In this post I will tell you about some of the supplies I use, my impressions of them and the reasons I chose them.
Lets start at the beginning with my watercolour pencils.
I started with Derwent watercolour pencils, a 24 set and then a 72 set, which I love for their versatility. Unfortunately though, as with most water soluble pencils, their lightfastness is questionable when water is added. These pencils lay down well and can be used dry as well as with water added. I find them quick to use and effective. I guess I have a soft spot for them as they were my first coloured pencils. I also have a 72 set of Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils by Faber-Castell, these are also a beautiful pencil to work with but again suffer on the lightfastness side, they possess the same versatility as the Derwents but, for me, are just a little nicer to use. With the lightfast issues, only prints of my watercolour pencils work can be sold as archival.
I guess my Inktense blocks and pencils by Derwent fit this category too, I have a full set of each. This is a range that dries permanent, allowing layers of colour that don’t mix once they have dried. They can be used with or without water for different effects and the blocks are best used with a paint brush. The colours are, as the name suggests, intense and vibrant. They can be used on fabric as they are permanent when they dry. Again lightfastness is not guaranteed when water is added so only prints are archival.
Papers I use for the above media are:
Derwent watercolour pads, these were the first artist grade paper I used, I bought them because they were available locally and were relatively inexpensive, while they are archival and do work fine for watercolour, they are definitely not my favourite paper. Next I bought Fabriano’s Hot Press 300gsm Watercolour paper, this I actually bought for non watercolour coloured pencils but it is nice to use with the watercolour pencils. It is quite heavy weight at 300gsm and so resists warping when using water. The last of my papers which is suitable for watercolour pencil work is the Stonehenge 250gsm white pad and sheets, whilst I have not used it for watercolour work it is suitable and I am sure I will try it at some point.
I find watercolour pencils to be a relatively quick medium that is versatile and fun.
My brushes I will only mention in passing because they are just generic brushes. I have a range of sizes and shapes including some waterbrushes, they do what I need them to do so I feel no need to spend up big on brand name brushes. They don’t affect archivability which is important to me.
Next post will be on my coloured pencils supplies, some of which I have only tried but not completed a full piece yet.