The Pros & Cons to Using Watercolor Pencils

I’ve been receiving a lot of questions in my Watercolors Made Simple (student-only) Facebook group about watercolor pencils! So I thought a tutorial sharing my opinion on watercolor pencils and the techniques on how I use them in my practice would benefit everyone! 

For reference, these are the watercolor pencils that I mention and use. If you want a more in-depth tutorial, check out my YouTube video on the Pros & Cons to Using Watercolor Pencils here!

Pros of Using Watercolor Pencils

I love to use watercolor pencils when working on abstract pieces. They provide beautiful line work and details you can’t get with paints. In addition, you can use them to add last-minute detailed line work that brings your pieces to life! 

Another pro of using watercolor pencils is the pigment they provide! Typically with watercolor pencils, the pigment will be much stronger than with paints; I love to use them when I need something more vibrant in my piece. 

Cons of watercolor pencils 

The biggest con is not being able to mix colors. As some of you know using watercolor paints, you can create any color you want if you have your three primary colors! If you’re new to color mixing, I highly suggest you check out this video, where I break down the use of color mixing!

With watercolor pencils, you cannot easily mix colors as you can with paints, making it more challenging if you only have fewer pencils to create a piece with multiple colors. Another con with watercolor pencils is how quickly you can use them. I find that my watercolor paints last longer; depending on the pencil, you can go through them fast if you use them frequently. 

I’ve outlined a rough breakdown of the pros and cons of watercolor pencils here, and if you want a more in-depth tutorial and a breakdown demonstration, I highly suggest you take a look at my Youtube video. I provide some more insight, demonstrate how I use watercolor pencils, and show the techniques on how I use them.