inside my art bag august 2026
Whether you call it nosiness or curiosity, I have always been interested in peeking into what other people carry around with them on a regular basis. From backpacks, purses, makeup bags, to art bags, I love a good video, photo, or blog post that let's me snoop through what other people find precious enough to keep on their person. I even peruse the What's In My Bag subreddit where people regularly ask others "What does my bag say about me?" It's a silly little game and I enjoy a good lurk.
Lately, I've been trying to sketch more outside of my room. It's part of my long-term exposure therapy to be less of a perfectionist. I rarely reach to call myself a writer, a poet, an artist, or whatever else due to imposter syndrome. Beneath all that, I'm afraid of being judged because I judge myself so harshly. So I want to let other people see me sketching a bird during downtime at work. I want to have a little paint while passing time on my commute even if the bumpy road and sudden stops makes my pencil skip or watercolor drip. I want to feel less like I'm ruining things or that I am not good enough.
Being a commuter means that I have to be judicious with what I pack, which isn't easy for someone who struggles with control issues. What if I need X, Y, or Z while I'm out? This stops me from going out more than I want to admit. So I packed up a mini backpack yesterday with the intention to go to a new park, watch birds, and have a doodle session. I definitely packed way more than I needed in my art bag, but it was helpful to learn what I reached for when outside on limited time, energy, and patience. I'll be able to adapt this kit depending on where I am going and that gives me some strange comfort.
Without further ado: the bag! I've had this Baboon to the Moon 3L belt bag for several years now purchased on sale originally for going on walks around my neighborhood and running errands. It was a good companion, but I stopped using it for a long time opting for bigger backpacks for work.
It can hold a surprising amount for its size and the wide, long strap fits comfortably across my chest or cinched around my waist. I'm happy to give it another life and might poke around my enamel pins to pick out one or two to decorate this with.
They still sell this bag though it is a bit expensive. Cotapaxi also makes a 3L belt bag if you're looking for something in a similar size range - though I'm not sure how long their strap extends (I specifically needed an expandable strap for my body size.) You can find either of these, and likely similar bags from other brands, on the second hand market for a lower price.
You can see here how roomy that main compartment is. Near the end of my park date, I ended up chucking my phone and a hand fan in there as well while waiting for the bus home. The back compartment is flat so it's not the best for putting a lot of things in, but I have kept my cards, phone, and a slim notebook in there before.
Inside the bottom from zip, I keep all of my most used sketching supplies: a kneaded eraser (in a small carry tin), a polymer eraser, a pencil sharpener, a mini spray bottle from Daiso (okay not one of my immediate essentials, but I like to know exactly where it is if I'm going to start painting!), two Col-Erase pencils (in brown and blue), and two Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pens in hard and soft tips.
In the main zip compartment, I keep all of the fun mixed media supplies: two chip clips for holding my sketchbook pages open, a 4oz Nalgene bottle with water, a bundle of curated colored pencils (a couple Prismacolor Premier and Faber Castel Polychromos, but mostly Derwent Drawing), some kitchen towels sheets, a Derwent large water brush, my double-sided travel paint brushes from Fuumuui, and 12 watercolor half pans in a Roman Szmal mini palette (currently, Quinacridone Rose, Hansa Yellow Medium, Ultramarine Blue, Phthalo Blue, Burnt Umber, Nickel Quinacridone Gold, Sap Green, Payne's Gray, Dioxazine Purple, Potter's Pink, Lavender, and Buff Titanium.)
During my first trip out, I didn't use my water brush or any of my colored pencils. I think I should probably consciously choose between my water brush and travel brushes in the future to conserve a little more space. The pencils could also be curated more depending on what I think I'm most likely to draw where I'm going.
These are all of my current Neocolors tucked away in this tin. Given that I didn't use them this time, it was definitely overkill to bring them all. If I were planning to mainly use these instead of my watercolors, I could bring one or the other. Otherwise, I think it might be good to look around my stash to find a smaller carrying tin to pick out just a couple shades to bring with me.
For example, I plan to go to the aquarium next week (heat be damned!!) I will probably leave the nalgene bottle and travel brushes at home and take my water brush with me. I also wouldn't need as many landscape focused colored pencils and would instead keep some grays and blues with me. Same would go for the neocolors: having some blues and browns for water and otter fur would be helpful, but I definitely won't need all of these greens or purples.
I'm sure over time, I'll start to feel more comfortable pairing my kit down or even expanding it depending on the excursion. Right now, it's main purpose is to motivate me to get outside and draw more. So I'll report back at the end of the month to see how that's been going.
Thank you for reading! Źįµį“„įµŹ
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