Watercolor pencils are actually colored pencils that have water soluble pigments. 

So watercolor pencils can be used like regular colored pencils but not the other way around. I'll explain the distinctions and applications in this post. Continue reading!

Colored pencils are an exceptionally useful tool to make expressive and abstract art as well as detailed and photorealistic art. Even though they're slower than wet media like paint when it comes to putting down color, they're almost impossible to beat when it comes to control and detail.

Even after all these years, this kind of art is still popular with people who like to draw or who work in fields like architecture, design, and fashion. Because these pencils are made of wax or oil, you can't use water to thin them out. There are different kinds of paper that can be used with colored pencils, but regular drawing paper works well.

Watercolor pencils are a medium that give the artist the best of both worlds of painting and drawing. The main distinction between colored watercolor pencils and regular pencils is that watercolor pencils contain a pigment that, when exposed to water, turns into watercolor.

Even though they look like regular colored pencils, a drop of water turns the marks they make into beautiful, flowing colors that look like watercolor paint. This characteristic guarantees the drawing a much more translucent tone and offers practically the same effect as an ink.

A great way to get started with this type of watercolor pencil is to sketch normally on paper. Once you have a rough sketch, you can add base colors to it. Don't fill in your sketch with the watercolor pencils like you would with a regular color pencil. Instead, use the pencil in the same shape and direction as regular pencils, but leave some white space between the lines.

Next add water to the drawing with a soft brush. This activates the water color effect. Amazing?

When you compare brands, you'll notice that each one has a different mix of price, consistency, durability, color range, and pigment concentration. Some brands are objectively better than others, but when it comes to the top brands, much of the difference comes down to personal taste.

Consider watercolor pencils if you want the dual functionality of using colored pencils and watercolor painting. These pencils enable better artistic control without the mess of watercolor paint. Watercolor pencils are also a fantastic and adaptable medium for creating paintings, sketches, illustrations, and drawings.