Nomadic PE-07 Pencil Pouch Review --- Peek inside my sketch kit!

Finally, here is my review of the Nomadic PE-07 Pencil Pouch, otherwise known as my lightweight sketch kit! I'm going to give you a peek inside to share what's traveling with me everywhere these days. I bought a Nomadic Messenger Bag quite some time ago and I use it so much that I thought I couldn't go wrong with some more of their products. The pouch comes in lots of nice colors, and I love red. The small zippered compartment in the front is a very convenient place to keep items that I need to reach for first --- like a pen, pencil and eraser. I can do my initial sketch without having to even open up the bag. If I decide to paint or use brush pens, I then proceed to the larger, inside compartment.

Above is a photo of the pouch from the side, so you can see some of the nifty dividers, with supplies in there too. (The pouch looks orange in this photo, but only the inside is orange.) I like having that thin, center section with the zipper. It gives me a safe place to store my Escoda travel brushes, where they can't fall out even if the bag tips while open. I took out the pen, mini watercolor set, and waterbrush to do the sketch above out on location. Removing the rest of the contents, you can see how much I'm able to fit into this clever little bag in the image below:

Inside the pouch is stashed a mini set of gouache as well as the watercolor set, a vial that I filled with Dr. Martin's Bleedproof White, my beloved Kaweco Lilliput fountain pen, a few water brushes, three Escoda travel brushes, one travel squirrel mop brush, a small travel sable with protective sleeve, a grey Pentel Aquash brush pen, a Kuretake refillable brush pen, architect pencil, little mouth/gum scrubber to scrub out paint, Mini Mister to spritz my palette or sketch, small container of water (little yellow bottle), palette cup, two metal office binder clips to hold down sketchbook pages, UniBall Vision rollerball pen, and small piece of eraser. Whew, that was a mouthful! Typing it all out, it's hard to believe that it all fit easily into the pouch. I have since added a piece of sponge in there as well, to wipe my brushes as I paint.

This pouch is so so well designed and constructed. It has just enough compartments and dividers for me to separate items into categories, without having so many that they take up needed space or make it hard to find what I'm looking for. It weighs nothing, is small enough to stash in my purse, and super-convenient to toss it into my backpack if I'm going hiking or traveling and need an ultra-light art kit. This and a sketchbook, and I'm good to go anywhere. I've already taken it on many hikes and outings. Like all art bags and sketch kits, it will continue to change and evolve, so I'll be sure to show it again in a year or so. It will be interesting to see how the contents have changed in that time.

So, is there anything negative about this bag? Well, initially I wished it was a bit larger. However, I'm now glad that it's not. One thing I've learned about myself over time is that no matter how big a sketching bag is, I know how to fill it to the brim, and I'm going to do that! Therefore, the secret for me to traveling light is to have a small bag that can only accommodate so much. In my dreams, I have a large, light bag. It contains everything I ever wanted, and there is plenty of room left over. But in reality, my bags are always packed to the brim with way more stuff than I could ever use in a single outing. Clearly the supplies in the photo above are more than ample for a sketch outing. One day last weekend, I forced myself to cut the contents in half, and I didn't find myself missing a thing when I went to sketch! So now I can honestly say that the pouch is perfect for its intended purpose. I love it. And it's mine. And I'm not giving it up. So if you want your own, you'll just have to hustle on over to JetPens and get one for yourself.