The Best Watercolor Pencils for Beginners
I am often asked what watercolor pencils I recommend for beginners. I’ll be honest: I gravitate more towards watercolor painting, but the benefits of using a different tool, like watercolor pencils, can be a great way to explore new techniques and creative styles.
Watercolor pencils are great when you’re on the go, which makes them easy to take anywhere for practice. Here are some of my favorites and ones I’ve seen good reviews on.
Watercolor Pencils That Offer a Wide Variety of Colors
Derwent Watercolor Pencils are great if you’re looking for various colors. These have packs of 12, 24, and even 72! I love getting my hands on many different colors and seeing what works and doesn’t work for the type of art I want to create. They’re also great for the price point; if you’re just starting with watercolor pencils, it’s best to start with a more affordable option.
Highly Pigmented Watercolor Pencils
These Winsor and Newton watercolor pencils are highly pigmented and offer bright and fun colors to create with. I’m a massive fan of Winsor and Newton's paintings. These soft textured watercolor pencils are great for beginners because they allow easy blending. When you’re just starting to work with watercolor pencils, you want to make sure blending is seamless; these will enable you to do just that.
Higher Quality Watercolor Pencils for Beginners & Intermediate Artists
PrismaColor Premium colored pencils are more expensive than most but are slightly higher quality. PrismaColors is a high-quality brand that makes starting easy! I love to use these for easy blending.
I’m always a big fan of exploring new tools and techniques to create something truly unique. It’s all about having fun and testing the waters to see if you like to do it! Watercolor pencils are great for gaining much practice, taking up less space than paints, and helping you learn to sketch faster.
If you want to learn more about the pros and cons of using watercolor pencils, I’ve written a blog post about it here, or watch the video below!
