ORIGINAL POST DATE: December 14, 2005

Here is another image from the Alchemy Notebook series in my pocket Moleskineⁱ sketchbook. I created it using a combination of liquid acrylics, Prismacolor watercolor pencils and Kooh-I-Noor Nexus pens.

I have just begun to use Prismacolor watercolor pencils and am very pleased with the results so far. Previously I worked with Caran D'Ache watercolor pencils that I've had for many years. The Prismacolor watercolor pencils are very different to use, having more pigmentation and a very different consistency. The Caran D'Ache pencils, similar to other brand of watercolor pencil I have tried, behave very much like regular colored pencils when applied dry. They are smooth and light to apply to paper, and the pigmentation is not very strong, but they give a nice subtle color application that I enjoy using as a background for collages (see an example HERE).

I have been looking for something that would give me a bolder application of color to use in my Moleksine sketchbook. I tried gouacheⁱ with some nice results but also decided to give the Prismacolor watercolor pencils a try. I have always loved using the regular Prismacolor colored pencils for their deeply pigmented application, plus they are waxier than other colored pencils which allows for some interesting blending techniques. I was expecting similar qualities from their watercolor pencils and that has essentially been the case. They have an interesting consistency when used dry, though it is different than their regular color pencils in that it is a little more greasy than it is waxy. After using these pencils as I have always used other watercolor pencils - putting down a layer of pencil on dry paper and then blending with a wet brush - I was not immediately impressed with how they were working. Then I tried a different approach, taking some shavings from the colored pencil core and mixing it with water in a small palette dish. The consistency is much closer to that of egg tempera than gouache, having the greasiness that I usually associated with using egg yolk as a binder. Mixing the paints up in this way and then applying them in varying dilution to the Moleskine sketchbook pages has given me the results I was looking for, and I am really enjoying being able to work with paint that has a similar feeling as egg tempera without all the fuss associated with that medium. I am using the Prismacolor watercolor pencils more like ink sticks than colored pencils but at least this way I am getting the kind of results I am interested in for my artwork. This has been a pleasant discovery, and I am excited with the results.

If you are using Prismacolor watercolor pencils in your Moleskine sketchbooks, let me know your thoughts. I am also interested in hearing how other brands of watercolor pencils perform in Moleskine sketchbooks, so please leave your comments.