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Watercolour Pencils for Beginners: How to Get Started

By Carol Leather

In short

Watercolour pencils draw like ordinary coloured pencils, then melt into soft washes with a touch of water. This page is your starting point: what they are, whether they suit you yet, the small kit you need, and where to go for your first painting.

If you love the control of coloured pencils but secretly envy the loose, fluid look of watercolour, watercolour pencils are the bridge between those two worlds.

They handle like familiar coloured pencils when dry, yet with a touch of water they dissolve into luminous washes, without the mess, toxicity worries, or smelly solvents of traditional paints.

You may notice they feel a little drier and firmer than your usual wax or oil-based pencils. That is simply how their water-soluble binders are designed to behave, and it is nothing to worry about.

Soft watercolour pencil background washes lifted from dry pencil marks

The same pencils, dry and then washed. This is the moment they stop looking like drawing and start looking like painting.

This page is your on-ramp. When you are ready for the full pathway, from first project to finished landscapes, the Watercolour Pencils Hub lists every tutorial in order.

Are Watercolour Pencils Right for You Right Now?

Watercolour pencils are a friendly first step into painting, because you start from something you already know: a pencil in your hand. But they are not the only sensible choice, so here are my honest thoughts.

They will suit you if you want to:

  • Add soft washes and painterly effects to your pencil drawings.
  • Build vibrant underpaintings underneath ordinary coloured pencil work.
  • Cover larger background areas quickly, then refine with dry pencil on top.
  • Have one flexible medium that sits between drawing and painting.

You might happily wait a while if you:

  • Are still finding your feet with basic layering and blending in dry pencil.
  • Want maximum control for fine, photorealistic detail.
  • Would rather get comfortable with one medium before adding water to the mix.

Either way, you are fine. If you are curious, read on. Nothing here needs expensive kit or years of practice to enjoy.

Three Things That Trip Up a First Attempt

A little preparation saves a lot of frustration. These are the three I see most often on a first go, and each one is easy to dodge once you know it is coming.

"It went really dark the moment I added water."

Start with very light dry layers. Water intensifies pigment fast, and you can always add more once it is dry.

"My paper buckled, pilled or tore."

Use proper watercolour paper. Around 300gsm (140lb) handles water well, often without stretching for lighter work.

"Everything went muddy."

Keep two water jars: one for rinsing your brush, one kept clean for activating the light areas. It sounds fiddly. It changes everything.

What to Buy First: A Small Starter Kit

You do not need much to begin, and you certainly do not need a big tin. A small, good-quality kit will teach you more than a huge cheap one.

The whole starter kit: a small set of watercolour pencils (around 12 to 24 colours), one sheet of decent watercolour paper (140lb / 300gsm or heavier), and one round brush (a synthetic size 6 or 8). That is genuinely all you need for your first few pieces.

You can mix a surprising range of colours from a small set by layering them dry or blending them with water, so do not feel held back by a modest tin.

When you want to go deeper on brands and paper, two short guides have you covered: the hub's essential supplies section for choosing a set, and our choosing brushes page for picking your first brush.

One Thing to Check Before You Buy: Lightfastness

If you are new to art materials, "lightfastness" may be a new word. It simply means how well a colour resists fading in light over the years.

Watercolour pencils often come in bright, vivid colours, and the cheapest can fade. When you are choosing a set, look for a high lightfastness rating, usually marked on the pencil or packaging (an ASTM rating, a star system, or a Blue Wool number, where higher is better). It is worth that quick check, because it is what keeps the work you are proud of looking good for years to come.

Your First Two Moves

The fastest way to understand watercolour pencils is to use them, not to read more lists. Here is where to go next.

Paint something

Start with one finished piece behind you. Our step-by-step pears tutorial is designed for complete beginners: draw, activate with water, refine. Pears forgive a lot, which is exactly what you want on a first attempt.

Learn the method

When you want to understand the technique properly, dry before wet, activating with a damp brush, lifting and texture, our full guide to using watercolour pencils walks through it all in one place.

Do one, then the other, in whichever order suits you. That is the whole beginning. The rest is happy practice.

portrait of the author Carol Leather

I'm Carol Leather, a coloured pencil artist for over 15 years. Most of my teaching comes back to the same idea: realistic coloured pencil starts with structure, light and observation long before the colour goes down.

My work has featured in Ann Kullberg's Color Magazine, CP Magic and Color Pencil Treasures (vol 7). I'm a member of the UKCPS and was a prize winner in the Nature section of their Annual Open Exhibition in 2020.