Colored Pencil and Watercolor: Mixed Media Tips for Artists

If you’ve been drawing for a while or have a specific medium that you often work with, you’re probably familiar with mixed media. Mixed media techniques can be a wonderful way to speed up the process of drawing or achieve results that wouldn’t be possible with one medium alone

In this blog post, we will explore two popular mixed media options for colored pencil work: watercolor and markers. I have tried both and love it. However, there are a few things to be aware of when combining colored pencils with other mediums

Colored Pencils and Watercolor

Understanding the basics

As we all know, watercolor is water-based, and this includes watercolor pencils. Many artists love the loose style of watercolor, but there is a learning curve if you’re just starting out

I, specifically, am starting to experiment with watercolor painting, but for the moment I keep reaching for the watercolor pencils because I feel like I have more control.

Colored pencils, on the other hand, are made with wax and oil. They are not water-soluble, so blending them with water or using water-based products on TOP of them won’t work too well.

But, there’s good news!

You can absolutely use watercolor first and then layer the colored pencils on top. In fact, this combination is very popular among many artists because it makes the drawing process less time consuming.

Things to consider when combining these mediums

1. Paper surface

You need to be working on a watercolor paper. Watercolor paper is designed to handle wet media. There are two types of watercolor paper: hot pressed and cold pressed

Cold pressed has a rougher texture. Some artists prefer this, but I find it a bit too rough to get fine details
Hot pressed is smoother, and I love using it. I often use it for regular colored pencil work because it takes a lot of layers and I can get wonderful details

My go-to watercolor papers are Fabriano and Arches. They both come in pad and sheet format.

Fabriano Artisticio Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper

Arches Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper

2. The order of your watercolor and colored pencil application

I have mentioned that watercolor should not be used on top of colored pencils, but you can absolutely use colored pencils on top of watercolor
Therefore, do all your watercolor work first and then add colored pencils on top for details.

Here is an example of a drawing that I created using colored pencil over watercolor

I did the crabs just with colored pencils, but the entire background and red flowers were done with a watercolor base. For this piece, I used faber castell albrecht durer watercolor pencils

3. Burnishing and Layers

With watercolor pencils, you want to avoid heavy pressure. The pigment doesn’t dissolve as well when activated with water, so use light layers. However, the pencils do burnish well when you’re done adding water.

You can even use them dry, like you would with regular colored pencils. Another thing you need to watch out for is making sure your watercolor layers are actually dry before going over them. You can use a hairdryer for this or just give it about 15 minutes or so to make sure the layer is actually dry. Working over damp layers will result in the pigment gumming up, becoming blotchy, or even worse, damaging the paper.

Which watercolor brands are good for colored pencil mixed media?

This boils down to personal preference. I really only have experience using watercolor pencils, but I know that a lot of artists use actual watercolor.

These are the brands I personally recommend

Faber Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolor Pencils
Derwent Watercolor Pencils
Lyra Rembrandt Watercolor Pencils

There are some others that I have not yet tried, such as the Arteza watercolor pencils or the Caran D’Ache Museum Aquarelle. I own the Arteza so I will be playing with those soon to see if I like them.

Related: Derwent Watercolor Pencils Review

Colored Pencils and Markers

When it comes to markers, there are two types: watercolor markers or alcohol markers. When most people think of markers for professional artwork, the first brand that comes to mind are the Copic markers.

They are extremely pricey, but there are some alternatives, such as the Ohuhu markers (my favorite), the Touch markers, or the Arteza Everblend markers.

Alcohol markers have vibrant colors, excellent blending capabilities, and quick drying time. You can also layer colored pencils on top of them, and it speeds up the drawing process considerably.

Another plus is that you can be messy with your marker application. Unlike colored pencils, you don’t have to worry about visible marker strokes or harsh start and stop points, like you would if you just scribbled with a colored pencil.

Things to consider when combining colored pencils with markers

1. Smudging and bleed-through

If you are working in a coloring book and want to preserve the back of the page, you will want to stick to water-based markers. Alcohol markers will bleed right through. Additionally, if you are working in a sketchbook or bullet journal, you have a few options if you really want to use alcohol markers

Sketchbooks: Place a piece of tracing paper behind the page you’re working in, so that the markers won’t bleed onto the next page. Unfortunately, there’s little you can do about the backend of the actual page you’re working on, unless you use the tip I’m going to give you for a bullet journal
Bullet Journals: Use printables and adhere a new sheet to the back of the sheet you’re working on. There are plenty of places to find free printables, or you can even print off a photo of a dot-grid page and glue it onto the back of the page. Do this when you’ve finished with the alcohol marker portion, and you’ll have a fresh page to work on.

However, if you stick to watercolor markers, you can avoid the bleed through altogether. Here are some popular brands of watercolor markers that you can use

Faber-Castell Pitt Brush Pens (my all-time favorite)
Staedtler Double End Watercolor Pens
Winsor & Newton ProMarkers (this one is on my wishless for sure)
Arteza Real Watercolor Brush Pens

2. Paper Surface

I always try to go with a heavier weight paper when working in any kind of wet or ink-based media. So far, I have used markers on Fabriano Watercolor Paper and Strathmore Bristol Smooth.

For both of these options, I printed off my coloring page onto the paper. I’ve been choosing to work on coloring pages a bit more frequently than starting from scratch like I do with my fine art projects.

However, feel free to start from scratch! You do you! A lot of coloring book artists enjoy working inside an actual coloring book, but I am quite particular about my paper surface, so I usually look for options to download my coloring pages.

This is an example of a coloring book that I bought online. I love the illustrations, but this paper just isn’t doing it for me. I feel like I can’t get as many layers as I would like.

That being said, I will definitely make copies of these pages for myself and print them off on my favorite papers.

This page is being done with Faber Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolor pencils

Colored Pencil Techniques with Markers

This is such a fun combination! I love the speed of the marker gliding over the paper surface and then adding my pencils over the top.

Contrast

The marker will look flat when you apply it to the page. That’s perfectly fine. You can add your darks and highlights over the top.

This image only has marker application. It looks quite flat with no dimension but it’s not done yet

This is the finished product, with colored pencil over the marker base. Look how much vibrant this is and the colors really pop!

Supplies Mentioned in This Post

Watercolor Pencils

Papers

Markers

Wrapping it Up

In conclusion, colored pencils offer a versatile and effective medium for mixed media artwork when combined with markers and watercolor. By carefully considering factors such as paper surface, layering technique, and leveraging the unique qualities of both mediums, artists can create stunning and dynamic pieces. Embracing the synergy between colored pencils and other art forms opens up a world of creative possibilities, inviting artists of all levels to explore and experiment with their artistic expression.

essential colored pencil blending techniques

If you would like to get more into colored pencils, I invite you to check out The Swatch Vault. It’s a set of printable color charts for 10 different popular colored pencil brands INCLUDING their lightfast ratings. You can purchase it here!

I NEED THIS

Expert Hacks for Mixed Media Drawings: Colored Pencil with Watercolor or markers