Watercolor Showdown | What’s The Best Fit For You?

Watercolor Showdown! What’s the best choice for you? Are watercolor pans, brush markers, or pencils the right fit? Let’s find out!

It’s difficult to know in which watercolor medium to invest. The goal of this Watercolor Showdown video is to help you determine which watercolor medium is the best fit for you.

Tips to paint Altenew Paint-A-Flower: Poppy with each medium is in the video. Watch here or in HD on YouTube. While you’re there I’d love it if you like, subscribe, and share it with your crafty friends.

Watercolor Pans

As you may know, watercolor pans are one of my favorite mediums. There is a sensory satisfaction I get from mixing and using pan watercolors that I don’t get with brush markers or pencils.

The gorgeous granulation of pan watercolor keeps me coming back for more. You can’t achieve the same granulated effect with brush markers or pencils. To me, watercolor pans create the most traditional watercolor effects.

Watercolor Brush Markers (Liquid Watercolor)

Watercolor Brush Markers and liquid watercolor win handsdown for vibrancy, clarity, and purity of color.

It’s highly pigmented at full-strength. That being said, if you are a heavy-handed painter, you may need to dilute the color to manage the application.

Consider purchasing the Liquid Watercolor Brush Marker Refills in lieu of the Watercolor Brush Markers if you prefer using a traditional brush. They have an easy to use no-mess dropper tip.

Customize your palette and avoid full set syndrome, simply purchase your favorite colors, the colors you know you’ll use.

Liquid watercolors are amazing for ink smooshing techniques and remain vibrant despite extra water.

Woodless Watercolor Pencils

For beginners and heavy-handed painters, I recommend watercolor pencils as they afford more control over the medium.

Watercolor pencils are easy to use and the learning curve is lower. If you can color, you can use watercolor pencils. For best results color LIGHTLY on dry paper. Next, use a wet paintbrush to melt the pigments and feather out the color.

Coloring on wet paper will lay down a lot more color. This may make it harder to blend the color. For wet paper, pick up pigment from the pencil with a watercolor brush and apply the brush to the paper. I have far better results with this technique.

Watercolor pencils are fabulous for splatter too! Simply wet your brush, pick up pigment from the pencil. and splatter away. Large brushes create large splatter and vice versa.

What’s Best For You?

Did you discover the medium that’s right for you? Do let me know in the comments if this post helped you decide.

As for me, I count myself fortunate to have all three mediums to experiment with as each one has its own unique qualities.

・・・ Thank You ・・・

WATERCOLOR PENCIL REVIEW

Need more information regarding Altenew Woodless Watercolor Pencils?

In this post & video I swatch all the colors and use most of them to color Paint-A-Flower: Sunflower.

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