The simplest way I use watercolor pencils is to draw with them dry first, then selectively activate the pigment with a damp brush. I don’t automatically add water to every mark. Leaving some areas dry and dissolving others gives me a combination of crisp pencil texture and softer watercolor washes.
Watercolor pencils are useful because I can move back and forth between drawing and painting with the same pigment. I can make precise dry marks, soften them with water, layer more pencil over the dried wash, or leave sections untouched.
Below I’ll show the process I use, how much water I add, what paper works well, and several watercolor pencil techniques that are worth practicing separately.
How to Use Watercolor Pencils at a Glance
- Use watercolor-friendly paper.
- Make your initial drawing with the pencils dry.
- Build color gradually with light layers.
- Use a damp rather than dripping brush.
- Activate only the areas you want to soften.
- Let the paper dry completely.
- Add additional dry or wet layers if needed.
What Are Watercolor Pencils?
Watercolor pencils can be used much like ordinary colored pencils while dry, but their pigment is designed to react when water is added.
That gives me several options within one drawing. I can leave a pencil mark completely dry, partially soften it with a damp brush, or dissolve it more thoroughly into something that behaves visually like a painted wash.
I don’t treat them as a replacement for either traditional colored pencils or watercolor paint. The combination of dry drawing and water activation is what makes them interesting to me.
If you’re deciding whether you actually want watercolor pencils or ordinary colored pencils, see my guide to colored pencils vs. watercolor pencils.
What You Need to Use Watercolor Pencils
- Watercolor pencils: even a relatively small set is enough for learning the technique.
- Watercolor or mixed-media paper: the surface needs to tolerate the amount of water you plan to use.
- A small round brush: I prefer control over flooding large areas immediately.
- Clean water: especially important when moving between very different colors.
- A rag or paper towel: useful for removing excess water from the brush.
- A sharpener: useful when I want to return to precise dry marks.
Step 1: Start With the Watercolor Pencils Dry
I normally begin as if I’m making an ordinary colored-pencil drawing.
I look at the subject, identify the larger shapes of light, shadow, and color, and establish them with relatively light pencil pressure.
I don’t want to press as hard as possible on the first pass because that removes some of my flexibility. Lighter layers give me room to add other colors before deciding which marks I want to activate.
If you’re new to the dry-pencil side of the process, my how to use colored pencils guide covers layering, pressure, and observational drawing in more detail.
Step 2: Layer Colors Before Adding Water
I don’t have to use one pencil for each final color.
I often layer several dry pencils in the same area first. A shadow might contain blue, violet, brown, or another nearby color rather than simply a darker version of the local color.
When I eventually add water, those layers begin interacting visually and can create a more complex wash than a single pencil alone.
I still avoid building an extremely heavy waxy-looking layer before activation. I want enough pigment for the brush to move without completely filling the paper surface first.
Step 3: Use a Damp Brush, Not a Flooded One
One of the easiest ways to lose control with watercolor pencils is using more water than the drawing or paper needs.
I wet the brush and then remove excess water if necessary. I want the brush damp enough to move pigment but not automatically create a puddle.
A small round brush gives me good control because I can use the point for precise areas and more of the brush for broader passages.
If you’re choosing brushes for this kind of work, my watercolor brushes for beginners guide covers the basic shapes and sizes I’d prioritize.
Step 4: Activate the Pigment Selectively
I rarely activate every inch of a watercolor-pencil drawing.
I may add water to a background, a large shadow, or an area where I want a softer transition while leaving nearby marks completely dry.
That difference in surface is one of the qualities I like most about watercolor pencils.
The dry pencil remains visibly drawn. The activated pigment becomes softer and more painterly.
I don’t have to choose between those appearances. They can coexist in the same sketch.
Step 5: Work With the Direction of the Brush
Adding water doesn’t mean I stop thinking about form.
I use the brush direction intentionally. On an animal, plant, landscape, or object, the brushstroke can help describe the way the surface turns rather than simply scrubbing pigment until the pencil marks disappear.
In some areas I want the original pencil texture to remain visible beneath the wash. In others I may dissolve it more completely.
Step 6: Let the Paper Dry Before Adding More Pencil
If I want to return with dry watercolor pencil, I wait until the paper has dried.
Drawing aggressively onto damp watercolor paper can affect both the mark and the paper surface.
Once the wash is dry, I can sharpen the pencil and restore details, reinforce edges, deepen a shadow, or introduce additional texture.
This dry-wet-dry sequence is one of the most useful watercolor-pencil workflows for me:
- Draw dry.
- Activate selected areas.
- Let the paper dry.
- Draw over the dried wash again.
Step 7: Repeat Layers Instead of Trying to Finish Everything at Once
I don’t expect one application of pencil and one pass with a wet brush to finish the drawing.
I can repeat the process gradually. Each layer lets me decide which areas need more color, sharper information, darker value, or softer transitions.
Working this way gives me much more control than soaking the entire drawing immediately.
7 Watercolor Pencil Techniques to Practice
1. Dry Pencil Only
Use the watercolor pencils exactly like ordinary colored pencils without adding water.
This is useful for understanding the pencil itself and for areas of a mixed-media drawing where I want visible texture.
2. Draw Dry, Then Activate
This is the method I use most often.
I put pigment exactly where I want it with the pencil, then use a damp brush to soften selected marks.
3. Layer Several Dry Colors Before Water
Put two or more colors over the same area, then activate them together.
This is useful for making richer shadows, muted colors, and transitions that aren’t based on one pencil.
4. Leave Some Pencil Marks Unactivated
I intentionally leave some areas completely dry next to areas I’ve turned into washes.
The contrast makes the medium feel less like a conventional watercolor painting and more like a drawing-painting hybrid.
5. Add Dry Pencil Over a Dried Wash
Once an activated area is completely dry, I can return with sharp pencil marks for texture and detail.
This works well when a wash became softer than I wanted and I need to restore a specific edge or feature.
6. Pull Pigment Into a Clean Area
I can place stronger dry pigment in one area and use the damp brush to pull a smaller amount outward.
That creates a transition from concentrated color toward a lighter wash without coloring the entire area heavily with pencil first.
7. Use Water Only Where You Need a Soft Edge
Instead of thinking of water as something I apply to the entire drawing, I use it as an edge-control tool.
A hard pencil edge can remain dry where I want definition. A nearby transition can be activated when I want it to disappear more gradually.
What Paper Should You Use With Watercolor Pencils?
The amount of water I’m planning to use determines how important the paper becomes.
If I’m barely dampening a few small areas, sturdy mixed-media paper may be enough. If I’m using watercolor pencils more like paint, I prefer actual watercolor paper.
I want enough surface texture for the dry pencil to deposit pigment, but not so much texture that maintaining small pencil details becomes unnecessarily difficult.
For the watercolor side of that decision, see my guide to the types of watercolor paper and my practical guide to using watercolor paper.
How Much Water Should You Use With Watercolor Pencils?
I start with less than I think I need.
I can always add more water, but once pigment has spread farther than I intended, regaining a crisp dry-pencil appearance is much harder.
A brush that’s damp enough to activate pigment without dripping gives me the most control.
If I want a broad wash, I can intentionally increase the amount of water. I just make that decision rather than treating every area the same way.
Can You Use Watercolor Pencils Without Water?
Yes. I frequently do.
Watercolor pencils still make dry colored-pencil marks. I can use them that way for an entire drawing or leave selected areas dry within a drawing that also contains activated washes.
The ability to choose which marks remain dry is part of their usefulness.
Can You Add Watercolor Pencil Over Watercolor?
Once a watercolor or activated watercolor-pencil wash is dry, I can add pencil on top for additional texture and control.
The exact feel depends on the paper and how heavily the underlying paint has covered the surface.
I test unfamiliar combinations on scrap paper first, especially if the finished drawing matters to me.
Why Watercolor Pencils Can Look Streaky
If I can still see unwanted pencil strokes after adding water, I first decide whether that’s actually a problem.
I often want some dry texture to remain.
If I want a smoother wash, I look at three things:
- Whether I applied enough pigment before activation
- Whether the brush has enough water to move that pigment
- Whether that particular pencil dissolves completely or naturally retains more of its original mark
Different watercolor pencils behave differently, which is why I test them dry and wet before relying on an unfamiliar set.
Common Watercolor Pencil Mistakes
Using Too Much Water Immediately
I start with a damp brush and increase the water only when I actually need a broader wash.
Activating Every Mark
Water doesn’t have to touch every part of the drawing. Leaving dry pencil visible creates more variety.
Pressing Too Hard Too Soon
I prefer lighter early layers because they leave me more options for mixing and activation.
Drawing Over Damp Paper
If I want crisp dry-pencil marks over a wash, I wait for the paper to dry first.
Using Paper That Can’t Handle the Water
The more water I plan to introduce, the more important it becomes to use a surface designed for wet media.
Watercolor Pencils Work Well for Travel Sketching
One reason I like watercolor pencils is portability.
I can sketch with them completely dry while I’m out, then either activate selected areas with a water brush on location or wait until later.
That gives me color without requiring the same setup as a traditional watercolor palette, water container, and several wet brushes.
They also fit naturally into an observational sketchbook because I can use one pencil for both line and larger areas of color.
Watercolor Pencils vs. Regular Colored Pencils
The biggest difference in my workflow is simple: traditional colored pencils remain dry, while watercolor pencils give me the option to dissolve and move the pigment with water.
That doesn’t automatically make one better.
I prefer traditional colored pencils when I want a completely dry, controlled layering process. I reach for watercolor pencils when I want to combine drawn texture with softer washes.
For a more complete comparison, see colored pencils vs. watercolor pencils.
The Watercolor Pencil Exercise I’d Start With
Make a small page of swatches before attempting a finished drawing.
- Make one patch with light pencil pressure.
- Make another with several layered colors.
- Leave half of each patch dry.
- Activate the other half with a damp brush.
- Let everything dry.
- Add a few sharp dry marks over the activated section.
That simple test shows me almost everything I need to know about how an unfamiliar watercolor pencil behaves: its dry texture, color strength, solubility, and how well it accepts another layer after drying.
Use Water as Another Drawing Tool
The thing I find most useful about watercolor pencils is that adding water isn’t an all-or-nothing step.
I can use water only where it improves the drawing and leave the rest of the pencil work alone.
That gives me a process that still feels like drawing: observe the subject, establish the big relationships, build color gradually, then soften or move selected pigment where it helps.
For the rest of my guides on pencils, paper, blending, mixed media, and technique, continue to my main colored pencils hub.