Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Encountering The Blank Page: Part 2

Watercolor pencils have to be one of our favorite media. They have the convenience of colored pencil, but the coverage of watercolor paint. Below are some basic techniques for using the watercolor pencil. If you think of others, leave a comment, and I'll add it to the post.


Watercolor Pencil
1. Activate with water. Simply color down the watercolor pencil and paint water over it. The key is to lay down a lot of pigment, and then paint the water. This allows the color to be rich and to spread a lot.








2. Activate with watercolor paint. Color the watercolor pencil down, and instead of clean water, use watercolor paint. Use a different color to create interesting color blends.









3. Activate with watercolor marker. Color the watercolor pencil down, and use a regular marker, such as a yellow Crayola, to color over the watercolor pencil. The marker picks up a lot of pigment, and this technique will eventually ruin the marker. But they're inexpensive.







4. Dip in water. Dip the watercolor pencil into water and draw or color with it. You may need to repeatedly dip the pencil in water, but it creates a rich color with a slight texture.









5. Draw into wet paper. Paint either clear water or some watercolor paint onto a page, and then use a dry pencil to draw or color into the wet paper.









6. Layering. Use any of the above techniques, and allow it to dry. Then use another color with the same or different technique on top. You can build several layers of watercolor pencil for a page with richness and depth.








7. All-at-once. You might not have the time or patience for layering. So, color several colors at one time, and blend with water.









From Webgrl:
8. Sprinkle watercolor pencil shavings onto wet paper, and smear with a finger.

9. Color with the dry pencil, spritz with a water bottle, and leave it to do its thing.

4 comments:

steve said...

Excellent work here Eric. It's funny 'cause I love seeing these examples--they could almost stand alone as individual pieces. Anyhow, seeing these makes me want to try some. Wonderfully presented.

Kris Loya said...

Agree with steve that these could stand alone as individual pieces.
Fabulous!
I'm going to try some of these techniques. I like saving the pencil shavings and sprinkling them on to the wet page or smearing them with your finger.
Life's more fun with sprinkles don'tcha think ?:)
I think your blog is top notch btw!:)

Kris Loya said...

i saw on someone's blog, they color with the dry pencil and spritz with a water bottle and leave it be to do its thing.Fun! Random!

Turtle said...

Hi Eric!

I was put on to your blog by Steve, after I approached him about a question to to with my current Art Journal.

I'm Turtle, and I'm studying Education. This semester I'm studying Art, and for that we have to create a journal, basically displaying our journey.

I approached Steve, and now you, Eric- because I currently have a page entitled "100 things to do with Art". I wanted to create a page with things like 100 things to draw (which I have), 100 techniques to try, paint, ect.

The thing is- Google got me nowhere. I'm asking if you would have any 100 things to do with...lists, or ideas as to where I could find some more inspiration.

I absolutely love this blog- It has just been so helpful! Words can't actually tell you what it meant to finally, FINALLY find some real ideas and examples of how to approach such a journal.

So thanks Eric, and if you can help me, that would be fantastic! You can hit me at my blog (details there), or I'll come back again!

Turtle