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It’s a fairly simple concept: take painting supplies outside. So you grab a slim bag, little sketchbook, travel brush, and a little thing of paints.
You’re all set.
Except for water. It doesn’t fit, and it could leak.
These are my favorite water containers for painting outside that haven’t leaked on me, and are fairly small.
This has been my favorite water container for months. Nalgene make drinking water bottles for hiking that are designed not to leak. This is a little 2 oz one. (They also have a larger one, which is much heavier.)
If I had to pick, this would my favorite water container, unless I have a really small bag, then I would use a 1 oz from HumanGear.
Then I found this little thing. It’s 1 oz, and so tiny. And yes, I’ve painted a whole painting on a little sketchbook with it and a quill. There was no water left by the end.
It works well for fitting into tight spaces in a little bag.
The HumanGear also comes in a bigger size which I love for painting with at home. It works really well with a 3/4 flat, something that is much harder to fit in the 2 oz Nalgene.
If you’re looking for absolutely spill proof, I’d go with the 2 oz Nalgene. The 1 oz HumanGear has shorter sides, and when you’re holding it and painting, if anything startles you, you’re gonna get wet.
If you’re going to do plein air with the HumanGear 1 oz, I would suggest a water bottle to refill it. A cleaned out drink flavor enhancer bottle works really well. (Just be aware some of them are harder to squeeze water out of with wrist strength issues). The idea came from Lindsay Weirich on YouTube. (I loved her Watercolor Landscape class on Teachable if you’re looking to paint landscapes.)
I feel that the Nalgene is safer to literally throw in a bag and not worry about leaking, but that could be because I have more experience with it. The Humangear hasn’t ever leaked on me. I’ve tried a few other brands but they’ve all appeared to leak. The circumstances were suspicious at best.
A Note on Water Brushes
Even though water brushes are technically brushes, I put them in with water containers since that’s their purpose.
They can be hard to use with wrist strength issues, since the way you get water out of them is by squeezing them.
The best ones are Pentel, and ones that say Aquastroke that came with with my Whiskey Painters brand bijou palette. I’ve been able to use both of them.
Make sure you’re using the ones with the larger heads, and that the handle is a bit wider, and that you can squeeze water out of them easily.
Water brushes are probably best for if you’re going to paint in a Dr’s office, instead of an open thing of water.
(Make sure you empty the water out and leave them open to dry if you’re not gonna use them for a while.)
No one would choose to paint with a water brush in a studio, since regular brushes are way better (water brushes are plasticky bristles, and hard to control the water).
That’s why I choose to take either the HumanGear or the Nalgene water bottle, and use travel brushes. I’ll be talking about travel watercolor brushes in another post.
If I had to choose, my favorite water container for throwing in a travel bag is the Nalgene, unless it needs to be really small to fit in a little bag, then I use the HumanGear 1 oz.
Megan
You can get the 2 oz Nalgene on Amazon; not the right photo, but select the 2 oz one.
And the 1 oz HumanGear comes in a set. 🙂
If you liked this, you might like my post: Watercolor with Wrist Challenges
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Megan Eileen 