I only have a few pages left in my big watercolor sketchbook. This is an accomplishment for me because I usually have a hard time finishing sketchbooks, and I'm actually happy to look at this one despite not really using it for anything particularly fancy. It also means I have to think about making or buying a new one soon.

Liz Steel has a great post on this topic, How to Choose a Sketchbook. In the interest of thoroughness, I'll talk about the criteria she uses in her post.

My training to write more stuff on paper has been successful enough that I was able to justify buying a passport-sized Traveler's Notebook in March! And then... another one last week. The passport is perfectly pocket sized and more conducive for carrying around everywhere.

After experiencing some success with plein air drawing (as detailed in the tree-drawing post), I was consumed by my own hubris and set out to assemble a field painting kit. This is a well-tread road, but I wanted something small enough to stuff into a backpack or fanny pack.

I cobbled together a kit with a mint tin palette and a small tupperware container for water. These are attached directly to the book with magnets: I used a pair of small neodymium magnets for the water container and a magnetic metal clip for the palette. This setup has been working out really well, even in situations where I'm sitting on the ground or somewhere similarly uneven. It's not great for standing work, though, since the water needs to stay perpendicular to the ground.

I like Platinum pens. I have a few, and they've all been great and reliable. Platinum's budget pens all clock in at under 20 USD and the writing experience is phenomenal. If you have money to burn, there's also the Platinum 3776 Century, a pen that retails in the US for around $200.

I never would have considered spending so much on a pen, but I had my eye on the 3776 because of the "soft fine" nib, which has been described as springy by multiple people. I tried one at a local art store and was immediately sold on the springiness of it. I tried a few of its competitors at the same price point as well, but the 3776 was the only pen that offered a significantly different writing experience (which is my main priority when I'm getting a new pen). And it comes in green?!

I love tiny palettes. They're the type of thing that I see and swear I'm going to do [x] (paint) more because I have [y] (a tiny paint palette). I thought really hard about getting a fancy small wooden palette (as seen in this tiny palette mega review by Leslie Stroz), but decided against it in favor of engineering one out of a mint tin. I also love putting random shit in mint tins. I already keep my small cross stitching projects in one (you would be shocked at the amount of embroidery floss you can stuff into one Altoids tin).