Kinda confused ..can anyone help sort this out
 

I went to Michaels to buy some watercolor pencils, but I'm confused at all the different kinds. I don't want to waste money like I already have with two different kinds of pencils. I'm not happy with the look after I color things in. I looked at getting the Prisma (I think thats what their called) I know Copic markers are the BEST but I don't want to spend the 70 or so dollars right this moment but I may have to , to get the look I want.

I'm sure this post is as clear as mud...LOL ..told yah I was confused.

if you buy prismacolor pencils you will need a stump to blend with either OMS or baby oil. I use baby oil, because the OMS was a little to strong for me.

If you buy watercolor pencils, all you need is a blender pen for watercoloring and works perfect ;)

I have both.

I guess you are asking about different ways to color an image.

Watercolor pencils are relatively inexpensive and act like watercolors. You take a brush, water and touch the pencil and use it to color. You must use water. They come in a variety of brands, including Prismacolor.

Prismacolor also makes pencils that you do not use with water. they are waxed based.

Then there are markers, like alcohol based ones and water based ones such as Tombow or Stampin Up or Memento.

All of them work on the same principle -- using lighter areas and darker areas to create depth and shadows. I'm not very good at it either.

My experience is that it is very helpful to buy some inexpensive watercolor paper (140 lb cold press) and some watercolors like you get for school. 6 - 8 colors in a tin. A brush and a glass of water and some paper towels.

Get some books out of the library on watercoloring and practice a lot. Whatever you learn by way of shading, etc. you can transfer to colored pencils, alcohol markers, etc.

Alcohol markers do have an easier way to blend, but they aren't a cure all. And they are pricey. On the other hand, you can use water based markers like watercolor paint -- scribble them on a piece of plastic and use with a bit of water and a brush.

I guess my long rambling is meant to say that whatever use doesn't matter as much as learning the principles behind coloring and shading.

One of my favourite watercolours are my Lyra Watercolour Crayons...Just use with an Aqua Brush....the beauty about these are they last like forever.

Michelle

I do also love Prisma...but make sure you get the "right" stumps....the ones marked Made in Taiwan are way superior to those marked Made in China...the Chinese ones are too hard!

The Lyra watercolour crayons are AWESOME. I love mine. I also love my tombows but they do work best on watercolour paper - if I don't have watercolour paper then I do the scribble on a CD and pick up with a wet brush and colour with them that way. I just used my crayons for the first time to make Valentine's Day cards and I really really liked them. Used them direct to the paper and also as a scribble. I also have watercolour pencils and like them but I think I like the crayons the best or at least equal but different to my Tombows.

I also really love the Stampin Up Watercolor Crayons (not the pencils, the crayon types).

I can use those to color directly on the stamps and then use a water bottle to spritz on the images to get a unique looking image. Or stamp a line type image with black stamps, let it dry then color the image with the crayons and use stampin ups blender pens to color the watercolor crayons.

Holley
a new project everyday! http://holleybarnhartsblog.blogspot.com/

I guess it all depends on exactly what look you're going for. Watercolor pencils are a little easier to use than watercolor paints and are great for soft, even coverage. If you've decided that watercolor pencils are the way to go and you're looking for a recommendation on a brand, I think that Derwent is a safe bet. Michael's carries them and you can use a coupon. Just make sure you have a waterbrush, waterproof ink (like Stazon or Palette), and quality watercolor paper (140 lbs. cold press).

For watercolor pencils, I recommend the Derwent brand also. You can buy them in sets, but also individually to fill in for the colors you need. A waterbrush works really well with them, but I would buy a Niji waterbrush or one by EK Success; I bought a 3-pack of cheap waterbrushes and regret it. However, I really prefer a nice watercolor paintbrush, because you can more easily control the amount of water you're using. Good luck!

I like both the SU Watercolor crayons and the pencils but the blendy pens are essential to use with them to get the optimal colors.

i use lyra watercolour pencils; they're inexpensive but have a nice amount of pigment in them whether you do like joan said, wet your brush and use them as paint, or you colour in your image with them and then use a wet brush to blend. art stores carry far more brands, and their prices are usually better than michael's, even with the coupons. you can buy one watercolour pencil from an art store just to compare the brands until you find one you like.