20 Best Watercolor Pencils For Beginners (2023 Updated)

I am always looking for fun craft projects to create and learn new skills. I’ve especially been on the hunt in the past year since we have all been inside so much due to the pandemic. I have always loved drawing and coloring so when I seen this kit I was really interested in learning what I could create with it.

The kit comes with everything you need to learn how to make watercolor pencil art. The instructions are very detailed and show you step by step what to do and also provide some handy little tips and tricks.

I love the little sketchbook it comes with, that way I can keep all my artwork together. Now that I have tried watercolor pencil art I absolutely love it. It is very relaxing and fun to create colorful pictures with just colored pencils and a brush.

I wanted a kit for my son & I to work in together and this was great. Had all the things we needed to get right to work and great instructions for beginners like us. It was fun to see what we both created and how differently they turned out using the same tools with our individual styles.

We will definitely be looking into adding on soon with others as well. I can see this being a great gift for the budding artist and it definitely was a fun little bonding activity for us which got us off the devices and into a creative space.

It has become our regular thing that we can do together and I love the memories that we will have as well as the momentos we are creating as we learn new techniques. Highly recommend.

My five year old loves his watercolor pencils. They are fun to color with. When he is done coloring we take a brush with a little bit of water and paint over to give it a watercolor look. He especially likes that he can mix colors and create his own colors by drawing in the same area and wetting it.

They are fun and easy to use and the results are beautiful. It’s just like watercolor painting but with less water and less mess.

My first watercolour pencils and not too expensive to try out for a beginner. A good selection of colours. The only negative point is that the points of some of the crayons break quite easily.

These watercolour pencils are wonderfully easy to use. Beautiful colours that blend with a little water. Highly recommended

I am not particularly good with Watercolour pencils but these are good quality and all basic colours if you just want to start watercolouring with pencils.

I really like these watercolor pencils. The color goes down beautifully and they blend well. They also retain their vibrant color when dry. Buyer should know that they may not get the same colors as others do in the 24 count box.

There are more than 24 colors available however you will only get 24 assorted colors in a 24 count pack. At last count there are a total of 40 different known colors. If you have different colors I have not listed please let me know.

I am trying to make a chart of these. Unfortunately, they don’t sell these individually or in larger groups. I wish General would sell a big box with one of every color! Or, make the full set of colors available as Open Stock so that we could get a full set! While you certainly can mix virtually any color, it is nice to have the standard pre-mixed colors to keep the colors looking consistent over the entire work.

Maybe Dick Blick could help us get a full set and/or make the pencils available as Open Stock to allow purchase of individual pencils! I would also like to know what the light fast rating is for these pencils? Here are some of the colors you may get – 703 Blue 704 Brown 705 red 706 purple 707 green 708 Orange 709 White 710 pink 711 lemon yellow 712 light blue 713 yellow 714 light green 715 black 716 heliotrope, purple pink 717 yellow ochre 718 Carmine, Rosy pink 719 terra cotta 720 light Brown 721 teal 722 Yellow 725 cobalt blue 737 Madder Lake 739 Straw- light flesh tone 755 Spring Lake, light teal green 760 Gray 761 sea green 762 olive green 763 Prussian Blue 764 Brown ochre 767 Vermillion, red orange 768 sepia 769 light olive 770 French blue 771 brick red 775 lavender 776 Peach 778 Turquoise ( In new, special color 4 packs: Vibrant Blues/Greens, Southwest Colors) 779 Soft Green ( (n new, special color 4 packs: Vibrant Blues/Greens ) 780 Amethyst Grey ( In new, special color 4 packs: Urban Colors) 781 Warm Grey ( In new, special color 4 packs: Urban Colors, Neutral Colors).

I use them like any watercolor pencil. Lay the color down then activate with water. Only a small amount of water is needed to activate the color and then you use the wet brush to push the color where ever it’s needed.

I have noticed that you can only place two or three layers of color down with the pencil and activating each layer, but you can wet the tip of the pencil with the brush and you have plenty of color to go wet-n-wet or wet on dry.

I use the watercolor for minimal color layers anyway. I also like to lay several light layers of pencil color down then activate and this gives very nice colors, this would then be considered only one activation layer.

But all in all, GREAT watercolor pencils, and their colors are in open stock.

The new colors in the new 4 color sets are great! Amethyst Gray is a wonderful shadow color and Warm Gray is a much needed color for bird and wildlife art. The Turquoise and Soft Green are beautiful vibrant colors, also useful in botanical art! A previous reviewer, An Artist from Madison AL, wrote about available colors in Kimberly pencils and provided a color list.

I have 2 colors not on the list: 758 Lt Carmine and 782 Mint. They both came in the 24 color sets. There are 3 colors on the list I don’t have: 722 Yellow (I only have the 713 Yellow- what color is the 722?), 762 Olive green and 768 Sepia.

Blick-thank you for carrying these great USA-made watercolor pencils! Can you tell me how to get the 3 colors I’m missing? I would gladly buy a 24 set with 722, 762,and 768! Please help! Thanks again for carrying these excellent, vibrant, high-quality watercolor pencils! They are fantastic!.

Here is a sketch done on unstretched Arches 300 g/m2 cold press watercolor paper. The initial sketch was done with. 5 mm HB lead pencil. Then the scene was drawn in color with the Museum Aquarelle pencils.

The final step was to activate the colors using Pentel Aquash waterbrushes. The result was intermediate between a watercolor painting and a colored pencil drawing. The colors blend and wash like watercolor paint, while some lines still show graininess.

The paper only buckled slightly with the amount of water used for this effect. #sweepstakes.

I ordered a few of these to try them and honestly, I like my Faber-Castell Albrecht Dürer watercolor pencils better. I found that the Museum pencils didn’t move as nicely as the Albrecht Dürer ones. No matter the pressure, light or heavy, the pencils lines were still obvious – I guess that’s the best way to explain it.

That said, there were a few colors that I enjoyed and I will keep those. But I’m returning the others. The price point makes them not worth it for me.

I have finally completed my set of hand-picked pencils to complement my Faber-Castell Albrecht Dürer set. These Museum pencils are creamier, and a delight to work with. They blend well, and lay color generously.

I would not be able to pick one brand over the other. They are different, and the colors are also different. These are much pricier, though. but they are worth it. #Sweepstakes.

The EC is an arts-based program for artists with developmental disabilities, the EC Artists love colored pencils, it’s the resource we most run low on. While searching for a wider variety of colors for sketches before the final projects, we ran into this set, based on reviews on youtube we decided to try them out.

We are so happy we tried these out, the EC Artists love them, the amount of colors for the price is unbeatable especially for artists wanting to have more control of their color palette when selecting colors for a final piece.

#sweepstakes.

These watercolor pencils create a nice effect to your drawing. Treat them similar to any ordinary colored pencils, but once you’re finished, use a little water to help blend the colors. Normally I like to keep drawings dry, but this is something you need to try for yourself.

Fell in love with these watercolor pencils the moment I added water. They are so pigmented and dissolve easily. These are as nice as some of the more expensive pencils I own. Only negatives are they are almost impossible to sharpen manually because of the hexagonal shape and there are no color names or numbers on the pencils.

This is our favorite colored pencil set! It is easy to pack and take along or set up neatly at the table for our homeschool work. They are vibrant yet they still erase with the strong eraser included in the case (huge plus for us since my daughter is very picky!).

It also includes a pencil sharpener which again, is very convenient. Highly recommend!.

I like to dabble in a little bit of everything crafty so these are great. They aren’t too expensive and they come with a brush. Nice assortment of colours too, I’ve been able to make some pretty backgrounds for my journal.

Seen very few wifi thermostats that can handle (220V) electric heat. It’s intended for new installations of in-floor heating elements, but it works great as a replacement for an existing radiant heat (ceiling) system.

Not cheap, but put one of these on each zone in the house.

Perfect for my 3 grand children aged 6, 7 and 8 years old. Fun to use and a brilliant price. Good quality and does the job well.

Purchased for my grandson and he absolutely loves them. Perfect

Excellent value pencils. Good selection of good quality pencils in sound colours which are easy to use and blend. Better than some I have paid considerably much more money for. Very pleased with purchase.

my packs 36 colours. [brand:derwent] is an excellent choice for anyone wanting to draw or draw. My daughter loves to draw , so I buy her the best , they might be more expensive then others but there worth every cent.

She wants to be an artist when’s she’s grown , and looks after her pencil like their very precious to her. These watercolour pencils are fantastic for anyone that wants to draw and want to develop better skills in drawing.

Wet on dry/ dry to wet these are perfect !.

I absolutely love these water colors! So many beautiful colors. Great quality and really easy to use. Well pigmented And don’t smear and draw really smooth onto the paper. Really recommend for those who love to draw and color.

The pencils can be used dry with no water. Or you can use then on wet paper. Or you can colour an area and use a wet brush over the top. Worth practicing with to start with. I have used them to compliment water colour paint and I am very happy with the effect.

These are great watercolor pencils that work equally well as some of my high end pencils. Of course we always need lots of different pencils to satisfy our pencil hunger.

#sweepstakes At least three of the colors were the same hue–tested side by side on paper–but had different names and color swatches. Also, most of the pencils were stuck together at those swatches, so that in order to select one pencil, you had to separate a few.

Beautiful lay down of colour, can be used not only as watercolour pencils but straight without water and still get vibrant effects. Rich pigments and easy sharpening, no problems with pencils breakage.

Very happy with the quality and very highly recommended.

These have quickly become my favorite colored pencils! I originally got them for my daughter since she’s always taking my pencils for her art projects. Then I sat down to color with them and now these Crayola Twistables Colored Pencils are the only ones I use! Regular pencils tend to hurt my hands after a little while but I don’t have that problem with the Twistables.

I love that I simply twist the bottom for more lead instead of having to hunt down a pencil sharpener (which we can never find!) plus when I’m finished for the day, I twist to close so there”s no mess of pencils smudges or broken points.

The quality of color is wonderful, you can change markings up by however you are holding the pencil and I have found these easier to change up shading with than my usual pencils. My daughter absolutely loves them! She loves being able to twist the colors to her liking instead of having a pencil that’s too pointy or too dull.

There’s 50 colors, a nice wide variety of colors. I plan to use these for my daughter’s Art classes this Fall and definitely recommend them!.

I have some pretty high end quality colored to compare this to Such as Prismacolor Premier soft core, Prismacolor verithin, Caran D’ache supracolor soft, Derwent inktense, Derwent colorsoft, Faber-Castell goldfaber and Koh-I-Noor Tri-tone.

These crayola pencils are a great price and have a softer but still firm lead then the regular crayola kids pencils. I gave these to my 9 y/o daughter, Ashlyn. She’s got a bunch of regular crayola crazy art colored pencils that her dad got her and they’re just cheap junk with bad color pigment that rips coloring pages.

I was really impressed with the variety of colors. One VERY important thing to invest in a good quality manual pencil sharpener if you want them to last. My daughter’s gone through a lot of kids pencil sharpeners and they’re all cheap.

I have a few of the black Prismacolor sharpener, it’s about $8-$10. It holds all shavings inside with 2 different sized holes. There’s a lid that pops open covering the holes, keeping all messes inside.

This is the Norris Club version of the Staedtler line and is marketed towards colonists of Johanna Bassford’s coloring book. Pencils: these are not very highly pigmented. The colors are like a pastel version of the color you expect.

I have had to press very hard to get any color out of the lighter shades. They do not layer well, no more than two colors, maybe three. They do not break easily and are easy to sharpen. Fine liners: The coloring in these pens is much more vibrant than the pencils.

They will bleed if you color to much in one area. Markers: like the pencils, some of the colors are not highly pigmented. The ink is very wet and does cause the paper to pill and wrinkle if used heavily in large areas.

Not much bleeding but some shadowing. The pen cap is not indicative of the ink color. I recommend a chart and/ or using a method of getting the actual color attached to the pen cap. (I used address return labels) Over all I would not repurchase these items but they are good enough for coloring in coloring books.

The package is so flimsy that the pencils came cascading out of the mail envelope. This is not a small matter, when any pencil falls to the floor , most likely the lead, clay like material inside the pencil breaks.

In the future you will be using the pencil until the point falls out, interrupting your drawing. These pencils fell to my tile floor and are most likely broken inside, which will definitely interfere in the use of these pencils.

I like the colors. Would not buy again.

I love all things Prismacolor, except these. They are scratchy and unless activated with water are dull. You need layers of pencil before getting the true color, which is still not great. I also received two of the same color in the unopened 12 pack.

It was hard to tell at first because the names etched in the side are blurry and double stamped, once used I could see that they are the same. I looked up on prism what colors I was supposed to have and was missing one that is unavailable as a single.

Blick customer service refunded 10%. Problem not with Blick, you guys are always great when there is a problem! # sweepstakes.

I am a licensed art teacher of 6+ years and I absolutely LOVE Prismacolor’s water soluble cored pencils. I use them at every painting event for both kids and adults at a variety of venues, because of their mess free nature.

Every time I show students how to use these, they are amazed at how much quality can be packed into a colored pencil! I would highly recommend to anyone who might be thinking about trying out a water soluble colored pencil for their own art.

Great color. Water color pencils are sometimes more convenient than traditional watercolors. These pencils are top quality. It’s a good way to get into watercolor painting for not much money. It might be a small thing, but I also like the tin storage container.

I have so much craft stuff that a ready made storage container is helpful.

I bought a few of these in my most frequently used colors, to compare with other artists grade watercolor pencils that I already own. I also bought some of the Caran D’ Ache “Supracolor” pencils for comparison.

The Supraclor pencils were very nice, and I would say they are similiar to Derwent and Faber Castell in appearance, solubility and richness of color. All of those are excellent pencils. But the “Museum” pencils seemed just a bit better in all of those aspects.

They disolved more easily, the color is more intense, and they don’t leave scratchy-looking pencil marks or granulation on the paper as often as most other brands. I generally use pencils for sketches in small-format sketchbooks, not for full-size sheets of watercolor paper.

I don’t use brushes for this,as I prefer the look of the pencil lines for their expressive look. I draw on damp paper and let the color spread spontaneously – I just like that look! For larger formats, I prefer tube colors and a brush.

However, if you want to work large with pencils, or will be painting in a more traditional watercolor wash style, these are worth trying. They cost more than the other pencils, and I wouldn’t buy a whole set, as I don’t use watercolor pencils for other than sketchbook purposes.

But, if you can afford them, and want to use pencils to replicate the look of a conventional watercolor brush painting, these may be the best for that purpose. So far, these are the only watecolor pencils I have tried that can make a smooth and transparent wash without losing some of the color brilliance.

Great pencil for watercolor paintings. Create shadows. It’s water soluble. I use my art brushes over this pencil drawings. After wetting it turns into paint. Planning to buy more different colors

These seem to be a pretty good quality of soft lead colored pencil for coloring, drawing or shading colored art projects. I’m into the adult coloring pages and I use these to color metals and some shading.

My only complaint is there is no color name given to the colors and since there are several in each color field such as greens, blues etc. I like to know if I’m using a olive green, apple green or true green.

I tried looking them up on the web, but could not find any information regarding them. Found the shipping just a little high. Still they are a good buy. I’m rating them a 4-star as a product not the seller he gets 5-stars.

when using Metallic pencils there is a certain way to make them shine simply. search a tutorial using product name and how to use. the pencils is subtle shine and a special product may be needed for brighter shine learned that first time I used them.

It takes time and practice. I was happy using it more as a highlight to certain areas of page. they never give details! you may find several artist techniques I will say, you must lay done the dark color first.

I find it is great to have all kinds of makes of pencils since each type provides different textures & different colors & different brilliance. These are a wonderful addition to a collection or selection of tools.

Fantastic!.

These pencils look pretty and that’s about it. The colour pigments are very weak and diluted. You pay for what you get, in this case if you want good results spend accordingly.

These are fantastic for rough sketch as it blends into watercolour where sometimes pencil sketches watercolour paints won’t go over it and to sharpen edges or highlight at end of painting.

Not watercolour. Cheap pencil crayons that barely show up on paper. Not good for artists or sketching. Do not recommend.

I usually buy Prismacolor pencils, but I am also a fan of Staedtler pens so I decided to give these a try. They are definitely cheaper than Prismacolor’s and for this price point they aren’t that bad.

I do like the shape of the pencils and the durable lead, but I find the overall color to be a bit dull. That being said my kids loved them and the fact that when they color hard the leads don’t break easily.

Good product for beginners and casual hobbyist, and excellent choice for younger kids and classroom settings.

I ended up using an electric sharpener the first time I purchased this color and it seemed to have shrunk in size due to the amount of breakage my sharpener was causing. I then bought a Faber Castell manual sharpener and the pencil itself was still having difficulties sharpening.

At least it’s not as small as the first one I ended up purchasing.

I am so grateful to Cheap Joe’s for selling single replacement colored pencils. It saves me from buying a new pack of Faber Castell or PrismaColor Premier colored pencils, (which I could also buy from from Cheap Joe’s at a great price!), versus replacing favorite pencils which I use frequently.

I have never had a problem with an order from Cheap Joe’s. I am a !00% satisfied customer!.

These are my favorite pencils to color with. The pencils glide on buttery soft, but don’t break as easily as prismas. They last much longer because no breakage! Love them; it is all I use. You can also buy them open stock, as singles, so replacing a used up pencil is easy!.

Can’t see enough how much I love these. They feel almost identical to their non water soluble counterpart but are very slightly softer and creamier. They are harder and sturdier than Prismacolor and won’t snap during sharpening or with heavy pressure.

They sharpen excellently in both my handheld two hole sharpener and my old electric sharpener, and I haven’t had a break while sharpening yet. They also continue to layer longer than Prismas after burnishing.

They don’t blend as well as the Prismas when dry, however their water solubility makes up for this, allowing for superior blending and mixing. Even with just a bit of water the colors move effortlessly.

I like to use these as a base with Lyra Polycolors over the top for glazing. The last thing that really surprised me about this pencil is its performance on sanded paper. On smoother papers like my moleskin sketchbook and even stonehenge paper, they are very transparent, putting yellow over red simply results in a glazed orange.

However I tried them on Uart 800 grit sanded paper and was amazed at their opacity. That same yellow over red with heavy pressure no longer made an orange but instead left an opaque yellow stroke. Soft gradual pressure allowed for subtle blending and gradations.

They are much more water soluble than I expected, releasing a lot of pigment for a pencil this price. A great pencil, I really do love them and think they are excellent. I mentioned this in my review of the non water soluble Gold faber but from videos I think painter Nicolas Uribe (youtube – Our Painted Lives) and possibly painter Stephen Bauman (also on youtube) use these for underdrawings with oils.

#sweepstakes.

In my opinion, Goldfabers are the best mid-range wax-based colored pencil out there in its class. These are much harder than the other premium brand of wax-based pencil, but they round out my collection of pencils for when a harder, yet still somewhat blendable pencil is necessary for certain papers.

Mine include only three sets – Prismacolor (softest), Goldfaber (hardest), and Arteza (midpoint). I can color on any book with these three sets. A great staple that should be in ever adult colorists’ selection of pencils.

The other great thing about Goldfaber pencils is that they are available open stock from Michaels!.

I really enjoy using these pencils. The colors are bright and vibrant and easily blended and more affordable than some of their competition. I love the Faber-Castell watercolor pencils as well. I am giving these pencils a 4 out of 5 because they aren’t quite as smooth as Prismacolor and a bit more difficult to achieve full coverage.

Definitely a great affordable option. I have quite a few of these pencils in my collection and will definitely continue to buy them in the future!.