Watercolor pencils can be tricky. If you expect the dry color to be the same intensity once it’s wet, you may be in for a surprise.
Depending on how much water you apply and how it is used, it can dilute the original pigment, free it from the static state and allow the white of the paper to shine through, often in very exciting ways. If you apply the pencil heavily, adding water actually seems to make it less diluted and stronger because it fills in the tiny white speckles you get from pure pigment on dry paper. Test an unfamiliar color—wet and dry—on a piece of scrap paper to make sure that what you’ve chosen is what you really want.
It’s not necessary to stick with the narrow wood-clad pencils. If you’re after a broader result or quicker application, try Lyra Aquacolor sticks, Caran d’Ache Neocolor II or Bruynzeel or Cretacolor Aqua Monolith all-pigment pencils.
If you’re after a monochromatic silver-gray drawing, try the new water-soluble graphite pencils from Derwent. They come in three grades (hardnesses). Sometimes I find it necessary to restate lines once the artwork dries because it can appear too washed out. But then, I’m the bold type—you may prefer this subtlety.
Since watercolor pencils are so light, I often take nothing else with me into the field—no need to tote along heavy containers of water. After all, I can wet the whole drawing (or just selected areas) when it’s convenient, be it minutes later at the campsite or years later in my studio—provided I remember that the drawing was done with water-soluble pencils to begin with!
Here I’ve applied Derwent Madder Carmine and a cool, intense blue Lyra Aquacolor stick both heavily and lightly. Notice the difference as a drop of water is pulled through the pigment.
Here I’ve created broad effects with larger sticks and woodless pencils, such as Lyra Aquacolor or Cretacolor Aqua Monolith.