Shaving the colours on to a fresh wash or plain wet paper was quite an exciting experience as I watched them seem to melt. I used a sharp blade for this, running it at a 45° angle along the lead produced a fine dust, whereas a 90° angle gave me a thin flake. Watercolour Pencils offer more versatility than a standard colouring pencil, but they do have a slightly steeper learning curve. With a single watercolour pencil you’ll essentially have two colouring tools in one and you’ll be able to make a whole variety of different marks. Use watercolour pencils dry and you probably won’t be able to tell them apart from a standard colouring pencil. Their texture may feel a little drier, and they may not layer quite as effectively – but overall they’re very similar. There’s nothing stopping you from using your watercolour pencils dry and never activating them with water. However, be careful not to splash your drawing or the colour will run and you could ruin it.

Derwent Inktense are one of Derwent’s best-selling pencil ranges. They dry to a permanent finish, meaning you can layer up vibrant, translucent colours without disturbing the colour beneath. Inktense don’t limit you to using only paper – try them out on card and fabric to achieve the same permanent colour. They’re suitable for all kinds of craft and fine art projects. They offer much more intense colour than the rest of Derwent’s water soluble pencil range. Inktense pencils feature Derwent’s signature colour flash at the end and include both the colour name and indentification number stamped on the barrel. No specific lightfastness or pigment information is given on the pencil. WAX BASED | 4mm Colour Strip | Round Barrel | 100 Colours (including 1 non water soluble outliner) | Firm Texture Watercolour Pencils are made similarly to a standard colouring pencil. They have the same wooden barrels that encase a coloured lead. Each lead is made from the same kinds of ingredients as a coloured pencil, but with the added benefit of a water-soluble binder. This binder allows you to use watercolour pencils either wet or dry. Use them dry and you’ll be able to apply and blend colour like a traditional pencil. However, their beauty really comes out when you combine them with water. Use a wet brush, mist with a spritzer or spray bottle, or draw directly onto wet paper to create all kinds of interesting marks. Techniques: - Watercolour, washes, crosshatching, graded applications, unlimited blending possibilities, mixed media.You’ll find this chart helpful as you can find a coloured pencil’s details without having to physically search through your pencils, or your physical colour chart. It will be a great time saver for you. Museum Interactive Colour Chart As with ordinary coloured pencils, you can use them to scribble, blend, hatch, lay down flat unbroken colour, or work with linear marks, in as expressive or controlled way as you please. You can also lift colour directly from the lead – like you would a traditional watercolour pan. However, this will weaken the lead, making it harder to sharpen or draw with. It can also cause water to leech into the wooden barrel and will affect the useable life of your pencil. You can use Watercolour Pencils with all kinds of techniques (from top left to bottom right): shavings activated with water, wet nib on dry paper, wet splatter on dry paper, wet nib on wet paper, wash made from wet on wet splatter and strokes activated with water. Derwent Watercolour Pencils They’re so pigmented, and cheaper than premium watercolour, I just snapped the leads off into a couple of tiny ceramic palettes (got two of the Etchr 37 well travel ones for this). Have to say they’re easier to travel with this way than tube paints. (Read somewhere a Museum pencil has same amount of pigment as a half pan.) And yes sometimes I’m so lazy I just use them at home to do a bit of painting on the dining table to finish up the sketches. In fact they’re still set up this way this morning (sheepish shrug).

For the purposes of this review, I’m also including the Pallette Aquarelle also by Caran D’Ache. This product is a perfect pairing because it’s specially designed with a textured side that works well for applying dry pencil and adding water with a paintbrush to liquify it. I’ll be giving my thoughts on this product as well at the end of the review. G’day Barb- a “white magic” eco eraser sponge with just water is all I need to clean the mixing board when I’m not going to use the pigment again! (It goes by many names just here in Oz, from branded thru cheap no name, typically used to remove scuffs from painted walls etc). Yep, just water and it gets off ALL the pigment returning to a perfectly white clean board. Saves your brushes- especially if you like them- too. Colour accuracy vs the colour barrel is fairly good. Similar to other brands the barrel colour is slightly darker than the colour that appears on the paper. Although the barrel design looks sharp I personally prefer when the entire pencil is the same colour vs the colour-dip tip.

Price 

Caran D’Ache have recently released new coloured pencils – Museum Aquarelle. They come in 76 colours though only the full range is available in singles. Currently, the collections available are 12 Basics, 20 Marine and 20 Landscape.

Pencils made with high quality wood: the wood of the Museum Aquarelle pencils is the highest grade FSC™certified cedar wood.

HOW TO USE THE PENCILS IN THE MUSEUM AQUARELLE RANGE

They cover the paper easily and feel sensitive to the pressure of my hand, even on a textured surface. If you’ve made your own charts – that’s great. But – as is practical, you might also have your charts in one physical place while you draw in another. You need to have access to the colours where you are – hopefully you’ll be there with internet access and your mobile device. These pencils are listed as vegan however Caran d’Ache don’t list any specific pigment information. No colours use PBk9 pigment. When searching for information, first use the global search button. Then use the column searches to refine your search. Putting plain water into the well of a watercolour palette, I shaved off some lead and let it dissolve. The result was a wonderful rich, inky paint.