Painters Online

Start Art 5 46 RT START www.painters-online.co.uk Fiona Peart explains how to use this versatile medium to create some stunning but simple designs that can be easily made into fun greetings cards for family and friends Draw and paint with water-soluble coloured pencils D erwent Inktense pencils and water- soluble pencils generally rely on applying water to them to activate and make them lightfast. The water enhances the colour, so if used as ordinary colouring pencils they can appear quite dull. These pencils can be used with other traditional art materials such as drawing pencils, colouring pencils, pastels and charcoal and watercolour media such as watercolour and acrylics. Firstly, as with any product, it is advisable to experiment with them entirely on their own before introducing other media to use with them. I will begin by outlining the various techniques possible with water- soluble pencils, then introduce masking fluid and wax to use with them, and finally suggest uses in conjunction with other art materials, as well as some collage ideas. Inktense pencils come in a set of 72 colours, 71 of which are water-soluble. The outliner pencil is not. Inktense, unlike other water-soluble pencils, dries rather like acrylic which means that once dry, more colour can be applied and the layers underneath remain stable. Water-soluble colouring pencils are so versatile; they can be applied like an ordinary colouring pencil or like watercolour paint! You can put the colour (or pigment) straight onto the paper, add more on top, erase it, blend or mix it, all before adding any water. TECHNIQUES FOR USING WATER-SOLUBLE PENCILS Very simply there are four ways of using these pencils. To show how these techniques create different results, we will use one image tackled four times but using each of the different techniques separately in each study 1 DRY–ON–DRY This means using the pencil directly on the dry paper. Colours can be mixed or gently blended together, as with ordinary colouring pencils, scribbled or applied with definite lines or drawn firmly, creating various marks. When satisfied with this stage, water can be applied, usually with a brush Using mustard, hot red and green aquamarine gently apply colours, ensuring each colour is individually placed as well as blended with another in the central section You will need… Smooth watercolour paper (140lb (300gsm) HP surface). Fiona used Saunders Waterford HP but you can use any watercolour paper Derwent Inktense Pencils in the following colours: Mustard Hot red Green aquamarine Saddle brown Brush: a soft round No 10 or 12 watercolour brush Derwent Outliner pencil Soft putty eraser Craft knife Mist spray bottle of water Masking fluid (coloured) Candle wax Paper torchon Additional materials (for experimental sheets and card- making): Inktense colours of your choice Stick adhesive Using the round brush, well wetted, start at one end and gently place the brush onto the paper, lift and place it again next to the wet section, lift and place it again until the line is completely wetted. Avoid rubbing or moving the brush about. Wetting the pigment activates it and makes it lightfast. Leave this to dry naturally. The colours in the centre of the strip will naturally blend to create a third colour. If the pencils are applied using a scribble method, these marks will remain when the water is added unless the wet brush is agitated to rub the marks away