Marijanel (00:02):
Welcome to the Bold Artist Podcast. We're at the start of Season Two with an exciting episode for you called What's in the Bag? Charla and I are gonna reveal to you what's inside of our art bags. And trust me, you're gonna wanna see. But, before we dive into What's in the Bag. Charla, we're celebrating the start of Season Two, which is a big deal. It was this time last year that you and I went out for coffee. And, um, we dreamed up this idea of having a Bold School Podcast and look where we are now. It's been an incredible year.
Charla (00:37):
Yeah. It, um, it's amazing to think that a whole year has gone past, I think we actually met like a little over a year ago because a year ago, right now I was dying of COVID, like...
Marijanel (00:46):
Right.
Charla (00:47):
Thinking about that a lot lately.
Marijanel (00:48):
You're correct. As I was saying it, I was thinking, do I need to edit this? Because it was July, 2021.
Charla (00:54):
Yeah.
Marijanel (00:54):
We had coffee together. We were catching up on life. And I mentioned to you that I had been podcasting. And, and you said, can you do that for Bold School? And then it, it just took off from there. And then right after I got going with the podcast, you got COVID.
Charla (01:13):
Yeah. I became non-existent in the world.
Marijanel (01:15):
Yeah, it was a, a rough start, uh, that no one saw behind the scenes of the podcast. It was a rough start. But here we are a year later with thousands of downloads, faithful followers on both YouTube and the audio app. And inside of our Bold School community, it's just thriving where students are, are always engaging in the online classes with bold school, growing together as a community. And the podcast is part of that. It's just, it's been beyond my wildest dreams
Charla (01:47):
And you are teaching classes and workshops in Bold School as well now, which was never the plan in the beginning. But you came on and you loved everything so much, loved everybody so much, you're like, I think I could do workshop. I think I could do class. So, you're like so much more involved with Bold School now than we had even dreamed up a year ago. So, a lot can happen in a year, which makes me think, like, what is gonna be happening at the beginning of Season Three?
Marijanel (02:12):
So true. It's been a really incredible year. And I, I listened back yesterday to our pilot episode. I just wanted to, to go back and, and remember sort of where we were in that very first recording. And I had, we both had such great things to say about each other. And I thought, you know what, I'll say it all again, a year later that you're an amazing person to work with. Not only as a friend, Charla, but your vision for artists, your heart, um, for seeing wholehearted artists, not just to grow in skills, you know, Bold School teaches bold color painting skills, but you have a heart that runs, uh, much deeper than that to see their whole heart thrive, uh, being an artist. So, thank you. You thank you for that. It's been an incredible year.
Charla (03:01):
Yeah, it has. We love having you here and hopefully we'll celebrate a 10 year anniversary one day.
Marijanel (03:08):
Yeah, but let's start Season Two off with a bang. What's in the Bag? Now, you and I have been talking about this episode all summer. So, a lot of you have been tuning into our summer sessions and, um, hearing all the, the different things we've talked about this summer, which has been really fun, quick fun episodes of, you know, hot topics that'll change an artist's work. And while we were recording all of those sessions, you and I kept talking about what's in our bag because both of us were camping. We were going places and always taking art supplies. And we got this idea of doing, um, a, a what's in the bag episode for, for the start of Season Two. So, yeah.
Charla (03:53):
Well, we started showing each other, like things that we were carrying. Well, it started with you sending me a picture of the bag that your husband had to load into the car for you in this gigantic bag. And I was like, how can you manage to carry that up? Like, but what's in there, show me what's in there.
Marijanel (04:08):
I know.
Charla (04:09):
And then talked about what I was carrying around. And then it all kind of started from there.
Marijanel (04:14):
Yeah. And that was a funny video that I sent to you because Steve notoriously complains about carrying my art bag, and I have multiple bags.
Charla (04:23):
And now I know why.
Marijanel (04:24):
I know it's huge and heavy. And I take everything with me because I, I have separation anxiety apart from my art supplies. So, I take them everywhere. But, um, through talking to you and seeing you build a beautiful bag of art supplies for yourself, I got a little more stylish, and we'll talk about that later on, because my first bag was kind of ugly and very utilitarian. But I've gotten, I've gotten cooler. and I'll show you my bag later.
Charla (04:54):
I love your new bag.
Marijanel (04:57):
Yeah. So, but first let's talk about your bag because it was a big deal for you to, to purchase it and fill it and kind of, like, commit to the art bag. So, tell me about that journey for you, Charla.
Charla (05:10):
Yeah. So is it time? Do I pick it up?
Marijanel (05:12):
Yeah. Let's show. So everyone listening on audio, you might wanna hop over to YouTube for seeing Charla.s bag, but, uh, in our description box and in our show notes, there will be a link to a free PDF that will show you everything that's in Charla's bag and everything that's in my bag. So, you're not gonna be limited to just viewing on YouTube. You can just go straight to the link, and you can view what's in our bags. We thought we would do that for fun and give you that little resource to inspire you, to possibly build your own bag. So, Charla, you wanna do the big reveal? Show the screen. What is in your bag or no, no, no. First start with showing the bag, and then we'll see what's inside.
Charla (05:55):
Okay. So, this is my bag and it's brand is Muud, M U U D. So, it's a leather. It's real leather. Nice, soft, beautiful leather. Um, I don't know what color this is, but not orange, not red. That really nice warm leather color. Um, yeah, so it's, it actually looks way bigger than it is. It's not a very, really big bag. So...
Marijanel (06:18):
It's like this, the two of Charla's heads put together.
Charla (06:22):
Yeah. So, when I ordered it online, it's labeled as, uh, their project bag. They've got a lot of really cute bags. This is their biggest one it's labeled as their project bag. It's got lots of compartments and places in it, but it's not as big as I had hoped. And it's leather, so it was expensive. So I just, I think I imagined, 'cause I was paying lots of money for it, it was gonna be this giant bag like yours. So, I could put everything from a studio in there. But, um, it's good for me because even though I love having every single tool known to man available, so that if inspiration hits, I can do what needs to get done. Like, my kitchen is the same way. Like I just like to be prepared in my house and be organized. But when I leave my house, I'm a minimalist.
Charla (07:03):
I, I take very little, I pack small suitcases. I take only what's necessary to live through my time. And I get really agitated when I see people carrying 10 bags. So, I might understand Steve a little bit. Um, now I'll always have, sometimes I have a lot of bags 'cuz I have a tech bag where I carry all my camera, equipment, my computer, if I'm working and traveling, then I have to take a lot more, but I am a minimalist. So, in the end I actually love that this is a small bag, and it really fits what I need. And I don't need to take things that I'm not gonna work on. I kind of I've done this enough now that I know I'll take certain things thinking, oh, I'll do this. Like I like doing glitter art sometimes.
Marijanel (07:43):
Yeah.
Charla (07:43):
Really messy. And usually when I'm traveling, I don't do it because I don't really wanna make a mess. If I'm camping, it's gonna blow away. S,o I'm like, why take the glitter?
Marijanel (07:54):
Right.
Charla (07:54):
I'm just not gonna take the glitter that stays in my studio. So, in here is the things that I, I always, I know that I'm going to use.
Marijanel (08:02):
Okay. So tip the bag forward and show us from the top view we can see inside of your bag. So, nicely organized.
Charla (08:09):
Yeah, actually.
Marijanel (08:10):
I can, you, can you have a visual of everything in there.
Charla (08:13):
This is my water bottle holder in here, but I forgot to put my water bottle in. So, that's where my water bottle would be. But yeah, so you can see all the little, it's hard to see, but there's lots of zippered pockets and side pockets and.
Marijanel (08:25):
Yeah.
Charla (08:26):
Pockets inside of pockets. Like, there's a pocket inside of this pocket, and so much stuff. And then there's on this side, there's a space here for you to put your phone. Um, yeah, it's really awesome. And it's got, um, it's got like a big strap that you can also use, and it's got these types of things in here where you can click
Marijanel (08:47):
Like little buckle straps yeah. To hook on keys.
Charla (08:50):
and different things on. So yeah, it's, that's what I love about it. It's an actual project bag designed to put lots of different things in lots of little things in the MUUD line has a lot of, uh, bags designed for knitting and crochet and embroidery, which has tons of little tools. So, their bags are really great for that, which is what I love.
Marijanel (09:10):
Yeah. And so once again, for anyone listening, just, um, pop into the show notes in the description box and click on that free PDF to see our bags and what's in our bags, uh, just in case you're not seeing the visual on YouTube. So Charla, you wanna pull some things outta that bag.
Charla (09:26):
Yeah.
Marijanel (09:27):
And show us what you've got in there. We can't wait to see.
Charla (09:30):
So it's got a compartment here for an iPad. It's a padded compartment. So, it'll keep your iPad from things, hitting it. Um, when I carry my iPad, it's great, but I don't often carry my iPad. I use it a lot at home. It feels a little bit like work to me sometimes.
Marijanel (09:46):
Yeah.
Charla (09:47):
But I don't always take it and I've been trying to use my sketchbook way more. So, let's get started. The first thing, I guess, would be my main sketchbook, which is just a cheap mixed media sketchbook. And it's probably the thing I use the most because it's the least pressure to do a great job. Rip the pages out. If, if I do a bad job, I do a lot of like, I have a lot of references in here for the colors and paint and...
Marijanel (10:14):
Yeah, so I see you're doing a little bit of watercolor in there. It's not just sketching. It's, it's watercolor, there's some portrait practice. Um, inking, you got a lot going on in there. It's beautiful.
Charla (10:23):
Pen and Ink. Which I love doing. Uh, yeah. And so I use this one the most just because I, I can't even turn the page, um, because I don't want to, or when I'm traveling, I want it to be relaxed. I want it to be easygoing, but I do have some really beautiful books that, um, I have purchased for the day when I'm a little more confident in my watercolor and penning skills. And I have these like really pretty ones. This is a Moleskin art book, and this is a special watercolor book that I haven't even started yet because I don't wanna ruin those pages. I want this to be really pretty. And I'm really, I mean, I've been doing watercolor for years, but I'm only now really doing watercolor the way it's supposed to be. So, I love this one. Um, 'cuz it's no pressure, and I can just learn.
Charla (11:13):
Um, so I also have in here this like little coloring book, so I love like adult coloring books. I've been doing those for years and I loved, I got them when my kids were little. I love doing them with my kids, and they actually really like the adult ones, but this one is just like a mini book, and I love carrying this because sometimes I don't really want, or I wanna do something creative, but I don't have the energy to actually create or imagine something.
Marijanel (11:40):
Right.
Charla (11:40):
And I love coloring in this and um, maybe like listening to a podcast or an audio book or something like that. And it's a really easy thing to do when you're maybe in a crowd of people, and you're not gonna take it all your watercolors. I just use my colored pencils. And I color in my coloring book. I always carry the book of the day that I book of the month that I'm reading. And this month in our book club, inside the Bold Community, we're doing The Artist's Way. So, I've been carrying this one now for a few months actually and working through it. So, that's our book of the month, and...
Marijanel (12:13):
Yes. And just to quickly interject here and say that for those of you who don't know what's going on inside the Bold School community, we have workshops, and book club, and tool spotlights, and all kinds of features inside of the Bold School community. And that is in addition to our premium classes, which teach, um, all different skills within art, but we really specialize and focus on bold color painting and portraits. And so, um, The Artist's Way is just one of the tools that we've been using to grow ourselves. And so that has also been in my art bag, as well, Charla, 'cuz we've been going through that together. So...
Charla (12:56):
Yeah, yeah. And I I'm thinking when we launch this podcast, I'm going to create a topic in there for people to post pictures of their bags, and maybe how they've been inspired, or if they have ideas and tools that we don't have. 'Cause I just love little tools, little tools I can stuff in there.
Marijanel (13:13):
Yeah.
Charla (13:13):
Um, so there's gonna be a thread in there with more bags and ideas which you can come into the community with just a community pass. You don't have to be a member at Bold School. If you just wanna come and check it out and see what people are talking about. It's gonna be a good one, I think, when this launches. So, yeah.
Marijanel (13:28):
It's the new social media for artists, it's the way to connect, so...
Charla (13:32):
It is the new social media for artists. So, I always have the book that I'm reading and a journal. This is a Moleskin journal as well, lined paper that I can write, especially if you do The Artist's Way, you know, that writing's a big part of that one. And then I have one other book in here, which I loved cause it was small, and I just saw it at the art store, um, a few months ago, but it's called Drawn from Life, by Helen Birch. And I got it because I just love, there's so many examples of different art styles here, and I love portraits. So, I wanted, I, I loved to be inspired by the different, just the different ways they apply color, or the ways they sketch um, detailed and not detailed in whatever. So, I just find this really inspiring when I'm sketching, and I don't really wanna conjure up ideas from my mind, then I've got that for inspiration.
Charla (14:22):
And then I also carry many sketchbooks. And the reason I carry these is because they're just, it is an easy, fast way to sketch just a really quick p'en and ink sketch of different portraits. And often what I'll do in here is I'll draw a detailed face. 'Cuz when I sit down to draw, I always wanna get into realism and all the details and have it perfect. Not that that's perfect. But then what I'd like to do as an exercise of practice is to start sketching it in a more expressive way. I find that I'll sketch a detail, then I'll feel, you know, relieved, fulfilled, satisfied, then I can relax and sketch it in a more expressionist way and kind of get, um, a little more, just, just try things because it doesn't matter, right. So, and, and it'll just keep going with that kind of an idea. Um, so it just helps me to loosen up, which is.
Marijanel (15:14):
Yeah.
Charla (15:14):
always my goal with my work is to just become more loose.
Marijanel (15:18):
Those are the sweetest little books.
Charla (15:18):
So I carry a couple of these.
Marijanel (15:19):
Yeah.
Charla (15:20):
And they're so easy to pull out on a plane and you know, they're conspicuous. People, don't notice you're not pulling out all your supplies, and they're like, what are you doing? So, I carry those. So, then the supplies that I use...
Marijanel (15:32):
Yeah.
Charla (15:32):
I've been carrying my water colors, and I have a tiny Windsor and Newton compact water color kit, where these are refillable. You can get a ton of different colors, which I didn't realize when I bought it, but I have actually replaced a couple of colors. Like this one is, uh, something rose, Permanent Rose, maybe? I don't know. S,o I bought that one separate, and I took the white out.
Marijanel (15:58):
Okay.
Charla (15:59):
So, you can replace them.
Marijanel (16:00):
Yeah. So Charlas showing a pan set of 12. It's really mini. It has a tiny little paint brush that retracts.
Charla (16:07):
Yeah.
Marijanel (16:07):
And yeah. And they're just at all art supply stores. 'Cause I have one, as well. And they're just really accessible to get. And um, even for someone who's practicing in oils and acrylic, having one of these little pan sets on the go, um, is just, first of all, really fun.
Charla (16:26):
Yeah.
Marijanel (16:27):
But secondly, you can still practice color mixing and um, you know, gestures, and it helps to enhance sketches and pen and ink. So, um, for all artists, it's just a great practice to have that along with you.
Charla (16:42):
Yeah. Yeah. I love it. I've actually been, and, and the colors are beautiful. Which I've only ever really used cheaper watercolor sets, you know, kids sets or whatever. And these are really quite beautiful. So, then to go with that, I have a little brush set. It's like the same size, um, a little compact brush set. There's three sizes in here, and they just unscrew and become a brush, and like a big brush to use. And they're um, like just really fluffy brushes, which so far in my watercolor, I, I like just putting big blobs of color in my pen and ink sketches. So, these are great for that. Uh, maybe one day I will change into some other brushes, but I love these. They're compact. You can just fit them down into a little pocket.
Marijanel (17:24):
Yeah.
Charla (17:25):
It's so easy to carry. Um, and then something else I've been moving into our markers, which really have the same idea. Um, there's the same idea in the sketchbook as watercolor, but they're less messy, and there's no setup, and you don't have to have water and paper, um, paper towels and stuff. So, I've been using these Copic markers, and I have another set of, are they Windsor Newton? I think they're not in my bag, but um, so I have a whole ton of these colors. They're new to me. So, I'm finding that it's really good idea to have lots of different ones because you can't control the values quite as much. But they're great because you can blend them and mix the colors a little bit. If you've got, if you kind of know how to use them. So, I've been loving pen and ink, and using markers to go along with it. So, I've just got these like a whole bunch of them stuffed down into my pockets because they come in like these giant, these giant plastic containers. So, down in my pockets, I also have a white india ink, which I like to put on the watercolors afterwards, 'cause I don't think I've ever found a white that works
Marijanel (18:32):
Well bringing in some highlights. Yeah.
Charla (18:34):
Yeah. Bringing in the highlights. Yeah. And a pencil sharpener for my colored pencils, which, you know, I've always wanted an artist role. I've never owned one before. And I don't like the idea of putting brushes in one of these. I've I don't, like, I, I don't do Plein Air painting or painting on site. So, I've never really had a, a use for that. But now I have my colored pencils.
Marijanel (18:59):
So, Charla, has just unrolled for us a, a beautiful long display of colored pencils that normally would come in tins or you know, that kind of packaging, but you've put it into a roll up, which is very handy and stylish.
Charla (19:18):
It feels very artsy. And I like to draw with these.
Marijanel (19:18):
You're very artsy. Now, here's the big question. Do you have them organized by color yet?
Charla (19:25):
Well, they are. They,' cause I created, um, a color wheel with them ,and I put them all in order. This one could possibly, this is like light green. So, it could be up in the yellow.
Marijanel (19:34):
Could be up in the yellows, yeah.
Charla (19:35):
Yeah, it is a green.
Marijanel (19:37):
Yeah.
Charla (19:37):
So, I mean they're not perfect. I think I've used them a little bit. They still look pretty.
Marijanel (19:40):
They're beautiful. Yeah, very inspirational.
Charla (19:43):
Yeah. And I use those in my sketchbook, but I actually use those in the coloring book because I don't like using markers. I like to use the colored pencil, so I can blend all the colors. You know, I gotta at least feel like I've got some creative control in the coloring books. Little bit of creative control. Um, so that's my colored pencils. And then this is my pencil case, which feels like leather. I think it's a fake, I don't think is a real leather. Um, but I just love the feel of it. And inside here are like my millions of pens where I have where I've been, uh, learning a lot about pen and inkdrawings, which I've never really been a fan of. I always, I mean, I've, I've taught art to like homeschoolers and my kids. And I always say, start with pencil and go over it with pen later, but I've been learning actual skills that pen and ink drawing or artists use, and I'm like amazed at what I can do and now I, or what it can do. And now I'm a advocate for pen and ink. So, I've got lots of different ones, some brushes really fine ones. Um, yeah. And I just love those probably for a, a real pen and inkartists, they would be like, that's not a real pen collection. I like it. Um, and I have pencils in there and a few other things. I have a regular pen and highlighter for my reading and journal writing. It's important to have the right pen. Glasses.
Marijanel (21:02):
So, today as we go over everything in our bag, Charla, we're really talking about the tools that we hobby with. And yes, it's really important, um, as professional artists to know that we can exercise our creativity in hobbies as well, take it on the, go have some fun. Um, but you have a resource in Bold School, that's um, a resource for professional tools. So, can you tell me a little bit about that?
Charla (21:30):
Yeah. It's a toolkit for basically stocking your studio. I mean, here in my studio, I'm going to have professional level, uh, tools because I wanna be able to do that quality of, of work in my studio. In my artist bag, even though I did buy like a nice set of watercolors, I don't really wanna have dollar store stuff in my artist bag, but I'm not quite as particular about it being perfect and all those kinds of things. But in my studio, it's all professional grade and we have tons of tools.
Marijanel (22:03):
Um, so, when you said toolkit, well, I just have a quick question because when you said toolkit, we're not meaning an actual kit, we're meaning a downloadable, um, PDF resource.
Charla (22:12):
So it's a PDF file where you can see a list of all the different sets of supplies that, uh, a working studio would need. It's not by any means like every single thing, but it's basically what I use to run my studio. I have a professional studio, I'm a full-time, um, artist I teach. So I have all of those types of supplies, like exhibition quality supplies. So, this is if, when you're ready to kind of start stocking your studio, you don't even need to have everything on that list. And there's things on there that I've only learned about through the school. Like there's things like, um, this guy, which I only learned about through the school, and if you wanna know what it is, you have to go download the kit, the toolkit.
Marijanel (22:54):
And what is the cost of that? What is the cost of that resource?
Charla (22:59):
I, I dunno,
Marijanel (23:00):
It's free.
Charla (23:02):
Oh, the resource. I thought you were saying this guy.
Marijanel (23:07):
No, no, no. The PDF. I'm trying to say, this is a free PDF for you to download everybody.
Charla (23:12):
It's free. It's free. All they have to do is go to boldschool.com.
Marijanel (23:16):
Yeah.
Charla (23:17):
Um, yeah. And you'll like tools like this, which I didn't know about a couple years ago are men, one of our mentor instructors showed us that. And I'm like, this is amazing when I watch this class.
Marijanel (23:26):
So, for audio listeners, tell, tell me what a tool like this means.
Charla (23:30):
A tool like this.
Marijanel (23:30):
What are we looking at?
Charla (23:32):
It's like, it looks like a stick, but it opens up into an X. And this one I'll tell you, um, I, I forget what it's called actually, but um, I call it a protractor, but that's not the actual term for it. Get the PDF and find out, and then you can actually find out.
Marijanel (23:46):
And the PDF is free.
Charla (23:47):
Yeah. And this is super cheap. It's a very small tool. But what it does is help you take your proportions from a reference photo and put them properly onto your canvas. So, you don't have to eyeball it. Um, or if you've got something wrong, like when you're painting a portrait, and you just wanna check, like, are the eyes, why is the eye not in the right place? This will just help you get it into the right place. So it's a quick, easy little tool that's really, really helpful for getting your references onto the canvas.
Marijanel (24:14):
Um, yeah. That's awesome.
Charla (24:15):
Stuff like that is on there. Plus my favorite paint, my favorite brush is all those kinds of things.
Marijanel (24:20):
Okay. So, just to recap, we have mentioned two free resources for you today. The downloadable PDF, where we show what's in our bags, and then also the free resource with the professional tools that Charla has put together.
Charla (24:33):
Yes.
Marijanel (24:33):
That run her studio in her school, The Bold School. Yes. So, um, do you wanna see what's in my bag, Charla?
Charla (24:39):
Hold on. I've got one, no, two more things that I, I forgot about one being my favorite fidget.
Marijanel (24:46):
Of course.
Charla (24:47):
I'm a fidgeter, and I've tried every fidget and some I really like, but I love the good old, original, silly putty. I love fidgeting with this. And uh, when I'm reading or listening to a podcast or whatever on our Bold School meetings, I have my, myself.
Marijanel (25:04):
Absolutely. I was gonna say that, that there isn't very many meetings that I've had with Charla where there isn't silly putty getting stretched across the screen.
Charla (25:12):
And I should really get like a neon colored one, 'cuz this looks kind of gross. You're like, what is that skin-toned stuff?
Marijanel (25:17):
And I can tell when she's especially thinking hard, 'cuz the stretching goes a little faster.
Charla (25:23):
Yeah. And I create bubbles in it and pop them. I'm like, oh, I shouldn't be doing that on Bold School meetings. Like I'm supposed to, supposed to be the boss here and I'm setting bad example. Everybody starts popping their silly putty in our meetings.
Marijanel (25:34):
Well I, everyone should have silly putty in the meeting.
Charla (25:37):
I think everyone should. I love having fresh silly putty. So then, and the last thing which was in the bottom and I almost forgot it was my water container, which um, is an a collapsible cup. So it's got a cover on it, which it seals pretty good. It's a collapsible silicone cup.
Marijanel (25:56):
Yeah.
Charla (25:56):
And they were a set of five on Amazon. I have seen them in almost every store I've gone into since I bought these. Um, they were called camping cups actually. Uh, but there's lots of different names for them. This one has like this steel ring, which makes it nice and sturdy. It would be a terrible camping cup in my mind because I'm a mug snob and I like thin rims. This is terrible for drinking, but it's really sturdy. And it's awesome for your water, for your water colors.
Marijanel (26:25):
Yeah. Perfect.
Charla (26:27):
A couple of those. Yeah. So that is it.
Marijanel (26:30):
I love your bag and everything in your bag, and I'm so proud of you for getting sketching and practicing. Beautiful.
Charla (26:38):
I love my bag, and I love all the stuff in it. And uh, yeah, we need to go, go, um, travel somewhere and make art together with our bags.
Marijanel (26:47):
Yeah, for sure. For sure. Although...
Charla (26:49):
okay. I wanna see yours.
Marijanel (26:50):
I am that person who takes way more bags than you. And, and this is why this one is only my art bag. So, I have a tech bag. I have, um, the, the art bag. I have a purse, but you know, sometimes I'm minimalist too, 'cuz my purses can be pretty small. Like I only wanna take my wallet.
Charla (27:09):
'Cause you got nothing left to put in your purse. After all your bags are full.
Marijanel (27:13):
My bag is a canvas bag made hand, I think it's handmade or machine made by a company called Vintage Addiction. You can Google them. Vintage Addiction. And this particular bag is made out of reclaimed army tents. Now I'm pretty sure it was Canadian army tents, but it could be US, and I fell in love with it because I love the history. It's very durable. So, it's really thick canvas. It has a nice embellishment that just makes it fun and unique. Uh, leather strap across the top, that snaps, um, pockets where you can throw your phone and um, the zipper's pretty heavy duty. It's also a backpack. So the straps, um, you know, so I, I can throw them over my shoulder one or two and um, make, I have to walk through a pretty long tunnel to get to my studio. So, I park at the bottom, and I throw on my backpack, and I walk up the tunnel.
Marijanel (28:07):
So it's, it's pretty cool. Anyway, inside of my bag, it's you can't see as much as when um, you showed me inside of your bag from the top, but I have bags within the bag. So, what you're seeing here is actually my iPad. Now I know, um, and it's an iPad case inside of another bag. And um, I know that you said that you don't take your iPad 'cuz it reminds you of work, but my iPad is definitely an extension of my art. So, I use Procreate, and I do a lot of digital art and illustration. And so I almost feel like I can't totally function a hundred percent without procreate. So it's always in there. It's always charged. And actually I do pen and ink even in procreate. So like, the pen and ink style and everything. So, it just depends whether I want that analog feel the paper mood or whether I go digital when I'm camping, I will often do digital just because then there is no mess.
Marijanel (29:09):
Um, but I also carried The Artist Way book because that's what we're doing inside a Bold School right now. We always have a book club on the go. I have a whole entire set of fine point markers. So, similarly to how you have every color of color pencil, I do the fine, um, point markers. I, when I do illustration, I do a lot of tiny scribble work. I call it like little scribbling, and the markers are awesome that way, because I can get in and just kind of scribble with them. I do a lot of tiny work. I also have the Windsor Newton travel pack, um, um, watercolor set the, the 12 that you showed, but these colors are very traditional. Now I know, I agree with you how beautiful they are, but they're also very, what I'd say are traditional colors where, um, the Koi, the Sakura Koi set, I have the really big 92 set, um, pan that I'll use in my studio. But this little one of 24 is an on the go. And what's different about these and it, it's probably hard to tell on the YouTube screen, but they're really, really bright and vivid and they also have some, um, fluorescent colors, as well.
Marijanel (30:20):
And so what I find is for my tiny illustrative work, I'll, I'll paint little tiny mushrooms, and little critters, and these sort of like imaginary worlds, these really bright colors will pop off of the paper. And then what it all allows me to do is digitize it with a lot of saturation. So, I can get that into my iPad and not lose like all my colors. If that makes sense. So, I also got colored pencils, a small set, not as many as Charla has, and then I have watercolor pencils. So, with watercolor pencils, I can just do all my coloring, and when I have the water available or my brush available, I can then, um, you know, it's like painting over it. It's like painting in the, you know, the number sort of thing. And um, and then that leads me to tell you about my pencils, because I actually, when I do sketching, I will use a pencil called a Sketch and Wash. And that is a regular graphite looking pencil, but you can wash over it with your paint brush, and it will, um, blend and turn more into a watercolor look. So you can get a lot of really neat looks.
Marijanel (31:39):
Yeah. Because you can have like half of your sketch, real sketchy. And then the other half can just, like, blend with water. And I carry a water soluble, graphite stick as well, and then a variety of pens. And look at this, my eraser is one of the, um, well, what do I even call it? But it's one of the elastic erasers. That's very similar to your silly petty. So, I have, I'll think of you every time I see that. And then as well, I have a whole bundle of highlighters. Um, and then like you, I have the Moleskin journal now the Moleskins, like Charla mentioned, they're very, they're very beautiful. And so you almost wanna make like some of your best work in them. S,o I tend to work in them when I feel like I'm gonna take my time and finish a piece, and it's not as much of a practice book for me.
Marijanel (32:35):
Um, but then my spiral mixed media notebook, like Charla has, is just full of all those like practice, conceptual pieces, little things I see here and there that I just wanna, like, document and get even like playing with poses or character development. And then I always carry a lined journal. This one, my kids gave to me for my birthday and, um, and I love it. And so that's pretty much it now there's different items that go in and out of the bag, depending on what I'm working on. And it's just sort of a catchall art supply, and I often have to go through it, and, and clean it out and be like, how did this get in here? And I've been looking at for this at the studio, and it was lost inside the bag. And, and one thing that I can say that makes my bag so heavy really is all the books. And my husband probably wouldn't complain so much if I didn't carry so many books, but often I can even have up to five books in here. And, um, makes for, you know, makes for a big bag to carry around, to do art.
Charla (33:49):
Yeah. I think that if my bag was a little bit better, the things that I would add would be more books. I like to carry. Like The Artist Way has a big, um, journal that I accidentally ordered. I thought it was the workbook, but it was a journal. And I really like using it. It's huge. I would put that in there if I had space, I'd carry my Bible in there. Well, actually I do put my Bible in there when we're traveling.
Marijanel (34:09):
Yeah.
Charla (34:10):
So, I would definitely be pushing more books into that bag if it was bigger is exactly what and the most heaviest things. It's totally what I would do.
Marijanel (34:15):
Yes, exactly. Exactly. So it's an art bag slash book bag.
Charla (34:20):
Yes.
Marijanel (34:21):
So, is there anything that we wanna wrap up with today, Charla? Anything going on inside of Bold School? Any classes we wanna quickly share about before we wrap up the today's show?
Charla (34:31):
Well, you know, one thing I was thinking about as we were looking at all this stuff is the idea that tools are not what makes an artist, even though they're so important. Tools are really important and having better tools, I think always helps us to do what we do better. But I definitely wanna drive home to everybody that if you don't have those tools right now, you can't get them, or you can't afford them, you're not, you don't have to have these tools in order to be a good artist,, in order to practice in order to be creative. I mean, you can just, you can go to the dollar store and get a few things and get started, go to a craft store. I, I always like look at the dollar store, the craft store, and then the art supply store. Um, and, you know, work your work your way up to those tools. Um, if you can get professional tools, I think that it helps. I think both Marijanel, and I were, uh, wedding photographers for a very long time. And we often joke about how people would come up and go, my, you, you take nice pictures with that camera, or your camera takes nice pictures.
Marijanel (35:30):
Yeah,
Charla (35:31):
Charlotte, I even
Marijanel (35:31):
Charla says she got to the point where she was like, okay, then you take the pictures. Here's the camera. Um, it's not the camera that takes the pictures.
Charla (35:38):
But I would surely mix up those settings before I hand it over. 'Cause I think, I think I used to take my, when I did destination weddings, and I would take my husband as my second shooter. And I would just set the camera up 'cuz once it's in the right light, and I give him the camera, and all he had to do is point and shoot, and he could compose pretty good. And he's like, wow, like, I take these great shots. I'm like, yeah, because I set the camera up, and I set them up, and I told you where to stand and just point so I could get a different angle. So yeah. Um, but as a photographer, I loved having the best cameras to use.
Marijanel (36:10):
Yeah.
Charla (36:11):
Uh, and they were awesome, and they did take good pictures. But tools, you know, we are talking a lot about tools and everybody, I love getting new tools, and I love hearing about new tools and gadgets that I've never used before. Um, that's what I love the community is so good for. And Marijanel getting together and showing each other what we have in our studio is just so exciting and fun. There's nothing wrong with having awesome tools. And I think we're, we work hard and we deserve to be able to go out and buy some new supplies and smell them and touch them.
Marijanel (36:40):
But it's not the tools. It's not the tools that they make the artisit. It is the skill. And that's the other beautiful thing about Bold School is that we're totally focused on growing the skill through our premium for classes. And we've got so many classes to choose from, um, bold color portraits, everything from wrinkles, you can learn how to paint wrinkles, to hair, to, you know, faces in all kinds of color palettes. And um, yeah. So,
Charla (37:08):
Yeah, once you got the skill, you can make anything with anything. I'd say if you got some sand on the beach and your finger, you can make art. You can stab rocks and make art. So, um, yeah, just get the skills, and you can do anything. So yeah, that's what I just wanna drive home. Because you can have like art bag envy when you're looking, I'm already wanting to go get a couple of things I saw Marijanel take out her bag.
Marijanel (37:30):
Yeah. Yeah. I can cause the shopping spree to share what's in the bag.
Charla (37:34):
Yeah.
New Speaker (37:35):
So anyway, thank you everyone for tuning in here to the Bold Artist Podcast and seeing what Charla and I have in the bag. Don't forget to download that PDF so you can see it first hand. Charla's made a beautiful PDF of what's in our bag. And then also that free tool resource on boldschool.com. And so thank you for joining us today on both YouTube and on all audio apps, you can find us on Instagram @boldschoolinc, and get on our [email protected]. Until next time, keep creating.
