Best Watercolor Pencil Brands

Using watercolor pencils as an adult, child, or expert artist is fun. It never gets old to glide hues across paper before blending them with water.

You’ve come to the right spot if you’re looking for a watercolor pencil set for your upcoming artwork.

I’m evaluating the top watercolor pencil brands and some excellent choices with more affordable prices.

Looking through these sets should help you decide whether you’re a complete beginner or an artist, willing to splurge or to seek a cost-effective solution.

Best Watercolor Pencil Brands

Faber-Castell Albrecht Dürer Watercolor Pencils

Faber-Castell is recognized as a long-time master in producing pencils and other art supplies.

The Faber Castell watercolor pencils set is packaged in a metal tin that can be used again as a refill pack or to store other supplies.

The metal tin is also hinged, which some artists may find convenient. There were 36 pencils in this set, all of which were vivid, bright, and versatile enough to be used for various artistic techniques.

Every pencil has a distinct ergonomic shape that suits your hand well. There is no need to be concerned about the pencils sporadically breaking because the lead is robust and break resistant.

Each pencil has a smooth finish, making it manageable for experts and novices.

Additionally, this characteristic makes the color simple to apply, blend, and layer. For instance, you can quickly produce bold, vibrant linework or gentle, delicate watercolor washes.

Pros

• Maximum lightfastness for all 24 colors
• Soft, intense color laydown
• Fully water-soluble lead

Cons

• High price
• Thick leads are not suitable for fine details

Customer review

“Faber-Castell is simply the premier manufacturer of fine art pencils and other products. These watercolor pencils are nothing less than perfect for my works in watercolor. I will buy Faber-Castell products every time I get a chance or have to replace worn out stock.”

 OOKU Watercolor Pencils Set 

You can avoid making four orders by using the OOKU set. A linen wrap, a sharpener, and a watercolor brush are all included.

Furthermore, it is reasonably priced compared to other brands of comparable products. You can use it whether you’re a novice, an expert, or a semi-professional artist.

The OOKU pencils‘ effortless blending is also due to their smooth, water-soluble cores. The heavy pigment load also contributes to the colors’ ability to retain brightness after wetness.

Additionally, the pencils work with both dry and wet drawing methods.

The collection won’t need to be stored, so I won’t have to. Its roll-up container can be placed almost anywhere.

In addition, pulling the pens straight out of the loops is simpler. The pencils’ packaging and appearance are very user-friendly.

Pros

• Includes a brush and a blade
• many different hues
• Minimal cost
• Wrap transport
• Continual guarantee
• Seamless class blending

Cons

• The pencil ends are somewhat flimsy
• For the pencils, the roll-up loops are too broad.

Customer review

“First time using watercolor pencils. They blend nicely. Nice for beginners. Reasonable in price.
I like that it has a case to keep them in.”

Prismacolor Premier

The colors blend seamlessly with the Prismacolor Premier pencils. The high pigment load and saturated colors produce the ideal effects.

Additionally, the highly smooth lines are due to the water-soluble binder.

The watercolor set is packaged in a premium tin case. I can keep the set anywhere without worrying about the pencils getting damaged. The pens also have a substantial external coating that guards against scratches.

If the pencils had been colored, choosing the desired hue from the set would have been simpler. However, using the Prismacolor set makes drawing simpler and more enjoyable.

Pros

• High level of color
• Rich colors
• Simple and fluid mixing
• Soluble in water center

Cons

• Not accessible in bigger groups
• The colored pens are the same

Customer review

“Great color Pencils. They are number 2 on my favorite colour pencil list after Faber Castell polychromos. Texture of these Pencils is better than polychromos but they for wax bloom which causes a lot of glare.”

Castle Art Supplies Watercolor Pencil

These pencils offer a quick and dependable method to create detailed drawings. Anyone seeking to dive into watercolor pencil art will find the Castle Art Supplies Watercolor Pencils Set the perfect kit.

This collection came in a handy tin box that was simple to open and had three tiers of coloured and named pencils.

With just a few droplets of water and a paintbrush, this product can transform from dry pencils to watercolors, which sets it apart from similar products.

Various colors are available when drawing with only pencils; the points stay sharp to create fine lines. Your artwork becomes a painting when the leads are triggered, melting, blending, and dissolving exquisitely.

Pros

• Applying is fluid and smooth
• Octagonal form for simple handling
• Bright hues with little pressure required
• Simple to blend and stack

Cons

• Layered boxes may be challenging to keep.

Customer review

“This set has a great variety of color options for the price. Beginning users are likely to be overwhelmed with the large variety of subtle changes of shades in the various color groups. More advanced users will find that variety convenient. The overall quality of the pencils is good and consistent producing reliable images on a variety of paper surfaces.”

Derwent Watercolor Pencil 

These Derwent Colored Pencils are excellent for any level of art project if you’re searching for new drawing tools. The pencils produce sharp features and are simple to sharpen.

Additionally, these colored pens are water-soluble. To produce rich lines, you can get bold hues with soft edges using dampened paper and a wet pencil point.

Since the pigment is not irreversible, the color can be changed and moved even after it has been set.

These watercolor pencils’ softer composition makes blending and layering simple. Various effects can be produced, such as vivid hues and delicate watercolors.

You can tailor your coloring palette to the type of artwork you’re making thanks to the 24 colors that are accessible. This set of watercolor pencils is ideal for you if you’re searching for art supplies that combine precision and adaptability.

Pros 

• Provides fine control over the arrangement of colors.
• Offers a vibrant color
• Suitable for use as standard colored pens
• Possibility of lifting color

Cons

• Brittleness of barrel wood
• It tends to crack and break due to soft lead and needs a good sharpener

Customer review

“The Dewar watercolor pencils are a delight to use. The pigments are strong and colors bright. They perfectly complement my watercolor paints and blend easily into my paintings. I recommend this product. Very happy with the purchase.”

Factors to Consider when Buying Colored Pencils

It cannot be easy to choose the finest pencil colors to purchase. Ultimately, personal taste will determine which colored pencils are best for you.

We want to share some of our best-colored pencils with you to start things well. You can choose what to focus on when you begin your artistic journey by considering the following considerations.

Quality

A colored pencil typically has a thin, pigmented core enclosed in a wooden shaft. Only occasionally will colored pencils be woodless, which means that the pencil’s core will be the only part made of wood and coated in a thin layer of lacquer.

Colored pencils are primarily composed of pigment, binding agents, and fillers. Since colored pencils can range significantly in quality, this is where the significant differences appear.

Different pigment concentrations, softness, and the center’s longevity are all signs of a brand’s quality. The two main categories of quality are student marks and artist ratings.

Most well-known manufacturers provide colored pencils for artists and students in two product lines to cater to various consumer requirements.

Permanence

The durability of your art will be a top concern if you are a fine artist creating pieces for sale. Naturally, you want the artwork your customers and fans buy to last for a long time. It is despicable to think your work might lose its appeal in a few years.

The finest materials should be used to ensure that your artwork lasts for years.

It is okay to be concerned about lightfastness if you are not an expert artist or are only using your pencil for coloring and using high-quality artist-grade pencils. The best artist-colored pencils’ lightfastness will offer adequate fade resistance for most hobbyist artists.

Color

The solid nature of colored pencils makes them difficult to blend. Unlike other media like acrylics and gouache, colors cannot simply be combined to produce new hues and tones. As a result, you can choose from various colors in the finest colored pencils.

A good strategy is to begin with, a kit of colored pencils that contains approximately 48 different colors so you can experiment, and then you can extend your collection by purchasing extra pencils separately as you require them.

Color charts are offered by producers of the finest colored pencils for artists like Faber-Castell.

You can also make additional shades and tints you don’t get right out of your colored pencil box by learning the proper layering and blending methods and selecting high-quality colored pencils.

Brands

Colored pencils come in various names with varying qualities, lightfastness ratings, pigment densities, and prices. While there are some excellent inexpensive colored pencils on the market, the difference between student-quality and professional-quality colored pencils is noticeable.

The finest affordable colored pencils, premium-colored pencils, or a professional-colored pencil set are very different. The decision will, however, come down to personal taste when it comes to recognized brands.

Why Watercolor Pencils Amazing?

Suppose you attempt to learn how to use them; no doubt you will quickly become a fan. What makes these watercolor pencils so great, you may be thinking.

These are the most typical explanations:

Versatility:

A watercolor pencil gives you access to two distinct art mediums. You can sketch with them the same way you would with colored pencils. Alternatively, you can opt at any time to add a little water to your drawing to transform it into a watercolor painting.

Simple to use: 

Watercolors are lovely and easy to use. However, they are also challenging to learn correctly. They occasionally dry too quickly on the paper, occasionally don’t dry quickly enough, and rarely don’t go in the wrong areas.

You can add color whenever and wherever you want with watercolor pens.

Good for details:

Even with a small brush, drawing details can be challenging. However, pencils have an excellent point that can be sharpened, allowing you to color even the smallest regions.

Painting With the Best Watercolor Pencils

Using excellent watercolor pencils provides all the cool effects you might get from watercolor paints, such as blending, transitions, soft, light colors, layering, fading, large area washes, and more with the colors and textures that can produce genuinely fantastic watercolor artworks.

These pencils, however, can also enable more distinct forms, contours, borders, lines, and details, as well as more distinct and vivid hues, when used as sharp-pointed pencils without water.

The versatility of watercolor pencils makes them so appealing to both experienced and beginning painters. They can be used in the following ways:

Draw dry:

Using a dry water coloring pencil on dry paper, you can make fine lines and thick; firm fills just like a regular-colored pencil.

Dry-and-wet:

Using a dry watercolor pencil and a damp paintbrush to paint over the drawing is a “dry-and-wet” technique.

Wet paper:

To produce effects on paper like color fading, color mixing, and large-area splashes. Try different approaches to achieve the look you desire.

Dipped in water:

Using a pencil immersed in water results in more vibrant colors and a more fluid watercolor appearance.

Dissolved and brushed on:

Watercolor pencils can be dissolved and applied with a brush in the same manner as regular watercolor paint, but combining the two methods typically yields superior results.

Using the best watercolor pencils, you can create stunning pencil drawings and paintings with depth and perspective that ordinary watercolor paints might not be able to match.

Another advantage is that they are movable, making it much easier and less messy to set up a fantastic mobile studio than with conventional watercolors.

FAQs

Is using watercolor pencils instead of watercolor paints an intelligent idea?

It relies on the drawing’s intended use. A complete watercolor painting box with multiple sets of pencils would be the ideal alternative. You will need both to elevate your watercolor drawing to an entirely new level, whether you’re a skilled fine or commercial artist.

Do you wet the lead of your colored pencils?

Watercolor pencils can be used to draw patterns on a picture in the same way that regular colored pencils can. As you can see, watercolor pencils are immersed in water to create a bolder, deeper line. Draw with the pencils on wet paper for a soft pattern.

Do watercolor pens outperform regular paints?

Watercolor pencils are a good option for artists who want to create watercolor effects without cleaning up because they are typically less messy. When making art plein air, they can also be more portable and don’t necessitate setting up a painting station.

What type of colored pencil do painters use?

Since they lay down color easily and blend well, many artists, including myself, favor soft-colored pencils. Soft colored pencils can vary in texture from smooth and buttery to crumbly and grainy.

Final Thoughts

The Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer is the best set of watercolor pencils in my selection. On a professional level, Derwent and Castle Art Products Watercolor Pencil are their closest rivals. But there are better options right now.

The other brands on the list have been chosen for what they offer regarding value for money and product quality.