Sketching wildlife in the African bush definitely requires the right materials.  There are many occasions when you have to sketch from your vehicle (when the alternative is to get out and see if you really can outrun a lion, I'd say sketching in your vehicle is a good way to ensure that you will sketch again another day!). A compact watercolor field kit is essential because the dashboard will no doubt be covered in maps, binoculars, camera lenses, GPS etc and there is no room to put anything down. Often I just use watercolor pencils instead of paints and sketch on Yupo paper. Yupo is great for watercolor in the bush because it is a synthetic material and doesn't absorb water. This means that no matter how much water you use, it remains flat. So I don't need to stretch it before I paint. Of course the synthetic nature of the paper also makes it a very interesting surface to work on - a little like painting on glass.

Another key ingredient of painting gear for the bush is that you need to be able to stop painting and pack it all away in no time at all. This became very obvious one day while my husband and I were sitting in Khutse Game Reserve in Botswana watching wildebeest and springbok on the pan below us. Suddenly I heard a cry "Wild Dogs on the pan!". At the time I was sitting on the roof of the truck painting a landscape but I reckon that within about 30 seconds I was inside the truck and we were hurtling down the sandy track in pursuit of the dogs. We found them. My sketch remains unfinished...

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