Mountain Toucan in Derwent Graphitint

Joy

Contributing Member
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This is in Derwent Graphitint watercolor pencils on Hahnemühle toned paper, 200g/m2, A5 size. I added a wee bit of watercolor. I don't think I like using the pencils as well as watercolor.

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Deborah, Margaret and Penny - thank you for looking and commenting.
 
Lovely work, Joy! You have a very colorful subject and captured a nice posture here.
 
This turned out so well. I understand not liking using the pencil with the watercolor. I personally like to erase the pencil when I'm done, or use it super lightly in the sketch, and only make a skeleton sketch, trying to capture most of everything with the paint instead. Still, I think this turned out great and do not notice the pencil here. ♥️
 
Ayin, thank you! I meant I did not like using watercolor pencils as well as traditional watercolor. That is good advice about drawing. I have a tendency to draw too light or too dark.
 
Very nice! The bird is sort of a patchwork of colors and you painted him so well!
 
I really like your bird!
I have a set of colored graphite pencils of another brand, and the colors are so subtle as to be almost non-existent, but I like water-soluble graphite pencils in general. So, based on my experience with that sort of pencil, I can understand why you decided to put a dash of watercolor here and there.
 
Great work, I own a small set of watercolor pencils (Winsor and Newton, 12pc), and have been experimenting a bit with them. I don´t seem to get the hang of them. Don´t know if it´s the brand, or my incompetence ;)
I love the way you use them, it really looks good.
 
Lamar, E.J.H. - Thanks for your input. I like watercolor much better. Pencil seems so labor intensive for such an underwhelming result. Although I have seen some beautiful pencil works, as they are quite talented and have practiced. It seems from some videos I have seen that the pencils are best used for detail on paintings.
 
Yeah, the labor intensity of color pencils in general has always put me off them, when I try them out I usually start to rush, with bad results. I also like watercolor a lot better. (By the way if you are referring to your beautiful bird as an "underwhelming" result, I respectfully disagree!).

These pencils seem to be a mix of graphite and pigment, and when I looked at your beautiful toucan it reminded me of something I tried out myself, I bought a water soluble graphite pencil a few months ago, made a line drawing with it, more of a doodle actually, and put a light watercolor wash over it. Because this graphite, unlike the regular stuff, dissolved a bit, it mixed slightly into the wash, and gave the same toned down effect. I rather liked it, and this inspires me to experiment further (and without having to buy more supplies...🥳)
 
I really appreciate that this thread has received some fresh eyes and comments!

Kay - Thank you! You know I always enjoy and appreciate your work and you help with the forums over the years.
E.J.H. - The Graphitint is not as bright in color as other watercolor pencils, which I have not tried. I thought (in error) that using the pencils would be faster than watercolor, which I have such a tendency to overwork. Since I was spending so long on paintings, I thought the pencils would let me do more, but that was not the case. I have a lot of watercolors, so I just need to experiment with them. The Pencils (to me) seem to be better suited to smaller works.
 
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