my daily-carry, mini-size Rickshaw Zero Messenger Bag, so I still need an auxiliary tote bag, but I’m resigned to needing one for any sketch outing (other than fitness walks) anyway. It works best at cafés where I have a table to open it up, and it’s small enough that it doesn’t take up much space on the tabletop.

Small enough to easily spread open on a cafe table. Yeah, I broke the red one :-( ... not in the case but from my heavy-handed drawing!

I’m not sure how it’s going to work when I’m standing while sketching, but I’ll try propping it up inside my bag the same way I did with the Sinclair last summer. I’m looking forward to a day of drier, warmer weather when I can test that out. For now, I’m happy to continue sketching indoors with crayons, now that I have the teeny-tiny Sendak.

An adorable acorn on the strap!

My Sendak family: Papa, mama and their new offspring.