Beginner's - ArtTrader Magazine

Art TRADER
m a g a z i n e
Pencils
If you want good quality pencils,
you will have to be willing to pay
a bit more. When I was quite
young, my parents bought me a
set of Crayola watercolor pencils.
I had them for a long time, and
later purchased a set of Kimberly
watercolor pencils. I was amazed
at the difference in quality between
the two brands! Then of course,
I bought some Faber Castell
watercolor pencils and Derwent
Inktense pencils—both fantastic
brands. I was recently given a set
of Prismacolor watercolor pencils
by a friend, and these are also
quite nice.
One of the things you’ll find is
that different pencil brands have
different softness, which affects the
application of color on the page. If
you are serious about working with
watercolor pencils, it might benefit
you to purchase several types of
brands to see which ones you like.
Unfortunately, watercolor pencils
are not graded like normal pencils
(graded for hardness, such as 9H)
so you just have to experiment.
Artistic Journeys:
Introduction to Watercolor Pencils
by: Dana Driscoll
Watercolor pencils are a hybrid between drawing and painting
that are highly transportable and flexible. Watercolor pencils
differ from normal colored pencils in the sense that they are
water soluble (I think of it similar to dried paint in pencil form).
You can draw with them as normal pencils, create watercolor
washes, or even create whole paintings! They are also rather
economical and easy to clean up, making them the perfect
addition to your artistic repertoire. Finally, watercolor pencils
are perfect for vacations or outdoor drawing!
What materials do I need to start
As a final note, you should keep
your watercolor pencils stored
separately from your regular
colored pencils. Otherwise, you
can end up with working on a piece
you thought was all watercolor
pencils, but is really only partially
watercolor pencil (and ruin
whatever design you were hoping
to achieve).
Brushes
For watercolor pencils, you’ll
want to use watercolor brushes
(these are brushes with longer,
softer bristles). For ATC sized
cards, smaller sizes of brushes
work best. If you are doing larger
work, however, definitely switch
to a larger brush so that you can
avoid inconsistencies in your water
application. I prefer using the
round brushes for watercolor pencil
work as the water flows smoothly
into the pigment on the page and
you can work in softer edges than
with the square brushes.
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Solvent, Sponges, and
Other Blenders
You can also have handy solvent
(optional for techniques), Q-tips,
paper towels, sponges (optional
for techniques), and a colorless
blender (paper or marker, usually
found in drawing aisle (optional for
techniques). I’ll cover using these
in more detail below.
Watercolor
Pencils
and ATCs
I’ve used watercolor pencils
for many of my ATCs,
especially the ones I have
done for swaps. I find
that since the pencils lend
themselves so well to fine
detail, I can work in the
smaller format with ease with
the watercolor pencils. They
really are a fantastic resource
for ATC creators!