Two of the challenges of travelsketching are packing light and traveling with others. Often I see folks show what they are packing for a vacation and it strikes me that they carry a lot more than I do. I don’t take much of anything that “I just might need.” Experience tells me that those things rarely get used, if at all.

Then there is the challenge of traveling with other people, or on a tight schedule; you don’t always have an hour or two to do one sketch. Tricia is great in supporting me when there is something that I do want to spend a lot of time on, she grabs her camera and heads off to take some of the photos we all love. But often I just want to capture the moment quite quickly, after all capturing the moment is the prime objective of travelsketching.

So here is one of the lightest sketching kits I can imagine. If you just have a shirt pocket this works great.

It is a water-soluble 6B pencil, and a waterbrush – the pencil sharpener is optional as blunt pencils are just fine. They come in various hardness levels, but I can not see the need for any other than the 6B.

A pencil has an advantage in quick sketching in that it is a bit more forgiving, a few extra lines to shore up a shape just adds some character to the sketch.

So here is a quick sketch of a moment at the beach, just a minute or two. Yes, there is little detail, but it does capture the moment, a complete work of art can come later.

It actually is quite satisfying as a quick sketch on its own, but spend another minute or so with the water-brush adding a bit of shade and texture and it looks even better.

One day earlier this week I spent time at the pool using just the water-soluble pencil and a waterbrush.

Quick, easy, and forgiving – all good things. And I can do a quick sketch while Tricia is taking a couple of photos, or while we are waiting in a line. Yes, I love my watercolors, but it takes a bit more time and you have to get the pallet out, set it up and balance on your lap. Certainly color is nice, but monochrome has its own charms.

If you have never tried water-soluble pencils, give it a go. Here are a couple of sketches I did on the bottom of a journal page.