You should draw. No, talent is not required. Whenever someone decides to tell me that they wish they could draw, I tell them that they can. If they keep talking, I recommend they search the web for “Tracey Emin monoprints”. That’s not to start a conversation about modern artists, it’s to get a reaction. That reaction is always more convincing than I could ever be. Anyone can draw. Most of the barrier to drawing is just doing it. The entry fee for that is wanting to do it. Success is when you want to do it, and have what you need to do it. Think back. Remember the quiet boring parts of grade school. Everyone spent hours a day around paper with a pencil or pen. Everyone drew. It could have been anything. People drew because they had time, and they had the bare minimum materials at hand. Some people may have even wanted to.

Just a couple more things I’m completely sure I read someplace else. Was it from Steven B. Reddy? I feel like it was from Steven B. Reddy. Excess time enables drawing without the need for desire as long as the tools are at hand. Excess desire makes up for not having the time, again, as long as the tools are at hand. The thing to remember is having what is needed to draw is what’s most important. That applies to all kinds of creative activities; it’s awful hard to sew without thread. There’s a popular sentiment in most activities that fancy tools aren’t needed to do good work. That’s true, they aren’t. The fact that some people aggressively go out of their way to prove it in a sort of desperate and intense way is telling. They probably have a favorite pencil brand. They know the weight of their paper, how much cotton is it. At some point, they’ve owned a pen that cost over one hundred USD.

Those people are not spouting hypocrisy. They’re trying to be encouraging, they’re just leaving out something important. Henry Rollins does some spoken word performances. In one of them he talked about this German handheld manual can opener. It’s designed so that you want to hold it; need to use it. A quality pen, the right paper, it makes a difference. They can be the sort of things that foster a desire to use them. All of that is meant to explain the way particular objects can be key to the construction of a habit. This extends beyond the obvious quality sketchbook and pleasing pencil, it’s my feeling that bags are the next logical thing.

In the same way it’s possible to draw with a burnt twig, it’s possible to carry what you need to have to draw in something that’s already being carried. A sketchbook and a pencil can fit into most purses, into whatever you carry your laptop in, into a jacket pocket, whatever. Here’s the thing though, a dedicated bag feels different inside your head. People talk about this or that smell bringing back a food of memory; that one special song that cracks the door separating the senile demented from the rest of the world. You can build that same frame around a bag. The Etchr Nano Satchel is perfect for that. Stop reading now and buy one.

I hope you’re back, even if this reads like a life story prefacing a recipe for rice and beans. Know, the mind is an overgrown field. The waist high grass is green and strong in the soft way a stone is. Certain thoughts, particular actions, traverse the overgrowth leaving  stalks pushed aside as by a deer’s passing. The more the same path is tread, the easier it is to follow later. If at first it’s hard to discern, in time it’s easy to see. After a while, you can follow it blind; the stalks only just making contacts on either side. There’s nothing ahead needing to be trampled down. Draw today, and tomorrow and tomorrow, and all the days to come. Cut your path.

This could be done with something you already have. That’s harder. Something you already have has it’s own lines in the field, however faint or hard packed the soil. So start with something new, like the Etchr Nano Satchel. It’s purpose built, which lends it to a specific use, making it easier to begin the right path across the field. And it’s small, presenting no awkward bulk to contend with. Slim, resistant to carrying other than what’s intended. It’s great except that it looks very much like something worth stealing, so it’s a big plus if people are scared of you.

The strap is wide and sturdy. It has all metal hardware which is nice for comfort because it can be less substantial without sacrifices to size like plastic would have. Click it on to any two of the 4 corner D-rings, which are plastic. Opposite corners are comfortable both in bag mode and in desk mode. The big outer pocket is more accommodating than it looks. Not just because it’s sewn with a sidewall fold, the oversized velcro pads help too. It can close pretty securely thanks to them, and it’s loud if someone tries to open it, for added security. Everything that isn’t actually for drawing fits in there.

Double zippers open it up to the fuzzy interior. I’m sure there was a reason to make that the material, I don’t understand the choice. There is a velcro tab on a strap that will hold the sides together, I don’t find it necessary. One side, the side that will be facing the floor in desk mode, has a series of elastic loops. They are different sizes. I put a pencil in one because the one I’m using now is too wide to fit easily in the pen loop on the working side. The working side has two elastic bands that can hold a sketchbook in place. I don’t use them. I think if I was using watercolors now I would use them. There’s also a thin pocket, it’ll fit an A5 sketchbook, as long as it isn’t too thick, though it is a tight fit.

Is it really useful? Is it something worth carrying when it really is purpose built for one thing? Yes, I think it is. When you’re on the road with the clothes on your back you really can get by with just this, if you’re used to that sort of thing already at least. For the homebody, the car-owner, someone who drives places instead of riding on busses or trains it may not be. I don’t know. I’m not that person. There’s a lot of places out there people will not let you sit. This allows you to get by standing, without your arms doing that weird shaky thing after holding a sketchbook for an hour.