Necessity is the Mother of Invention...

Sketching at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, TX.

Urban Sketchers are such creative people! We figure out all kinds of workarounds and tools to make location sketching easier and better!
     Those of you who have seen me work in person know that I like to use a tripod/easel and a hand-held palette (for lack of a better word) for painting on location. I've found the easel is essential when I teach, so that people can better see what I'm doing (thanks to the workshop participant years ago who suggested this!) This invention came about after seeing variations on what other sketchers had, so I came up with my own version that uses a medicine bottle...it works great! It's approximately 7.5" x 6.5" and cut from corrugated plastic.

In India, however, I was not permitted to take the easel into a lot of the famous architectural sites. As luck would have it, right before I left, I happened to make a larger surface to use. I can still attach my paints, paper and water, but it sits in my lap! I found it worked pretty well, so now I carry it with me when I go out to sketch--its lighter than the easel, which is great. The size is 12" x 15"--the largest I could make that fit in my backpack.The only trick is remembering to slant it a bit when painting!

Here are the two versions I now use...the older tried and true hand-held palette, and the newer lap version...what do you think?

In Varanasi, India last November 2017,

At the AMAZING Ellora Caves in Aurangabad, India.

In Rome, June 2017, with the talented Kelly Medford.

In Italy last May 2017, during the Draw Civita workshop.
Thank you, Vanni, for this great photo!!

And sometimes, I just sit on the ground and use my tiny stool as an easel...

On the grass at an important Buddhist site in Sarnath, India, 2017.

All these methods work great, depending on the situation. Have you tried any of these palettes?

What I Learned about Sketching on a Trip to India, #4 & #5

And here are tips #4 and #5...

4. It takes me at least a week to warm up. 

I had to push through the first few weeks of making sketches I didn't like in order to figure out how to draw and paint in India. Every place is different--different humidity (affects watercolor drying time), different colors (in Seattle, everything is gray, so the colors of India were definitely challenging), different building building and plants that I have to figure out how to represent. 

This is why instructors show up early at the symposiums...we might sketch all the time, but being in a new place requires a bit of reinvention and figuring out how to work in a new place with different variables.

Queen's Bath at Hampi--it's worth a trip to India to see this place.
This was one of the first sketches that I liked...in part because I found a spot where I could sketch without many interruptions. Plus, this amazing architecture was so inspiring!

5. Post your sketches as you go, if you can. 
I found that Facebook was slow to come up on my phone, but Instagram was very fast and worked better on the road. That is why I finally started posting to Instagram! It was fun to watch the numbers grow and also respond to comments along the way.

It's much harder to post when I'm back home and the realities of work and home, plus, it's exciting to share where you are WHEN you are there! I posted a lot compared to other trips I've taken, thanks primarily to the ease of Instagram and paying extra for higher speed data on my phone.

Travel Sketching Essentials--the easel and travel stool I use

I have searched high and low for tools that will work...small and light, that fit in my carry on back and backpack.  With some tweaks, this is what I use for the big equipment.

Easel in action, with Beliza, Anne, and Susanna in last summer's
DRAW CIVITA 2015
workshop in Civita di Bagnoregio, Italy.  I'm leaving soon for this year's
workshop!!   This shows the larger surface and tripod #3.

Easel

En Plein Air Pro Easel surface ($79) (I cut mine down to fit into a backpack) with Sony VCT-R100 Lightweight    Compact Tripod with 3-Way Pan/Tilt Head (about $40 from Amazon)

Story: I bought the entire watercolor travel set at En Plein Air Pro, but most of the stuff is too big and heavy.

So I ditched the tripod, carrying case, etc. that comes in the set and now only use the angled plastic surface with a ledge for holding my sketchbook/pad while I paint. You can buy this ledge individually from En Plein Air Pro for about $80.

Last summer while sketching in Venice with Marc Taro Holmes (someone pinch me, did I really just write that?--YES!) I noticed that his was easel made by the same company was smaller than mine, he said it was an older version.  So I got an idea. When I got home from Europe before heading to Asia (did I really just write that too?), I cut about an inch from the top and one side, very carefully using an x-acto knife to score a line, then using pliers to bend the plastic back and forth until it snapped, followed by a mild sanding of the sharp edges.  And voilá, it now works GREAT and fits in my backpack with ease.

In my search for a lighter tripod, I bought and returned four others until I found this Sony.  It doesn't have the quick release mount which is unfortunate, so I end up just screwing the easel table onto the top of the tripod. Not a big deal...it works great...the lightest, smallest tripod I could find. Bought it on Amazon. Has a nice light carrying case too.

Travel Stool: Tribe Provisions Ultra-light Compact Portable Adventure Field Stool ($30)

This stool is great, although I sometimes feel like an elephant sitting on a thimble...it is just so light and tiny!  

Story: The day before leaving for Asia, I found this on Amazon, and with same day delivery, it arrived that same evening!! By 9pm I was repacking everything into a smaller suitcase and left for Asia the next morning!

It comes with a small carrying case. Amazon and Tribe are sold out at the moment, but I contacted Tribe and they are producing more of these.

Another option is a new 3-leg stool available through REI. I don't own it, but it is light, a little bulkier and heavier than the Tribe, but probably better if you don't want to sit so low to the ground or need a heftier stool. Only costs $25.

The tiny Tribe Provisions stool I use,
this photo from their website.

Using my stool as an easel in a pinch, with the talented Don Low who stood guard and entertained the onlookers.
Another thank you Laurel Holmes for this photo, this is in Singapore before the symposium last summer.

The best part of finding this easel, tripod, and stool, is that I can now travel only with a carry-on suitcase...my Travel Pro Max-Lite 3 spinner...this has made a huge difference when flights have been cancelled-- and no lost luggage.  Even with all my supplies, I now only travel with a carry-on and a backpack and a small purse!!!