My Watercolor Field Box

I bought a Winsor & Newton Professional Water Colour Field Box (the only and perhaps the last) at the National Bookstore. I bought it for Php4,200.00. Pricey for a 12-color watercolor set enclosed in a kitschy blue plastic case that's just a bit taller than a pack of 100's cigarettes. Definitely not for the serious watercolorist. But for one who only dabbles in watercolor and wants a self-contained go box for a quick watercolor sketch-- and, if you are like me, is a sucker for Gundam-like gimmicky gadget, then the Winsor & Newton Field Box is it. To be honest, I really bought it for the box.

Opening the curious little box is like unraveling an origami. There are three mixing pans-- one doubles as a water bottle and the other two are actually flaps that folds over to cover the twelve Artist Grade watercolor half pans. The top of the box is a water pot. There's a compartment for a small piece of sponge (if you prefer, you could take out the sponge and fit in two more half pans into the space) and a small brush-- a round size 0. But for all its design gimmickry, the field box is primarily a watercolor field box that works. It takes nothing to prepare: slip it into your pocket, grab a pencil and some paper and you are good to go for some discreet en plein air urban watercolor sketch.

I should say though that while the little flat white plastic bottle cum mixing pan in the field box holds enough water for a quick sketch, I usually bring more than I need-- in a small 8.5 oz. Rubbermaid plastic juice box or in a 5 oz. stainless steel hip flash with a captured top (--which I use to carry my special brew of lambanog!).  The first works well because it has a spout and you can control the flow of water with a squeeze while the second is contoured to match the curve of a hip or thigh for comfort and discretion (-- which served me well in the not too distant past for taking a swig in inappropriate situations!). I like using them both.

Also, while the included small brush works I prefer to use my own brush-- a da Vinci Maestro Series 1503 Kolinsky Red Sable Travel Brush size 5 Round. The brush is made in Germany using hair from the male winter tails of the sable “mustela sibirica”, living in the basins of the Siberian rivers Amur and Tobol. There is another brush maker-- Escoda in Barcelona, Spain, that makes brushes of equal quality (the Reserva - Kolinsky-tajmyr sable travel brush), but their brushes are even harder to come by here. The Escoda travel brush is still on my wish list and I'm sure I'll get one of those soon-- and yes, and two other sizes from da Vinci!

For paper, I now use the 5.5x3.5 inch Moleskin "Watercolor Album" (book constructed and paper sourced in China and of late is having quality consistency issues; I may not buy another moleskin); I also use the 5x8 inch Pentalic 100-percent Cotton Watercolor Journal (paper made in the Netherlands; book constructed in China; the paper has a musty smell which gets worse when it gets wet; long drying time). Recently, I bought all the Royal Langnickel Essentials 5x7 inch 190 GSM watercolor paper that Fully Booked was selling (also made in China). These papers could all be rubberbanded onto the field box.

I use a stainless steel Pilot mini mechanical pencil to do an initial sketch or outline. I have been actually using the 0.5mm 2B Pilot mechanical pencil since my college days (my handwriting is microscopic!). It's the smallest and thinnest mechanical pencil you can find (the original is only 4 inches tall). I like it because you could clip it into your shirt pocket or the neck of your T-shirt and forget about it until you need a pencil. I also had the mini fountain pen version (the set includes a mini ball pen, too). I have since lost the fountain pen and the pencil. Pilot seems to have stopped producing the mini fountain pen (maybe they still have it at the Cosmos Bazaar in Binondo?), but you can still get the mini mechanical pencil though now a bit taller than the previous version (almost 4.5 inches). I'm still looking for a replacement for the mini fountain pen. For now I use the 0.1mm "Artline Drawing System" drawing pen.

I'm getting close to my grail-watercolor set-up: a compact all-in set-up that I could hold in one hand and slip into a pocket.

Update:

Pilot Birdies are still available in Cosmos Bazaar!