I do a lot of sketching on the go, in coffee shops or outside on location (when it’s not too cold!) so I like using art materials that are portable, quick to use and not too messy! I’ve always got a backpack full of art supplies, so here’s some of my current favourite things for drawing in my sketchbook.
Sketchbooks
I like A5 sized sketchbooks with a hard cover, and my current favourite is a Seawhite travel journal. The paper is 130gsm, thick enough that drawings don’t bleed through, but not too thick. Only slight drawback is sometimes it goes a little bit grainy when using wet media like watercolours, and they don't looks as saturated as on other paper I've used, but overall the paper is good for mixed media!
I’ve also been using a Moleskine watercolour sketchbook recently, which is a similar size but with thicker paper. I prefer this one for watercolours as they look more saturated and textured on the surface, but I do feel a bit precious about using the sketchbook sometimes as the paper seems too thick and plush to waste on any quick sketches!
Pens
I usually go for waterproof ink pens so I can add watercolour paint washes over the top of line drawings. These are my top 3 at the moment: Pentel pocket brush, Tombow Fudenosuke and Artline Calligraphy pen - I do like a calligraphy pen for different weights of line. I've also recently got a Sailor fountain pen with a bent nib for sketching, so you can get thicker and thinner lines with that too.
Watercolours
I love watercolours, my old reliable set I use at home is a Windsor and Newton 24 pan set. I usually prefer quick sketches so mostly go for pans over tubes. Depending on how much stuff I want to carry when sketching outside I'll either use a paintbrush and my pop-up water cup (it's a bit battered now but one of the most useful purchases ever!) or just a water brush for really quick washes.
Markers
I have a handful of Tombow ABT water based markers, which I probably don't use enough! They're a bit blendable if you add water and don't bleed through the paper like alcohol-based markers. Just so easy to quickly get colours down!
Pencils
I'm a recent convert to using colour pencils, but I love the textures they can create - especially for landcape sketches. I've got a few random colours of different brands, including Derwent Lighfast, Holbein Arists and Caran D'ache Luminance - I especially like the Luminance pencils, my 'Payne's Grey' pencil is getting a lot of use. I've also got a few water soluable pencils, Derwent Inktense and Graphitint, which are great for on the go washes!
I could go on forever about art supplies but I'll leave this as a brief overview of what I like to use for sketching! Thanks for reading!