Watercolor Pencils

Paper:

• $21-$24 Canson Watercolor Spiral Notebook, 90lb, 8.5" x 11", 48 pages

  
  

• $13.44 Strathmore Mixed Media Paper Pad 184lb, 11" x 14", 15 pages

(spiral notebook version of 40 pages would be $16.16)

• $7.99-$21.39 Strathmore Drawing Spiral Notebook, 64lb, 9" x 12", 60 pages

Materials:

• Faber-Castell Watercolor Pencils, pack of 8 (may be discontinued)

$6 pack of 12

$7.57 special grip pack of 12

$14.91 pack of 12 in tin

$30.92 pack of 24 in tin

• $7.44 Crayola Watercolor Pencils, pack of 24

  $3.89 pack of 12

  
  

• $39.95 Generals Kimberly Watercolor Pencils, pack of 24 (many places out of stock)

  $13.21 pack of 12

  
  

• $46.99 Derwent Intense Water-soluble Ink Pencils, pack of 24

$26.90 pack of 12

(up to 100 count, all different colors)

• $32.63 Caran d'Ache Neocolor Water-soluble Wax Pastels, pack of 15

  $65.81 pack of 30

  (to 84 count, different colors)

Additional Materials and Logistics Required for the Medium:

• White crayon (can be used to make areas water repellent and remain white)

• Paint brushes

• Masking tape

• Water cups or recycled yogurt pints

• Newspaper to cover table and absorb spilled water

  
  

Material Findings:

Mixed Media

Watercolor

• Faber-Castell 

  • Pencils blended into other colors the best

  • Primarys mixed to make new pigments best, new pigments were vibrant

  • Labeled as non-toxic

    
    

• Generals

  • 2nd best in blending and mixing to make new colors

  • Ages 13+

    
    

• Crayola

  • Worst pencils

  • Couldn't mix to create new colors

  • Colors didn't blend together even when not trying to create new colors

  • Labeled as non-toxic

    
    

• Derwent Ink Pencils

  • Messy, can smudge and get on clothes

  • Can blend and mix to make new colors but not well

  • Ages 14+

    
    

• Caran d'Ache Wax Pastels

  • Blends beautifully

  • Messiest, can smudge and get on clothes

  • Can be used as face paint (don't tell the kids that)

  • Ages 10+

Paper Findings:

• Canson Watercolor Paper and Strathmore Mixed Media Paper work best

  (about the same)

  
  

• Strathmore Drawing Paper and anything not made for water DOESN'T work

  (water will run straight through and damage paper)

  
  

• Canson Watercolor Paper primed with gesso

(DON'T do this unless you WANT a runny/blur effect or something with chance procedures)

• Makes pencils produce dust when they usually wouldn't

• Makes pigment seem brighter

• Will have to tape paper to keep it from warping

• Helps colors mix and run together (but beyond control)

• See example at bottom of page

Teaching:

I have a high comfort level that I could teach middle school or high school how to use all these materials. When it comes to younger kids, some of the materials can't be used or are toxic. It seems the Faber-Castell brand is the best watercolor pencil of everything I tested while remaining non-toxic so they can be used at all age levels. I could work on my classroom management skills and keep reading the book I've been trying to learn more of those skills from. I say this because not being able to control the classroom could lead to lots of spilled water with this medium. I was hoping I could avoid water cups completely so I tested the watercolor pencils on a wet sponge in the way you can replacement water cups with watercolor paint (which was a long shot but I was hopeful). It didn't work at all, which wasn't supersizing but worth a shot. What could help avoid spilling is creating a rule in the classroom that everything must remain off the table except for the art materials while working with wet media. Another thing could be covering the table with newspapers beforehand to help absorb water for younger kids (I don't think the older kids will need that with water color pencil in the way they would with paint).