I love buying art supplies: pens, pencils, markers, even brushes. The problem is, where do I store them all? When I’m home, it isn’t too much of an issue, but if I’m on the go, especially at an appearance, I need my art supplies portable.
Time to Upgrade
For years, I used a beat up pencil pouch I bought for a couple of dollars at an office supply store. It worked, but it wasn’t the best as I bought more pens and pencils. I almost always needed to dump out the pencil pouch’s entire contents to find one item.
I decided to upgrade. I bought an ArtBin storage box.
Everything In Its Place
Not only did I have a better storage solution, but I could keep my various pens, pencils, and brushes separated and organized. No more wasted time searching for a certain sized Micron pen or even my kneaded eraser in the black void of the pencil pouch.
The ArtBin’s translucent casing allows me to see where the items are, and the three separate storage areas let me keep everything organized.
Portable
Getting one of the larger tackle box looking ArtBins tempted me for a minute, but I wanted something I could easily toss into my backpack. After last year’s convention season, I knew what art supplies I usually needed at shows, so I didn’t need an ArtBin to hold everything—just the essentials.
I’m happy with the ArtBin size I bought, which measures about 12.5” x 4.9” x 1.8.” It’s large enough to hold the art supplies I need, but small enough it can easily fit in my backpack.
My ArtBin storage case. Kitty sticker sold separately. Photo by me.
Stay Sharp
This ArtBin storage box features foam pads on one end to prevent pencil tip breakage. Handy. The ArtBin’s foam pads also help protect the tips of the watercolor brushes I keep inside.
The pencil tip protecting foam pads. Photo by me.
The material of the storage box feels strong and sturdy, unlike my pencil pouch, which ripped and tore after heavy use.
Locked In
One upside of my pencil pouch was its zipper. I didn’t have to worry about any pens falling out or trying to escape. But, the usefulness of the zipper waned as my pencil pouch aged and the material began to rip and tear, creating holes.
While my ArtBin storage box doesn’t have a zipper, it does have two latches to keep everything secure. Two latches, is key. One latch could come undone with a well-placed bump from an excited kitty, but two gives extra protection.
Close up of one of the two latches. Photo by me.
The latches are strong, and I even if there was only a single latch, I doubt it would open on its own easily.
Under the Lid
While organizing my various pens and pencils, I decided to whip up a ‘cheat sheet’ for future reference. I trimmed a piece of paper to fit inside the ArtBin’s lid.
My pen cheat sheet. Photo by me.
This started as a way to compare the tones and brushes of my Tombows and Copics markers to each other, but I decided to do the rest of my pens and pencils. Sure, the cheat sheet might hinder the see-through aspect of the ArtBin’s casing, but I know which pens are in which section. It’s still better than digging through a pencil pouch, because everything is neatly organized.
Photos taken by me using a Canon 1.8 50mm lens and a Foldio.
