I only have a few pages left in my big watercolor sketchbook. This is an accomplishment for me because I usually have a hard time finishing sketchbooks, and I'm actually happy to look at this one despite not really using it for anything particularly fancy. It also means I have to think about making or buying a new one soon.

Liz Steel has a great post on this topic, How to Choose a Sketchbook. In the interest of thoroughness, I'll talk about the criteria she uses in her post.

I found out about a local secondhand art store earlier this year, and it's turned into my first stop when I want new art supplies. I've been able to try a lot of new mediums that I wouldn't have thought to buy otherwise. It's easier to find surprises when the inventory changes constantly (and you have to dig through bins to see all of it). Good quality supplies are also pretty cost-prohibitive, and I hate to spend so much money on stuff that might sit and gather dust.

I've seen a lot of end of year reviews of people's purchases of new stuff, but not a lot in the way of new used stuff. So this is a recap of notable secondhand purchases from this year (and, by extension, cool stuff I've gotten to try).

My training to write more stuff on paper has been successful enough that I was able to justify buying a passport-sized Traveler's Notebook in March! And then... another one last week. The passport is perfectly pocket sized and more conducive for carrying around everywhere.

After experiencing some success with plein air drawing (as detailed in the tree-drawing post), I was consumed by my own hubris and set out to assemble a field painting kit. This is a well-tread road, but I wanted something small enough to stuff into a backpack or fanny pack.

I cobbled together a kit with a mint tin palette and a small tupperware container for water. These are attached directly to the book with magnets: I used a pair of small neodymium magnets for the water container and a magnetic metal clip for the palette. This setup has been working out really well, even in situations where I'm sitting on the ground or somewhere similarly uneven. It's not great for standing work, though, since the water needs to stay perpendicular to the ground.

I love tiny palettes. They're the type of thing that I see and swear I'm going to do [x] (paint) more because I have [y] (a tiny paint palette). I thought really hard about getting a fancy small wooden palette (as seen in this tiny palette mega review by Leslie Stroz), but decided against it in favor of engineering one out of a mint tin. I also love putting random shit in mint tins. I already keep my small cross stitching projects in one (you would be shocked at the amount of embroidery floss you can stuff into one Altoids tin).