Watercolor Crayons: Art Supplies Essentials

Watercolor crayons provides watercolorists with the ease of working in a familiar medium---the beloved paper wrapped, chunky crayon. But the crayon has grown up. It is now water soluble. A crayon drawing becomes a painting with the addition of water. Learn how to use this easy medium to fit your personal style of painting and it will quickly become an indispensable art supply either at home or on the up and coming painters holiday penciled in your day planner.

Watercolor Without Water?

It can be difficult to find a water source when far from the comfort of your studio. Quick watercolor sketching, sweeping vista, or diminutive scaled watercolor postcards.....not a problem when you travel with watercolor crayons! Leave your over priced sable brush at home and transform your drawing into a painting much later. When you return to home base. Then, a sweep of a water brush quickly renders your dry crayon marks into vast watercolor skies or big sweeping green fields. A small brush will reveal the details.

Experiment with different ways of using this easy- to -master new painting medium. Loose juicy washes of color are possible as well as highly detailed work. To work in a more controlled fashion, use a damp brush instead of a wet brush and work slowly into your painting, segment by segment. Another technique for careful detailing is to pick up color by scrubbing of a bit of the crayon onto another surface first. The inside lid of the tin the pencils are packed in is ideal. Dip a wet brush tip into the paint daub. Apply that bit of paint in small areas of your sketch.

Tips

Watercolorists have certain traditions and expectations. One is maintaining some whites of the paper. To keep areas of paper white to achieve that beloved sparkle, a wax-based crayon laid down first will resist the wet brush and thus retain the ‘white’ of the paper.

Watercolor crayons can be blended wet or dry for a seemingly endless palette of hues and colors. Mixing dry colors together one over another and then wetting can be startling as colors are intense when wet. Test you color combo out first. For consistency of color, buy the biggest set of the high quality crayons.

Portability Plus

Travel across country, hike out into the woods, sketch on location. Finding a water source for painters is no longer an issue. With watercolor crayons, you need not bother packing your over-priced brushes. Since you are not painting until your return, leave your carefully rolled sable brushes at the hotel....or leave them home. And what about airport security? Traditional creamy watercolors might not pass the ever changing rules and regulations. Watercolor crayons do not pose that problem.

Ready? Set? Paint

OK so you have heard of watercolor crayons? Purchased a tin for the kids even but assumed this was not for you? Don’t miss out on this accessible tool. Watercolor crayons are perfect for the sophisticated world traveler that you are. So tonight when the darling kids fall asleep, rummage through the plastic storage bins. Ignore the glitter glue, bracelet pens, and watercolor sets in pans. Nab the watercolor crayons.
 

-Cynthia Padilla

Cynthia Padilla-Come along as we learn and improve drawing skills through direct observation.  Explore the traditional dry media applications of graphite pencil, colored pencil, pen and ink, charcoal, and pastels.  I am a national instructor of drawing and sketching through the traditions of Plein Air Field Sketching, the Botanical Arts and Naturalist Illustration.