If you read my bio, you’ll know that I am a college student, and so as most college students are right around now, I am heading off, back to my campus in the depths of New York to go start my final year towards my civil engineering degree. It’s an exciting time! And in going back to school, I must pack my life back up and move it to school. A major part of my process when packing is deciding what art materials, from my array at home, will I take to school this year! There is only so much room in the car for everything I need.
When I was getting ready to go to college for the first time, I bought this useful art bin from the Container Store. It has lasted me the past 3 years so far and I foresee it sticking around for a while. This is the packed form of it:
When you open the box, you get these two pen/pencil size compartment's at the top that pop out and two larger compartment's below that have a plastic divider between them, as seen here:
From here you get a good idea of what I have in the box. The bottom two compartments are pretty deep so they fit my watercolors very well. The only watercolor set that doesn't fit in there is my St Petersburg watercolors paint set because it's too big. I keep fountain pens I'm not using and various pens, watercolor tubes, and more pens in the top two compartments that are sized well for these things. The left bottom large component is where I keep my acrylic paint tubes and some watercolor paint tubes. I accumulated quite a bit at this point but I'm afraid that many might have dried out by now. Over time and usage, I just throw out the ones that I find have dried up. Most of these are 5-6 years old at this point.
I also keep a small pencil case in there that I got a few years ago that holds all of my paintbrushes. I have bought quite a few sets in the past and these are just the paintbrushes I like most out of all of the ones I have. There is a paint mixer in there as well for when I work with acrylic.
All of my watercolor palettes come with me to school because I can't just leave one of my children like that. I had an actual freak out moment when I misplaced the Winsor and Newton Compact set (top right) a few weeks ago. For almost all of my watercolors, I have created color charts which are pictured above each set. The Compact set was misplaced when I made them, hence the lack of one there. I know what I need to do my first week in college!
Graphite and charcoal have always been my go-to mediums when I was younger. I developed my understanding of shadows very well back then. I really learned this a lot when I would take classes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Graphite and charcoal are one of the dry mediums that most museums allow you to use in the galleries.
Besides urban sketching, I also love to crochet and knit. I prefer crocheting over knitting because the shorter hook fits better in a bag then long knitting needles. Who knows if I'll want to crochet this year... I packed this one ball of yarn that has some of my favorite colors in it and some hooks.
So now that you've had an inside look into my art box, do you have any ideas for your own art box? It doesn't necessarily have to be for college, but just as a method of organization of art supplies you use in your house?
Comment below with your ideas!