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Easy Watercolour Pencil Art: A Beginner's Pear Tutorial

By Peter Weatherill

In short

Two ripe pears in watercolour pencil, using Peter Weatherill's classic workshop method. Lay down light dry layers of yellow and red, wake them up with a damp brush, let it dry, then build depth with more dry layers, violet shadows and a dark cast shadow.

This is a small, contained project: two pears, a handful of pencils and a damp brush. It comes from a lesson Peter Weatherill taught in his workshops for years, and it is one of the clearest ways to feel what watercolour pencils actually do. You draw dry, then you add water, and the colour changes character in front of you.

You do not need to draw well to start. The pears are built from two simple circles, so your attention goes where the learning is: layering colour while it is dry, then bringing it to life with water.

If watercolour pencils are brand new to you, read the using watercolour pencils beginners guide first, then come back. For the wider techniques behind everything here, see how to use watercolour pencils. This project sits in the watercolour pencils hub alongside the rest of the pathway.

Before you start: Three things carry this whole project. Build colour in two or three light layers rather than one heavy one. Leave your brightest highlights as bare white paper. Keep your brush damp, not wet. Get those right and the rest follows.

Reference photo of two ripe pears leaning together, one red and one a mix of red and greenish-yellow, with soft highlights

The reference photo for this study. Notice the soft highlights and the way the colours shift across each pear.

What you'll need

Nothing here is fussy. If you don't have the exact brands, good quality alternatives in similar types and colours will do the job.

Paper. A sheet of Hot Pressed (HP) watercolour paper, around 140lb (300gsm). The smooth surface suits this kind of subject and blends nicely, and proper watercolour paper handles the water without buckling too badly. If you want to avoid any cockling, you can stretch the paper first. For more on choosing a surface, see best paper for coloured pencils.

Watercolour pencils. A small selection of good quality watercolour pencils. Peter used Staedtler Karat pencils. You'll want these colours, or the nearest equivalents in your own set:

  • Light Yellow (Staedtler Karat 001 Yellow)
  • Dark Red / Carmine (Karat 029 Carmine)
  • Dark Brown / Van Dyke Brown (Karat 076) for the stalks and deep accents
  • Olive Green / Brownish Green (Karat 057) for subtle green tones
  • Violet / Purple (Karat 006) for depth in the shadows
  • Mid Grey for the initial sketch and light shadow work

A brush. A medium synthetic round with a good point, around a size 6 or 8, is right for activating and blending. For more on this, see choosing watercolour brushes.

Everything else. A pot of clean water, kitchen paper or a soft cloth for dabbing the brush, a sharpener, and an eraser (a kneaded eraser is good for lifting light sketch lines).

How to paint the pears, step by step

1Sketch the two pears lightly

Draw the basic shapes of the two pears, keeping every line faint. A light grey watercolour pencil is often better here than graphite, because its lines dissolve and blend in when the water arrives. Heavy graphite can look muddy under a wash.

If freehand feels tricky, build each pear from two overlapping circles: a larger one for the body and a smaller one above for the top. Join the sides smoothly, then erase the guidelines you no longer need.

Keep the whole sketch light and clean. Once the shapes look right, you're ready for colour.

Carol's note

If your first pair comes out a little lopsided, you're in good company. Mine did too. The point of this exercise isn't the pear at all, it's feeling how dry colour and water behave together. That understanding is the thing you keep, and it comes faster than you'd expect.

Constructing a pear shape from two overlapping circles in light pencil

Building the shape from two simple circles.

A clean, light outline drawing of two pears ready for the first colour layers

The cleaned-up light outline, ready for colour.

2Build the first dry colour layers

Start with Light Yellow, shading one pear with strokes that follow the curve of the fruit. Then lay Dark Red / Carmine very lightly over parts of the yellow, again following the form, wherever the pear shows a blush of red. Repeat on the second pear.

Leave any bright highlights as bare white paper. It is far easier to keep a highlight now than to lift one back later.

Colour the stalks with the Dark Brown. Then add a second light layer of yellow and red, this time working slightly more red into the areas that will become the deepest shadows. Build slowly. Two or three light layers give richer colour and dissolve more smoothly than one heavy one.

Two pears with their first light dry layers of yellow and red watercolour pencil, highlights left white and stalks filled in

After the first light dry layers. Highlights stay white, stalks are in, and the strokes follow the curve of the fruit.

The pears with a second dry layer of red and yellow, more saturated, with deeper colour building in the shadow areas

A second dry layer deepens the colour, with more red worked into the shadow side.

3Wake the colour up with a damp brush

This is the moment watercolour pencils earn their name. Dip a clean brush, then wipe off the excess on kitchen paper so it is damp, not soaking. Control comes from a damp brush.

Brush gently over the dry marks on one pear, working from the lighter areas towards the darker ones so you don't drag dark pigment into the highlights. Stay off the shine you preserved and let the white paper be your brightest point. Follow the curves with the brush, just as you did with the pencil.

Wipe the brush on kitchen paper often to keep the washes clean. When both pears are done, let the work dry completely before you go on. That can take an hour or two. Working over damp paper can damage the surface, so give it time.

The pears after a damp brush has activated the first layers, the pencil marks dissolved into smooth colour with highlights still bright

After the first wet pass. The dry marks have dissolved into smooth colour, and the highlights are still bright. This is the base for everything that follows.

Studio tip

Aim for damp activation, not puddles. If you can see water pooling on the paper, your brush is too wet. Touch it to kitchen paper and carry on. Patience at the drying stage protects everything you've done so far.

4Build depth with more dry layers and the shadow

Once the paper is bone dry, you have a tinted surface to work back into. Layer more Light Yellow and Dark Red over the pears, following the form, increasing pressure gradually where you want stronger colour.

Now add nuance. Shade Violet lightly into the deepest shadows to cool them and give them depth. Touch Olive Green into the lighter areas where a greener undertone shows, or to ease the change between yellow and red. Keep layering red through the mid-tones and shadows until the depth looks right to you.

Use the Dark Brown for small marks and blemishes on the fruit, then for the cast shadow underneath and between the pears. Look hard at the reference: the shadow between the two is nearly as dark as the stalks. Getting it that dark is what makes the front pear stand clear of the one behind.

You can keep going for deeper colour, but once the main colours, the depth and the cast shadow are in, you've reached a good place to stop.

Carol's note

Watch that shadow between the pears. It feels wrong to make it as dark as the stalks, so most of us stop too soon and the two pears end up floating side by side. Push it darker than feels comfortable and they suddenly sit together, one in front of the other. It is the smallest mark on the page doing the biggest job.

The pears with further dry layers over the dried wash, adding richer reds and yellows plus violet in the shadows and touches of olive green

Dry layers worked back over the dried wash: richer reds and yellows, violet in the shadows, a little olive green for complexity.

The finished pair of pears in watercolour pencil, with smooth blends, rich colour and a dark cast shadow grounding the fruit

The finished study. Smooth blends from the wet stage, depth from the dry layers on top, and a dark cast shadow to ground the fruit.

Common beginner mistakes, and easy fixes

Too much water on the brush

Puddles lift and move pigment where you don't want it. Wipe the brush on kitchen paper until it is only damp, then work in small areas.

Going dark too soon

Heavy early pressure is hard to undo. Build the colour in light layers and save the strongest reds and the cast shadow for the final stage.

Colouring over the highlights

Bare white paper is your brightest light and you can't paint it back. Decide where the shine sits before you start, and keep those spots clean throughout.

A heavy graphite sketch

Graphite can go muddy under a wash. Sketch with a light grey watercolour pencil instead, so the lines melt into the colour when the water arrives.

Muddy washes

A dirty brush carries old colour into clean areas. Rinse and wipe it often, especially when you move from a dark pear to a lighter one.

What you've practised

In one small project you've worked through the core moves of watercolour pencil:

  • Sketching the subject lightly, so the drawing doesn't fight the colour
  • Building colour with dry pencil layers
  • Activating that pigment with a damp brush to get a smooth, blended wash
  • Adding more dry layers over a dried base to build richness and depth
  • Reading the reference to place form, shadow and the cast shadow that grounds it

That combination, the control of drawing with the flow of watercolour, is the whole appeal of these pencils. When you're ready for a subject with more space in it, the Scottish hillside project is a natural next step, focused on washes and soft textures rather than tight form.

How to Use Watercolour Pencils

The techniques behind this project: dry layers, damp activation, washes and lifting, with the tests that stop colour going wrong.

Paint a Scottish Hillside

Your next step: a soft landscape built from washes and happy accidents rather than tight edges.

Choosing Watercolour Brushes

Which brush actually helps when you're activating watercolour pencil, and sable versus synthetic in plain terms.

Best Paper for Coloured Pencils

Why the surface matters so much, and how to pick one that takes both dry pencil and a wash.