I’m looking online and elsewhere for portable tool-boxes for art supplies. Most of my Very Portable Cases have either been broken, retired, or exploded*. Now, in going back to school I need to have a portable case for Paints and Brushes, and a portable case for Drawing Supplies. Hence the search.
I’ve been looking passively at work since we began to actively stock the Back To School items. Art Bin makes a number of Useful Tote-Boxes for a variety of products, crafts, hobbies, or uses. Most of them are singly functional. The Pastel Box holds only pastels. The Brush Box holds only brushes. There are a variety of other carry-all boxes, but none are deep enough, or wide enough to carry a variety of supplies. Here’s what I mean.
Example: The Super Satchel Six Compartment. The Super Satchel is probably one of the few bins that comes anywhere close to being portable AND holding a good number of supplies. For painting, I’m looking for something that will hold A LOT of paint. 12″ tubes, 2 oz tubes, mediums in jars and bottles, etc. This box looks like it’ll hold a few paints, about three to each tube compartment. So maximum? about 9 -12 tubes. Maybe. THe problem I’ve found with many of the ArtBin boxes of this shape and style is that if you try to really CRAM a good amount of paint tubes into the case you wind up with a box that’s either broken or won’t close properly, or won’t close properly and then breaks. It shows one small mini-jar of medium in the box, and you could probably fit another in where the ink jar is, if (that is) you don’t need a space for an ink jar as well. You could *maybe* fit a good starting supply of tubes and mediums (assuming they are all small) and be on your way.
But here’s the rub. I own a few useful LARGE tubes of paint that are about 12″ long. Not going to fit in there. While I do have some medium jars shaped like the watercolor medium jar in the photograph, many of mine are in jam jars, peanut butter jars, or baby-food jars. none of which are going to fit in there. And once you’ve packed the thing with as few supplies as possible, where the heck are you going to put a palette knife? Or a brush or multiple brushes? Or a palette? or a can of Gesso?
The Watercolor Box does a better job of making the internal space mutli-purpose, but Watercolor paint tubes tend to be small and take up very little space if packed well. It’s nice however, to see a tote that will also hold brushes (but I wonder, How Many?), and a water bottle.
The Workstation looks like an ingenious device. I’ve not seen it in person, we don’t have it at work. However, it appears to hold quite a bit, supply-wise and would likely hold paints, brushes, mediums, or pencils, charcoal, erasers, conte, etc. If one removed the bin in the front, it might even hold a small drawing pad or palette. From the picture, however, it wouldn’t be overly useful for anything much more than as pictured – drawing supplies. The loops in the front are measured in width and height for pens or pencils, not brushes (unless you use short watercolor brushes, perhaps). They also (as I’ve found with other supplies) won’t hold tightly onto brushes because the loop width is measured for something between a Copic Multiliner (or Micron Pen) to a Sharpie Marker. You’ll be lucky if it holds your charcoal pencils, delicate colored pencils, slim pencils, or a thin-handled, watercolor brush. So, with that part fairly useless if you’re not using markers/technical pens, you have a lovely zip-pocket in the top for your non-shatter resistant pencils and tools to jangle around in. Not bad, all things considered. So hope and pray that all your other supplies fit into the included compartmentalized tote, and the open space in the middle. But, again, can you hold a sketch book in there? A drawing pad? Probably not. If I tried to convert the same bin to a paint-box, it might work, but I’d probably toss the plastic bin (or use it for other things) so I could safely carry my glass palette in the front of the case.
This Tote looks like a wonderful solution to needing 99% of your studio with your somewhere other than, well, your studio. But the price? $40.00? Or the others, listed below this one that roll? $150.00? You’re kidding, right?
Can anyone make a bag, tote, or otherwise that could potentially hold quite a few of my art supplies in one go? Tool boxes, you say? Sure, they do well enough, and I’ve bought many in the past for this exact purpose, but again, I find that ones that have a variety of trays and holding areas don’t usually hold anything very TALL or of odd dimensions (like jars of mediums, multiple pencils (strangely enough), paint tubes, etc). I’ve watched students over the years stuff all of their supplies into one large box and come out with something the size of small casket and have the ease of finding what they are looking for that amounts to finding a spanner in a dark basement full of dead plumbers.
For several years, I’ve used an Army issue Ammo Case to hold ALL of my oil paints, a rag, and a jar or two of medium. *THAT* fit very nicely into a paratrooper jump-pack which in turn also held my brush-roll, pencils, pad of paper, sketchbook, bag of pencils, markers, erasers, etc, and maybe a small can of gesso. This arrangement, unlike any of the ArtBin totes that I’ve seen so far, not only holds a good deal of supplies, but also leaves my hands free for holding canvases, portfolios, bus-passes, subway tokens, a book, etc. The downside? The Ammo Case (with oil paints inside) was really, really, heavy. But certainly fire-safe. After moving from Chicago to the East Coast the Ammo Case was tossed due to its weight.
I still haven’t found a very good solution to this problem. i have a few small-compartment totes (Thank you ArtBin) that will fit into large rucksacks. I’m thinking, now, that a bag such as this Mechanics Bag or Jumbo Tool Kit might do the trick for now. While I won’t be able to tote large canvases, pads of drawing paper, etc. inside, it would certainly hold all of my drawing supplies or my painting supplies in one go. Sadly, it doesn’t appear to have a shoulder strap (which would be great), but that can be bought at a camping store and easily attached. I can insert the hard-plastic bins inside to carry pens, pencils, charcoal bits, erasers, etc and still have a little room for a can of fixative spray, sketchbook, a bottle of Red Bull, or something else of Great Use.
I think, truly, all I need is a Bag of Holding +2.
*
Don’t Ask.